Painting plastic doors

[tizme]

I got a house kit for Christmas.  It us mdf. Every internal surface is covered by a shiny plastic coating. So lots of sanding to get paint and paper to stick. All internal doors are a very light brown plastic and are already in place. How can I paint these doors. They need to be a red mahogany. What type of paint do I need

[FurMama]

Many of the different brands of craft paints will adhere to plastic and specify on the label so let that be your guide for best results. To get it to look like red mahogany you may have to mix two different colors and or paint little lines in it with a toothpick to look like wood grain. I particularly love Rust-Oleum spray paint for real life projects with plastic. Since your doors are already in place that wouldn't be too good but you can spray the paint on an old plastic TV dinner tray or a paper plate to make a puddle, then dip a brush in the puddle then onto the doors. They do have Rust-Oleum in  regular cans too but not quite the color selection. 

[havanaholly]

Would it be possible to remove the plastic doors so you could work on them outside of the house, and then re-install them?

[tizme]

2 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Would it be possible to remove the plastic doors so you could work on them outside of the house, and then re-install them?

They appear to be wedged and glued. So not an option. I would prefer to replace them with wood ones.

 

2 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Would it be possible to remove the plastic doors so you could work on them outside of the house, and then re-install them?

 

2 hours ago, FurMama said:

Many of the different brands of craft paints will adhere to plastic and specify on the label so let that be your guide for best results. To get it to look like red mahogany you may have to mix two different colors and or paint little lines in it with a toothpick to look like wood grain. I particularly love Rust-Oleum spray paint for real life projects with plastic. Since your doors are already in place that wouldn't be too good but you can spray the paint on an old plastic TV dinner tray or a paper plate to make a puddle, then dip a brush in the puddle then onto the doors. They do have Rust-Oleum in  regular cans too but not quite the color selection. 

Ty. I will try that.

[havanaholly]

34 minutes ago, tizme said:

...I would prefer to replace them with wood ones.

If it were me I would carefully use my X-acto knife to loosen the plastic doors and remove them, then I would tape a piece of scrap paper over the door opening and trace around it (or carefully measure the opening and make a pattern on a piece of paper).  I would them take some strip wood the width of the mdf and cut it to fit within the drawn  rectangle of the door opening and assemble it in my magnetic gluing jig and when it's dry I'd place it back on the paper pattern and carefully draw around the inner part of what is the door frame.  I would cut this inner rectangle out and use it to cut interior doors from 1/4" basswood (which takes stain well and is smoother than balsa).   Once I have done whatever finishing I wanted for the door (including knobs and sanding the edge I'm going to hinge into a curve) I would place the door inside the door frame and set the assembly into my bench vise and gently hammer a steel dressmaker's pin through the top of the door frame 1/2" - 1" into the door's hinge edge top and cut off the excess, then hammer it flush.  I would then take the door assembly and turn it upside down in the vise and repeat the process (checking which is the hinge edge).  It's ready to glue into the doorway and I would cut my door frame trim to cover the strip wood frame but allow the door to move.  I made all the interior and exterior doors in my Washington 2.0 farmhouse that way:  

Assuming all your interior door openings are the same size, you're good to go.

[tizme]

5 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

If it were me I would carefully use my X-acto knife to loosen the plastic doors and remove them, then I would tape a piece of scrap paper over the door opening and trace around it (or carefully measure the opening and make a pattern on a piece of paper).  I would them take some strip wood the width of the mdf and cut it to fit within the drawn  rectangle of the door opening and assemble it in my magnetic gluing jig and when it's dry I'd place it back on the paper pattern and carefully draw around the inner part of what is the door frame.  I would cut this inner rectangle out and use it to cut interior doors from 1/4" basswood (which takes stain well and is smoother than balsa).   Once I have done whatever finishing I wanted for the door (including knobs and sanding the edge I'm going to hinge into a curve) I would place the door inside the door frame and set the assembly into my bench vise and gently hammer a steel dressmaker's pin through the top of the door frame 1/2" - 1" into the door's hinge edge top and cut off the excess, then hammer it flush.  I would then take the door assembly and turn it upside down in the vise and repeat the process (checking which is the hinge edge).  It's ready to glue into the doorway and I would cut my door frame trim to cover the strip wood frame but allow the door to move.  I made all the interior and exterior doors in my Washington 2.0 farmhouse that way:  

Assuming all your interior door openings are the same size, you're good to go.

That would be ideal but I don't have the tools. As I don't plan on building another I don't think investing in the tools is a option. 

[havanaholly]

If you have a vocational high school in your area with a woodworking shop, perhaps they could help you out?

[tizme]

2 hours ago, havanaholly said:

If you have a vocational high school in your area with a woodworking shop, perhaps they could help you out?

I didn't think of that ty

[fov]

What brand is the kit? Just curious, I don't think I've ever heard of an MDF dollhouse with pre-installed plastic doors.

You could try painting the doors with Testors model paint. I used that on plastic Tomy chairs that started out orange, painting them dark brown.

Another option for plastic is to paint with Gesso first. This adds a texture that allows paint to adhere to it.

[tizme]

4 hours ago, fov said:

What brand is the kit? Just curious, I don't think I've ever heard of an MDF dollhouse with pre-installed plastic doors.

You could try painting the doors with Testors model paint. I used that on plastic Tomy chairs that started out orange, painting them dark brown.

Another option for plastic is to paint with Gesso first. This adds a texture that allows paint to adhere to it.

Streets ahead,  Mayfair house kit. 

[FurMama]

Beautiful house. You have enough posts to start an album in the Members Gallery. Would love to see your progress. We like eye candy around here

Edited January 9 by FurMama
Hit submit too soon

[tizme]

On 1/9/2024 at 11:31 AM, FurMama said:

Beautiful house. You have enough posts to start an album in the Members Gallery. Would love to see your progress. We like eye candy around here

The progress is very slow. All internal walls are covered in a plastic wood effect coating which I have had to sand so paint will stick. The instructions are on one side of A4. Most of it is obvious but not how to connect the stairs to the landing. I'm still on the painting bit lol. Then it's putting in for lights then I will build. I will work out how to do the album bit. So I can show the way I've tackled it. I would have been lost without this forum.  You guys are awesome 👌