"Painting laser cut MDF buildings" Topic

I just ordered some of the Sarissa Precision WWII 28mm buildings. I was wondering if anyone has any experience painting laser cut MDF.

What should I prime with? Do the burned edges tend to bleed through or darken the paint if you use acrylic? Anything I should know about gluing?

I was planning on gluing with CA glue and spray priming flat camo brown as I do most of my buildings, but wanted to see what people suggested before I take the plunge.

What should I prime with?

I would suggest some cheap enamel paint.

I was planning on gluing with CA glue

I think PVA glue would be easier.

I did one or two.
They were made of craft pywood, which is more resistant to warping than sheet basswood or balsa wood. I joine it with PVA (Elmer's) glue. It dries quickly, so no warping issues.

As I remember, I painted it with Floquil RR paints, solvent based. Mainly because I had them hanging around.
Again, I don't think that water based acrylics would have been an issue.

The main thing to do is to cover the scorch marks from the laser on the wood. That's easily done with a second coat, if necessary.

I just wish more such buildings were available. They seem more "real" than resin, and the walls are thinner.

Woodglue is good. Grey Primer is safe. You can spray black.

Minwax comes in a variety of colors.

In the UK there is a specialist water based MDF primer available in most DIY stores.

If seals MDF against further water ingress and would allow you to use water based acrylic paint and PVA glue.

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Martin Stephenson
blog.vexillia.me.uk
amazon.co.uk/shops/vexillia
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I used GW Chaos Black spray as primer on some Sarissa Precision floor tiles. Then I painted using Vallejo and GW acrylics.

I have used MDF sealant paint with good results, but a matt black car spray paint seems to work just a well.

I just use acrylic craft paint direclty onto the MDF. Can take 2 or 3 coats to cover properly though especially on the laser blackened edges.

If you want them to stay together, use Elmers Wood Glue. That stuff is incredibly strong and cleans up with water with no fumes.

DM

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I will use Elmer's Wood Glue and spray prime black. Looking forward to getting these kits and putting them together. I also plan to add some details like gutters and interiors (maybe). I'll post some blog shots when they are done.

Thanks again, and have a great holiday!

Keith

Hi there!
What I did, was to spray paint the different part with their base colors.
And then I did the assembly.
I used instant glue and had to do some minor ajustment to make them fit. The fit is rather tight, so with the added paint some sanding was needed. As you can se on the picture,  the tile details came out nice but I did miss the side part of the walls….
Now I just need to figure out a way to weather them :-)
Regards and merry x-mas
Thomas

Ps it hard to post using an iPad….

I paint entire structure with PVA then add a layer of fine sand. When dry I paint with any acrylic paint.