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Hi All!

I'm new to this dollhouse hobby and am currently working on the Greenleaf Orchid. My question is: how do you prevent craft wood from warping during the painting process?

I haven't done much yet, but I have tried painting balsa wood with acrylic paint, only to find the wood warps from the moisture. Any advice on how to stop this? Some of the responses online in other forums I've found are:

- use a thinner amount of paint (but I still feel the wood will warp)

- use a sealer to prime the wood for painting (if this is what you do, what do you use and how do you apply it? I can't find a youtube video or information on this). One brand suggestion is the minwax polycrylic.

Any advice, tips or tricks would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

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Hi Gee, and welcome to the forum! :chat:

It's the moisture in the paint soaking into the wood that causes the warping. Balsa and the plywood in your Orchid kit are two different animals. The kit wood will not warp as badly.

Using a couple of thin coats of paint will not cause as much warping as blobbing on a lot of paint for an instant  heavy coverage. Painting both sides of the piece at the same time will also reduce warping. Sealer can also cause warping. Shucks, water can cause warping! Use a light hand and you'll be fine.

Good advice for beginners: be ready to experiment. 

Keep in mind that any mild warping will straighten out. as you assemble the house. That's one of the advantages of tab-and-slot construction.

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Thank you for the reply and welcome, Kathie!

I was trying my hand at making beginner, small pieces of furniture (a very small shelf) but was dismayed when the balsa warped after the painting. I will try smaller coats and see how it works with the balsa but I do realize it's a very porous wood that absorbs a lot 😕

The Orchid is about 1/4 assembled as of now, it's a relief to know it won't warp as much as the balsa (but I am thankful you replied to this question before I started!) I am having trouble deciding what colors I want for the exterior. This may be weird but I am debating trying different types of finishes (like brick on one side wall, "stucco" on another, etc) for when I move on to a larger, more expensive kit (I've already bought the real good toys allison jr.)

Thank you again!

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Gee, it helps to prime the plywood with a couple of light coats of a flat primer.  I use flat white or off-white interior latex paint to prime with.  I make my mini furniture from basswood, not balsa, which is very soft and fuzzy and doesn't sand smooth, and takes stain nicely:

diningroom.JPG

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14 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

Gee, it helps to prime the plywood with a couple of light coats of a flat primer.  I use flat white or off-white interior latex paint to prime with.  I make my mini furniture from basswood, not balsa, which is very soft and fuzzy and doesn't sand smooth, and takes stain nicely:

diningroom.JPG

Awesome idea! I know basswood is more supportive for furniture, but my cutting methods are pretty basic right now and basswood is a pain in the butt for me to cut with a miter saw and box 😩

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Depends on what you want. if you want the wood to show. If you want the wood to sort of suck in paint a bit, or not. You can use gesso, you can use paint in liberal amounts first, you can use clear acrylic base, so basically paint without the color, to make it not suck in water, you can use spray gloss. If you use spray gloss in many thin layers you will get a rough surface.

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Hello! I've found that non-water based products work much better. So, I age my would with Age-it if I don't want the painted look, I use oil based stains with no warpage, a bigger clean up mess. I've been experimenting with some oil based paints, they do pretty good, but they take a looooong time to dry, otherwise, I use acrylic and like others have said paint both sides or spritz water on the back side. 

Kim

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When using basswood, before painting I first spray both sides with Krylon Matte Finish. If it's a piece that absolutely positively must not warp, I'll next apply a light coat of acrylic paint, dry with a blow dryer, then do the same on the back side. Finally I'll apply the finish coat of paint. I don't recall ever having a warpage problem doing this. 

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