Gluing painted parts

[lazyguy]

Coming from a r/c airplane background where wood to wood glue joints are critical i'm just wondering how I should glue all these painted parts that go on a ship? Do you really paint everything then scrape away where it glues on and then touch up? That seems like a lot of extra work and a lot of repainting. 

 I'm kinda stuck on finishing the deck also, what I thought i'd do is use Minwax pre-stain conditioner, then apply a natural stain wood finish and let dry. Now would I need to do anything else, can I glue right to the stain, how about painting on top of the stain in certain areas? Would just a coat of polyurethane be better that stain? Is there any low order water based products I could use instead, as I picked up some acrylic paints that I really like order wise. What I would like to do is be able to use the same product to seal/finish the deck then paint right over if needed.

  A couple of pics should give you an idea of what I want to do. I started this over 20 years ago then switched to r/c airplanes so I have a little painting to do over also but i'd like to finish the deck first, then repaint the white. This way I'd be able to start gluing parts to the main deck and follow the instruction book on the rest of the decks. 

  I know i'm asking a lot of questions but I never did any wood finishing. Thanks and happy building.

   A couple of pics;

First the kit I'm building 

This is the deck and some prats that need gluing

 I have to repaint the hull and the railing deck white

[JPett]

Ahoy Lazyguy

 

I came from plastics and like you found that coloring these wooden ships is not a simple task. 

 

This is what I have found so far 

 

Wood bleeds  so you need to plan out how you will color your ship

 

I stain or dye wood then put on a light coat of wipe on poly first. Lightly sand or scuff the poly and tape off for the paint. Then sand the tape line, apply another light coat of poly to seal it, sand again, then paint over the poly with acrylics. Because the grain and natural tones of the wood can really add to your kit I always try to preserve them.  The problem is wood bleeds so you can't get an even delineation between different colors but can use paint to get that good clean line which I apply last over the poly. You can also use a piece of wood trim instead of paint to separate the different finishes. Prepare/finish it first and then glue it on. 

 

To glue small wood items to coated areas I sand the part to expose the wood and use a pin to perforate the coated surface or lightly sand it if i can. For larger parts I pin them with a treenail (do a search here for treenails) I use PVA glue for wood and for non wood items I use epoxy. I will also use poly after I glue on wood parts to create a stronger bond. 

 

Blue scouring sponges are great to prep poly or knock down the shine. 

 

Diluting paints with mineral spirits is a great way to color wood

 

Poly will smear paint. If I am second coating and area that has different finishes, I only do one really light pass with the poly and never drag it across the two different finishes. I do the line that separates them first, following the line then each side. 

 

Stain and poly coat; brush paint small details or corners. Then use sand paper or sponges to clean them up. The paint sits on top of the poly and can be removed without damaging the wood finish to achieve nice effects or super sharp lines on corners. 

 

Always test on scrap first. My rule is to get the results I want twice before I do it on my kit "once". 

 

Hope this helps . 

Edited November 27, 2014 by JPett