Acrylics, Warping and Priming Wood Laser Kits.


NYO&W

NYO&W

Member
I am about to attempt my second wood laser kit.

My first attempt was an N scale ice house. I brush-applied my cream color without primer to the main building shell, after all 4 corners were glued in place, and watched in horror as the peaked ends of the building warped outward. :eek: I managed to correct the problem by gluing the roof in place (after the walls dried and much of the warping went away by itself) and aggressively blocking the sides in place until they dried. Needless to say, I’m a bit gun-shy about working on my next project which is an HO scale caboose.

1. How do you prevent warping of wood laser kits when applying acrylic paint?

2. What type of primer should I use, if any?

3. Are there different primers for light colors vs. dark colors?

Any suggestions/techniques are welcome!

I apologize if this topic was covered before…I did my best to search the threads for any similar discussions. I know that the ‘Floquil paint question’ by Stang_Crazy touched on the use of acrylics but not specifically with respect to wood laser kits.

THANKS!
 
It's not specific to the wood laser kits. Its the "wood" in general. Adding moisture to it caused it to warp. Same thing happens when you paint masonite, baseboard, or crown moulding when it's NOT already permanently mounted. Even when primed, the warping can still occur.
 
CJ hit it right on the head. Paint both sides of each piece and the moisture content of the paint will equalize and the wood will warp very little. You can use black acrylic on the inside if your outside color is light and you are going to put lights in the structure. Just make sure it's the same brand of paint on both sides, since some acrylics have a higher water content than others
 
I always brace the walls with 1/8" x 1/8" wood as well. This helps big time to reduce warping,especially on larger structure walls. I use alcohol based leather dyes for most of my buildings, so warping is not a problem.
 
Now that's some bracing work. :) Forgot to mention that the kind of horizontal and vertical bracing you have helps a lot, not only with warping, but with the overall strength of the structure. I think we're so used to building with plastic that we forget wood is pretty fragile unless you apply some real world constuction techniques to it.
 
Josh, I've had sanding sealer actually cause the wood on structures to warp. If the wood has a lot of grain, the sanding sealer tries to fill in the pores. That's fine for a big piece of furniture but not so good for small pieces of wood, since filling the pores can cause the wood to lose shape as it dries. I've found that painting both sides of the wood with acrylic paint and bracing is much more reliable. If the sanding sealer causes a warp, you're really stuck, since the sanding sealer bonds so tightly to the wood.
 
I don't recommend sanding sealer until after the painting is done. It takes a lot more paint to cover because the paint doesn't cover as good when it can't soak into the wood. You also can't control the intensity of the colors after the wood has been sealed. I agree with UP2CSX. Better to paint both sides and brace(or use alcohol based staines). Keep flat while drying and while bracing glue is wet.
 
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