Question re: painting

[Gene Howe]

I made several little vehicles from poplar. I painted most of them with canned spray paint. On a few, I used acrylics and artist brushes. I'm not entirely satisfied with how either process finished up. I'm now embarking on scrolling some Christmas decorations. I'll be using 1/8 and 1/4 BB. My question is should the pieces be primed after finish sanding and, before using the acrylics? If so, is there a particular primer that's best? 

[Sycamore67]

Just me, but I like a coat of shellac, sand lightly and then paint.  

[rjweb]

I would prime the bare wood, but I was a painter for a living (52 years) and we primed everything, now a days all the paints have primer mixed in, i vote primer Bullseye 1 2 3, RJ

[kmmcrafts]

I have been doing a lot of hand painting using Posca paint markers.. I get a lot better control of the details with the markers than Paint brushes... I've been doing them on bare wood.. and then lacquer over the top after the backer is glued. My reason for this is because I've read that glue doesn't bond too great on a painted surface so I do not primer first or anything.. IF I don't have a backer to be going on the back but have painting on the front I do use a coat of clear lacquer so the paint marker glides across the wood a little better.  

[crupiea]

If you are using acrylic and a brush, just paint it all first with flat white.  That will give it a uniform background so you dont need to worry about the grain and all that showing through. 

What i had the best results with was the cheapo airbrush from harbor freight.  You need a compressor though so its not worth it if you dont have one.

The airbrush thing was like under $20 or so.  It laid down a very nice coat of acrylic.  Just used craft stuff from walmart and thinned it with some water. 

 

[Gene Howe]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll try kevs' suggestion first since I have the paint markers.

[Dan]

I am sold on dewaxed shellac. I used it on MDF, sanded, and one coat of spray paint looked great, even on the ends. By the time you finish the second project the first is ready to sand.

[kmmcrafts]

13 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll try kevs' suggestion first since I have the paint markers.

When you run out of paint in the markers I learned that I can refill them.. I now just buy cheap acrylic paint from walmart and dilute it with water and the ends un-screw.. some are left handed threads.. like the Posca ones are left hand threads.. not sure on other brands.. also best to use distilled water 

[Gene Howe]

Thanks Kev. Great idea.

[BadBob]

I make a lot of toys and paint many of them. As a general rule, I don't use primers. However, I use white primer or white paint as the base when painting lighter or brighter colors. The white base will make the colors brighter and let you cover them with less paint. Yellow and Orange are primary examples.

You can get great results painting with a brush, but it is a skill like scrolling. It takes practice. Use good brushes and multiple coats sanding between coats until you get it smooth and the coverage you want. I use Loew-Cornell Golden Taklon brushes, usually 1/2 inch flat, but I have a large collection.

These cars are primed with Zinsser B-I-N Shellac white primer. They are brush-painted with a variety of acrylic paints. The blue and pink are house paint. The others are cheap acrylic craft paints. They are top-coated with clear acrylic. The white parts are primer with a clear acrylic top coat.

 

I have made many of these little trucks. These are painted with cheap navy blue craft acrylic and a brush. I have painted them with an airbrush, but looking at photos, I can't tell the difference.

 
 

Edited November 27, 2023 by BadBob

[Gene Howe]

Those are good looking vehicles, Bob. The paint jobs are superb. Your process works great. I need to up my game. About how long does it take you per unit? Do you sell them? If so, what price are putting the blue trucks, for instance.

[TAIrving]

Very nice Bob.  The toys look good and the colors really pop.  

[BadBob]

2 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Those are good looking vehicles, Bob. The paint jobs are superb. Your process works great. I need to up my game. About how long does it take you per unit? Do you sell them? If so, what price are putting the blue trucks, for instance.

 

The cars take a long time. Each coat of paint is allowed to cure for 12 to 24 hours and then be sanded and recoated. There are several coats of primer, too, but since it is shellac-based, it cures faster. The multiple primer coats are used to put enough primer on to hide the wood grain. I made these all simultaneously, so I can't tell you how long it takes.

The blue trucks get up to three coats of paint on bare wood sanding between wood. The paint I use covers very well. The multiple coats with sanding in between are to get them smooth to the touch. It takes as many coats as it takes. I have never made one. So I don't know how long it takes to make one. It takes at least four days to complete a batch, usually more. As mentioned above, I wait 12 to 24 hours between coats because the pain needs to be bone dry to sand.

The cars are poor sellers, but they do get lots of views. If you want to make lots of money, this isn't the way.

My toys are of the highest quality I can produce. When you pick up one of my trucks, it will be smooth and feel good in your hand. The people that buy my toys are very pleased with them. Usually, when I tell someone what I sell these for, I get s response like "You can never sell them for that price." or something similar, yet I do. I'm not getting rich off of them, and I don't sell one every week or even every month, but they do sell. I don't know how many I have sold because some have been multiples in custom orders. The price I sell the trucks for is currently $16. Considering the amount of labor that goes into them, I should be asking for more.

I'm going to increase my prices after Christmas.

[Gene Howe]

"The price I sell the trucks for is currently $16. Considering the amount of labor that goes into them, I should be asking for more." 

Totally agree! And, thanks a bunch for responding to my query. 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Gene Howe