Painting question

[jcurtis55]

I'm ready to start painting my Lowell Grand Banks Dory.  With rocket fins I first use sanding sealer, followed by primer and then the paint.  Should I follow the same process with the Dory?

[Thukydides]

You certainly can do that. I personally just paint straight on the wood and then sand it smooth and then do so again and again until I have the finish I am looking for. If you do seal the wood then I would recommend using a primer before painting as it will adhere a little better.

[kurtvd19]

I do the same with acrylics onto the wood.  This is a work boat so you don't want a yacht type of finish on it.  I airbrush almost exclusively and with this model I would spay lightly with plain water.  This will raise the grain just like the first coat of paint would do.  Sand lightly after it drys and respray with water.  Repeat the light sanding after it dries and when the paint is applied the wood grain will not swell up.  Apply a second coat if needed.

If you are brushing,  the wood will need somewhat longer to dry because brushing will apply more water than airbrushing, but same  procedure.

 

Should have mentioned this first, but the kit wood is Basswood and the grain on Basswood will stand up when paint is applied.  Hardwoods are less prone to this but still wetting then sanding will be needed.

Kurt

 

[Thukydides]

One further thought on this. You can actually use the fact that the grain raises to your advantage.

 

One of the issues with making scale models look realistic is that in real life nothing is just one colour. There are minor variations which our eyes pick up on even if we don't consciously notice them. In miniature painting one of the things you are trying to do to make something look realistic is trick the eyes into thinking it is bigger than it is.

 

I have been experimenting lately with very thin ink coats to raise the grain, sand it back and then go in with a slightly different shade, sand it back etc... This produces subtle variation on the colour which I have found to produce an interesting effect. Obviously you need very watered down coats for this to work, but it is also something you could experiment with on scrap wood.

 

As a note I would say whatever you do try it out on some scrap first to make sure you are happy with it before you try on the model.