Scratch Build – In Progress Woody by zwiks

Well, good luck but I'm betting you end up repainting.

Not so much because of the color- which you may like- rather because I think the putty is going to be quite obvious unless you seal it.
The two materials will absorb paint differently and the MDF's cut edges in particular will suck up paint like crazy.

You're not blazing new trails here, zwiks, MDF has been around a long time and methods of finishing it are quite well established.
This is a start and googling "finishing MDF" will reveal a wealth of info.

Having already invested so much time, why not spend what it takes to finish with a bang?

 

yeahh you say so.. but wait and see.. i think its gonna be nicee.

..for the moment I waiting for the putty to harden.. heh and I'm painting it tonight he

 

I agree with Clocker... MDF WILL absorb a rediculous amount of paint... (I know, I've done it myself!) while the putty will only be surfaced with paint... You need to use a base (grunder) and give it a cpl of layers! Mdf is just hard packed chipboard (In danish: "spånplade" ) with smaller pieces of wood, and a bit more poisonous to inhale... And as you are a first time modder, as I am myself, I would take all the advice in here from ppl who have done this before!

 

Bad luck or bad skills :S

I would start telling what i would call this part: "Bad luck or bad skills :S" here it comes:

Okey guys .. this is pretty embarrassing .. but you were totaly right .. the thing is that, i read youre reply's a bit to fast i think.. cuz i dident get the about primeing it a cpl of times .. damn .. SORRY i know its not so good, cuz the paint looks like *BEEP* .- but remember: "to err is human" -.

... but it all started so good actually ...

This is my the most nice and lucky thing i manage to get/do in the hole process.. this is a "homemade-drill" i found in the woodwork-room on my school.. luckily for me its the same diameter as a standard 80mm fan ! (remember its homemade ) .. i dont know who has made it, but he definitely made by day to !!! DAMN cuz this homemade piece cuts through plexiglass like hot butter ! extreeem nice
..not so much talk .. lets show it too you:

Jealous guys?? hehe

Do you see any ugly edge ?? :


After i cut the new pice i started rasping the last edge "PYYH ! that was tough" heeh :


And this is me doing the same thing :


Some things is used:


And now to the "putty-work" (i think its called )


And some "paint-preparations" and sanding.. pyhh im glad its over hehe








--------- And this is where it all went wrong :S sorry guys for not listining carefully :S -----------

I spray-paintet the case with some primer:


Actually this went pretty good:


And heres what the **** looks like wenn I was done (sorry for my bad language):


And some more pictures:




----------------------- Heres the solution: -------------------------

I'm going to the city and buying some "SANDABLE primer (thanks Fozzy (and you other guys) for the good tip)"
and then i give it a cpl of layers (and between the layers im sanding it with a grit 400 or 500)

as regard to the paint .. im not sure yet.. i think that i have to belive in you guys when you say that flat black is not good.. sooo wait and se..
maybe some of you have a little idea to the paint ???

.. but i have to go to bed now .. and go shopping jubii tomorrow morning ... [Yawn] Good night see you soon

 

whoops, double post

 

That window looks excellent with those rounded edges
Do not worry about the paint, not a problem - that is 100% normal for mdf - this is gonna look awesome
You do not have to buy primer, just keep on putting on coats of black paint - this way, if you get a scratch, it will be BLACK underneath - not gray or whatever color the primer is

Just let the paint dry for one day in between coats. Don't worry about sanding for now, just recoat the areas that aren't sealed yet - the edges will need a few coats at least to seal. Once it looks like it's all sealed, sand the lot with 400-600 and re-coat. After a day, re-sand a little & re-coat. Keep this up until it's perfect. Many coats will be needed - don't worry about primer, just get more black paint. This is normal for MDF :thumb

 

Why oh why would you use white primer before black paint?! Use gray, or any dark color! Add more coats if necessary. Looks good so far though.

That's one UGLY homemade drill bit you were using. I hope you were wearing safety glasses!

 

... sorry mvagusta but i'm not going to follow youre idea.. cuz i have allready sanded the most of the case down to the wood .. sorry

hehe yeah its pretty ugly but damn it its nice .. 100% round and sharp edges seriously !...
by the way i am useing gray primer .. but im thinking buying some more dark primer .. (only if i can get it . of course)

 

I completely agree.

Now for some help for Zwiks situation...hopefully. I've never worked with MDF before, but property-wise, wouldn't a spray varnish, or epoxy to seal the MDF followed by a primer solve this problem? Seems a better idea than letting it soak tons of paint up. Let's hear it MDF folks... Even a thin layer of Bondo...

If I could ship it to you Zwiks, I'd snag a can of the epoxy primer we use on helicopters from work...but it's hazmat. I like how your mod's coming together, and the depth the MDF gives the appearance.

 

thank you InferiorPlanets for youre generosity .. but i must kindly say no.. cuz i were in the city today and went to the paint-shop and god a very good and helpfull service .. and it ended up (a half an hour later) with I bought a high quality mdf primer .. and next week i'm buying a nice quality paint (dont know the colour yet .. but i think orange)

And the first thing i did when i came home was of course to sand the bad paint-job off and give it a nice layer of primer ..

This is were i paint .. (its my little-sisters play-house)


This is how the case is looking right at the moment .. (1 layer of primer)

 

Hvis man ikke vil høre... Så må man lære det på den hårde måde! he he...

(That's what happens when you don't listen... )

I like the look though, pretty cool with the rounded pieces all over!
Trial and error happens... I guess we've all been there, f'ing things up, because we now all...
At least I know I have!

Keep it up, this is going to look great!

 

ja sådan kan det gå! he he...

(Live and learn )

thank you for youre comment Angel OD .. And i hope its going to look great .. why not?? hehe

 

Well, live and learn, I suppose.

I think you need a primer/sealer- at least to begin with- to stop the splotchy finish problem.

Also, and this becomes even more critical as your color becomes brighter (really, orange?), clean up the gaps between the sidepanel and the rest of the chassis.
This gap is going to be very obvious when you're finished, so it should be as even and consistent as possible.

 

thank you clocker, for youre comment..
and yes i was thinking of a orange..
as regard to the gaps i have also thought of that but it is very difficult to putty in a gab there needs to be opened and closed .. but I will look on it to morrow ..
good night .

 

I didn't mean for you to putty in the gap...clearly, that's not possible.

Notice the difference in the gap between the two red arrows (circled in yellow)...

Now, it's possible this a trick of angle or maybe paint drips but it looks like the gap starts pretty wide then narrows almost to nothing, then opens again at the bottom.
Obviously, the tighter the fit, the better but even more important is that the line be crisp, straight and the same all along it's length.

 

ohh .. you have a point there.. i see what i can do.

 

does anyone have an idea to how i doe this the best way..

 

Do what?

 

Do that^^^^

 

I'd guess that either your front panel is a little bowed or your side panel is not cut or sanded straight, or maybe a bit of both? Either way, you can just use rough sandpaper on the side panel along the "yellow" area. Once the gap is close, use a finer sandpaper, etc... Check the fit & match often on the case & continue like this until it's straight.
Then repaint
The coolest thing about the case is that when you bring a girl over, you can say "wanna see my woody?"