Northwest
Indiana
Woodworkers Association
Established 1990
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Some
others and I have been having a problem painting toys without leaving
brush strokes. I have tried
various water based paints and experienced the problem with all of them
except the General Finishes Milk Paint and I don’t care for the dull
finish, but that is a personal choice.
It seems that the paints are formulated to dry quickly and this
is the problem. They
don’t allow enough time for the paint to self-level. So this is
what I have been doing. I
add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water to a pint
(8 fluid ounces) of paint. This
thins the paint and slows down the drying time. Keep in
mind that each type of paint is different so you need to experiment on a
test piece of the same type of wood.
You may not have room in a new can of paint to add the water and
stir, so pour the 8 oz.’s into a larger container.
I have tried Floetrol additive.
This slows the drying time, but dulls the finish. Here is
the whole process that I have found to be successful:
Carefully sand the project to 180 grit.
Good sanding is very important because thinned paint will not
cover dents or cross grain scratches.
Remove dust by blowing with compressed air or brushing. Apply a coat of a clear primer or sealer.
Scuff sand with 320 grit. Apply
2 or 3 coats of your thinned paint; scuff sanding between coats with 320
grit. The number of coats
is determined by how good you want your toys to look, keeping in mind
that thinner paint requires more coats. Here is
another tip for making painting easier.
On toy cars, I drill a ¼ dia. hole in the bottom of the car.
I taper the end of a 4-inch ¼ dia. dowel. I jam the dowel into the hole creating a handle to hold while
painting. I drill a series
of 9/32 dia. holes, ½ inch deep into a length of ¾ inch thick board.
When finished painting the car, I insert the handle into the hole
in the board. This supports
the car while the paint dries. I
don’t bother filling the hole in the bottom of the car.
After all the paint has dried, I redrill the axle holes to clean
out any paint. As for the
wheels, I think they should be finished with two coats of Minwax Wipe on Poly.
You do not have to scuff sand.
This leaves at least some visible wood on the car.
Use the dowel handle technique as mentioned above. I have
heard a number of members say that they don’t like to paint or they
can’t paint. Try this
method and I think you will have success. Bob Roach
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