what sponge said; i used wood filler to seal mine.
Not quite MDF, but I gave my Dreamcast the wetsand treatment.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/lapoderosa/th_DSCF1964.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/lapoderosa/th_DSCF1973.jpg
hey guyz im making another MDF box and was wondering when to paint the woodā¦
i am using the box from slagcoin.com. Specifically the simple poplarl using MDF as my woodā¦
for the box structure, there are a total of 7 pieces that i have. should i seal and start now? or Glue the box together first then proceed with the Mirror Finish?
I canāt say Iād take personal time to do this, but it is pretty cool! :bgrin:
-ud
Iād glue, then paint. That way you donāt risk scratching the paint during assembly. However, if you chose to paint first just be sure to avoid painting any of the joints so that the glue will stick with no problem.
As an aside, I ended up trying something different with my latest project. I painted one section of the case with a metallic flake spray paint, which worked pretty well. The other section I ended up using a can of enamel paint, which I applied with a foam roller. Believe it or not, the paint dried to an even finish with no roller marks. I wet sanded both up to 2000 grit. After the enamel paint cured in 7 days I then brushed on about 6 coats of polycrylic, wetsanding with 400 grit between each coat and proceeding as normal after the final coat. Most of the brush strokes evened out once the coat dried, but it neds to be sanded anyway, so it didnāt matter much (and they werenāt an isue coming out). I may have been able to use a foam roller for the polycrylic as well, but I didnāt test that out this go round. The finish looks like glass after itās polished. Iāll be sure to post pics once Iām done.
The painting itself didnāt take much longer than using a spray can. The one thing I likes is I could paint inside without fumigating the place. Seeing as itās a very cold winter, not having to be outside to paint is a good thing. One thing I canāt stress enough when using an enamel paint is waiting for it to cure before adding another coat of anything to it. While itās dry to the touch thereās still chemicals being released from the paint that can and will bubble any additional layer of paint or clearcoat. I had to restart this project twice because I didnāt do this before switching to the roller method. The sad thing is even THAT bubbled when I added the polycrylic the first time (enamel is enamel, whether can or spray).
At some point this year Iāll probably get a compressor and airbrush and try using acrylic paint to see how that works.
hey, ive painted my vewlix frame using this method and after a couple of weeks once the paint has dried a slight hairline crack keeps appearing where i joined on the rounded top, ive sanded it back twice but it still keeps coming back!! does anyone else have this problem with joints on there cases? im assuming its because its mdf and the change in temp is causing it to swell and shrink, any ideas as this is really starting to bug me!!!
What did you seal the edges with?
While Iām at it, hereās the finished paint job I mentioned
Hard to see on the yellow (too bright outside)
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/spenzalii/New%20MvC2%20FIghtstick/Barrage010.jpg
Canāt miss it on the metallic blue!
wow spenzali awesome case! if you were asking me then i sealed everything with an acrylic based mdf primer, i used plastikote spray paints and primers, but im thinking maybe an enamel might prevent this?..
Sponge - I donāt think it was the paint so much that may have caused the cracking. What you may have been able to do is use some spackle, joint compound or even wood putty where the joints were, sand them level and feather the edges, then hit it with the primer.
yes the joint was fairly tight in the first place but i filled it with car body filler then sanded and hit with primer, maybe theres some movement there as its not a solid construction like a box is, i dunno im gonna have to sand down and paint again (this is the last time aaarrrgghhhh) and hopefully it wont come back, im gonna try some enamel i think rather than the acrylic based spray i used before, hopefully it wont shrink.
a couple of pics to show what i mean although you cant see it here, like i said its flat at first but after a couple of weeks it appears,
http://tinypic.com/r/16k97c3/5
http://tinypic.com/r/e83jmu/5
Hey guys, I want to start on my QCF Happ stick and try to at least achieve half decent results as the OP. I sent my cousin out to get wood filler and primer to start and wanted to know if anyone had any opinions on these ones:
He also got 400 grit and 600 grit sandpaper. As far as the Happ case is concerned, only the rounded edges on the case looks like they need to be sealed (similar to JMroās post on page 10).
Any thoughts?
hey man sorry for the nooby question. I was wondering how you got that glittery effect on the metallic blue stick. Did you do anything special besides what the tutorial says or is the paint just glittery like that? and if so can you please tell me the name of that paint and brand. Iām looking for a black or red one like that. Please & thank you 
Nice stick btw.:woot:
What if it was hot and humid? Lol.
Actually though, itās a legit question. I was thinking about doing this and Georgia is known for extremely hot and humid weather.
I think thatās probably automobile paint.
You are correct. I used Duplicolor Metallic Flake paint, wet sanded it up to 2000 grit then finished it with a top coat of polycrylic for protection and shine.
Thatās up to you. If the finish looks good enough to you after you spray one or two coats of paint on, feel free to stop there. But if you want the super smooth, super shiny finish, follow the steps outlined and you wonāt be sorry.
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Hey guys, while I have very little to do with Street Fighter, I stumbled across this tutorial via Google and I think you guys could help/give me some advice that I needā¦ Sorry to bump this thread.
Iām planning on repainting my (old-ish) laptop (and making a decent job out of it), and this tutorial has told me a lot that I need to do to get a good quality finish. Of course, my laptop casing is plastic and not MDF so thereās obviously going to be a few changes to the technique.
For a start, I figure Iām not going to need the āfillerā primer and regular primer will do fine, and neither will I need the Spackling.
My question is then, what other differences are there between this tutorial, and the techniques for painting plastic? Any info or advice you guys could offer would be great. I assume that the sanding/coating steps would be the same.
As far as I have it figured, these are the steps I need to take:
- Sand all surfaces with 400grit dry sandpaper to prep for priming
- Apply several thin coats of primer, allow to dry, and sand again. Repeat once.
- After sanding the 2nd coat of primer with 400grit dry sandpaper, apply several thin coats of colour to make the first official colour coat. Leave to dry.
- Wet-sand this with 400grit paper, clean and lay down a 2nd colour coat.
- Wet-sand the 2nd coat and apply clear coat
- Wet-sand the clear coat starting at 600grit and moving up to 2000grit.
- Polish with rubbing compound and swirl remover.
Does this sound about right?
I also want to paint some decals using a stencil/template at some stage during this process. Can someone recommend at which stage to do this?
Thanks so much in advance.
this shit was a good read real talkā¦srk needs more threads like thisā¦
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Patience!
One important thing is when you get to the end and you spray the clear on even if it looks a little crappy and spottyā¦ once you wet sand it then rubbing compound itā¦ it all goes away. I got so paranoid doing one that I actually resprayed another paint layer after sanding down the clear. I didnāt need to do it at all.
Here is the finished product:
Thanks again for the tutorial.Pa
this is really good. though it seems that you really need to be patient to get great results. will try it out 
let me show you how its doneā¦
/Users/brycefauver/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Previews/2012/03/21/20120321-223141/2012-02-16_18-23-44_475.jpg