Working with 1/144 scale

[CheckMouse]

I hope someone out there can help me with this. I've been reading tutorials until my eyes are crossed I somehow got on a 1/144 scale kick and am having a lot of fun with it except for one problem. As soon as I touch paint to the wood it tries to curl up and die! I have to put the pieces, still wet, under a heavy weight to straighten them out, then let them dry for hours. At first I was using a water-based paint that I had on hand. I thought that was the problem so I went out and bought a can of "official" sealer paint for wood -- same result.

I really don't want all my houses to look like the star of: "There was a crooked little house, with a little crooked man ..."

Is it because the wood pieces are so thin? Anybody know the solution for this problem??

[spike]

Hello Claudia, I would suspect the wood sealer you bought to also be water based. I have been making my own furniture and have had warping problems also, what I found worked was to coat the wood with a fast drying varathan or lacquer before painting. No more warping. I'd try a little piece (Oh, yeah, right..like you have any BIG pieces! ) hope this helps!

[CheckMouse]

Thanks, Viola. I'll head back to the store! Any problem with painting over that with a water-based paint? I sure prefer the w-b -- so much easier to clean up.

[LLyn M.]

Does anyone know if Mod Podge would work on small scale?? I've used it on reg. sized DHs with no problems.....and it washes with water.

[CheckMouse]

Yesterday I took a tiny scrap (got a magnifying glass??) of wood from the current house I'm working on; there isn't much left-over wood in that kit. Anyhow, I sealed it with a MinWax product: Wood Finish - Penetrates, Stains, Seals. The wood did NOT warp :yes:

After it dried I painted it with a water based paint and it is still okay, but has a slight warp to it -- no pressing. Maybe I need to stay with a better grade of paint, in acrylic. I hate to confess I'm using the cheaper water paints from a kids' set. I had those on hand from when my granddaughter was here last summer.

Perhaps I should upgrade a bit and stay away from water-based! :o

[pin1056]

interesting topic

got my 1/144th Beacon kit out last night to look at it.... :o so many tiny bits :yes: ....put it away again

[sparklepuppies]

interesting topic

got my 1/144th Beacon kit out last night to look at it.... :o so many tiny bits :yes: ....put it away again

Ha Linda! I did the same thing last week when mine came in too.

[Alamom]

I pulled out my kit last night and stained the three floors with Folkart cherry stain. I used very thin coats and I only had one piece that wanted to bow ever so slightly. I put all three pieces between waxed paper with a heavy book on top overnight. This morning they are are very straight and stained very nicely. Now on to figure out all these other teeny tiny parts. :yes:

[Brezavaqt]

You all are SO brave! My 144th is still in it's packaging! One day I will brave it!

[CheckMouse]

I expect it will be awhile before I can afford the full-sized Garfield -- so I bought it in 1/144 scale :yes:

It's still in the package, and will probably stay there for awhile! That's a lot of little tiny pieces!

[CheckMouse]

OK -- here it is, just waiting for Farmer Brown and his wife to move in! This is really a fun mini-project to work on during the TV shows. I have a table with wheels pulled up to my chair, and then I don't feel like I'm wasting so much time on TV.

It's not perfect, I learned a lot on what to do / not do on the next one. But this is my first ever attempt in the 1/144 scale so I'm rather pleased. :yes:

[pin1056]

wowsers your first attempt is great!!! :yes:

[Alamom]

Great Job! They are Tiny aren't they!!! :yes:

[kfkelly]

It looks incredible! I don't think I have the ability (or the eyesight!) to do that detail on such a small scale. Your house looks great!

Kirsten

[CheckMouse]

Thanks -- I have definitely learned a few things about this! First off, any interior detail work MUST be done before assembly! We get spoiled with the 1:12 scale because we can always go back and change things. With this one, unless you have 1:12 scale fingers, there's no "doing it later" :o And I would not recommend doing this with any fast-acting glue. I was so glad I was using Elmer's, that takes quite a while to dry -- twice after positioning something I sat back and looked at it, and then it was NOOOOO! :yes: Fortunately I could undo it, lightly sand off the glue and start over.

My next tiny one is a red barn to go with the farmhouse. I don't think I'll be tackling scale horses to go with it -- made by carving toothpicks!

[havanaholly]

Claudia, try the hobby shop for model railroad people & animals, maybe N- or Z-scale (I think Ed_Cal once posted athe ratios for the various train scales). Also, if you blot your brush on paper towel and don't LOAD it with paint when painting the wee pieces, they might not curl so much.