Painting on Masonite

[uncbob]

Anybody who used painted Masonite /sky blue clouds trees  etc for a background

Did you prime the Masonite or paint the sky blue right onto the surface ?

[Jim Banner]

I primed it with an oil based primer.  I have had some masonite (probably the untempered type) go bumpy with water based primer.  I then painted on blue sky, fading to white using latex paints and water.

Jim

[uncbob]

Dide you prime both sides ?

[Jim Banner]

No, just the finish side.  It did not warp even though it is in 4' x 8' sheets supported only around the edges.

Jim

[Woody Elmore]

I worked on a backdrop once for a club. It was untempered masonite and I put the smooth side out. Most artists will tell you to paint on the back, rough side. It is like painting on canvas. If you use a  latex base color for the sky, you can then detail using artist's acrylics and/or oils.

[uncbob]

I just this evening used a interior latex primer and then the sky blue latex on a test piece
Worked well

[pdlethbridge]

I had some masonite for a scenic divider  and it was painted both sides with latex sky blue from sears. Worked great and looked real good.

[rogertra]

The late Great Eastern Railway had tempered Masonite backdrops painted using ordinary household latex paint.

I painted the smooth side only.  First with a flat white as an undercoat and then the finish sky and hills etc., with flat latex paint.

You can see what it looked like via the link in following my signature.

[uncbob]

The late Great Eastern Railway had tempered Masonite backdrops painted using ordinary household latex paint.

I painted the smooth side only.  First with a flat white as an undercoat and then the finish sky and hills etc., with flat latex paint.

You can see what it looked like via the link in following my signature.

You did a great job on the clouds and trees
Want to do mine

[Joe Satnik]

Dear uncbob,

Wow, great start. 

What are the dimensions?  (Guess 7'x10'). 

How high is the table top and duck-under? 

What are the radii of the concentric curves?

How wide are the shelves?

Have you considered filling in the inside corners with concave right triangles <(  to accommodate shorter radii concentric curves?   

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[uncbob]

6 1/2 x -91/2

22 and 24 radius

52 " off the floor

Duck under  is 50" off the floor

left shelf is 15--  right is 18 1/2 -- front and back are 12

[Joe Satnik]

Make/style/code of track, roadbed?

[uncbob]

Atlas code 83 sectional and flex

Scenic roadbed

[CNE Runner]

Bob - On my more recent mini layouts I used Masonite...following the procedure that most of the other posters detailed. In one occasion I painted the backdrop sky blue - the went over it with an almost dry roller of white. The trick is to 'feather' the white out from the bottom of the backdrop upward. If you look out at the natural horizon you will see the sky is a very pale shade of blue at the horizon that progressively gets darker (blue) as one looks higher. Just a suggestion. BTW: This process took several tries to look acceptable...an artist I am not.

Regards,
Ray

[NarrowMinded]

I can't remember where I saw it, But someone had glued white puffy fiber stuffing to a back ground to create 3D clouds it looked pretty good.

NM