Most of you know I like building in styrene, which has it's own difficulties, but a wood kit is not without their own quirks. I built a few Campbell kits as a teenager, but this is actually my first laser cut building kit. The instructions recommended spraying all the wood panels with a coat paint, non-water based preferred. I skipped this step, figuring on painting the structure after partial assembly and shortly found out why the parts need to be sealed with paint - the white glue I was using for assembly was quickly causing the wood to cup or warp. Some quick clamping and tape saved the day.
The kit was easy to put together and I am pleased with the final results, although I still might add a bit to the finish. I used mostly cheapo craft paints for the finish - the only real problem I encountered was that I should have thinned the white a little, or for that matter, whenever you are doing a larger areas. The prototype looks to have a rough parged finish, so it probably is ok that my finish was a little rough. The signs are self adhesive lables, except for the main Pizzaland sign on the fascia that is laser cut.
2 comments:
I've done a few laser kits now, and I enjoy them a lot (American Model Builders, Blair Line, Banta). I've glued them with Liquisilk for concealed joints where I can just glob on a thick bead, and medium-viscosity CA for the visible work. I brush-paint the parts with Tamiya acrylics, as the alcohol-ester carrier won't warp the thin wood like (or at least, as much as) water-based paint would. Still have to brace across the grain with square styrene, though.
THanks for the info - as I said in the blog I'm pretty much on the white glue level when working with wood so I appreciate the help
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