OK so I went out on a limb, spent $17 on a small laser cut wood shack kit because I wanted to see what wood kits are all about. I’ve opened the package, poked around and from what I see it seems straight forward and simple enough. However I have one question that may be hard for you folks to understand but I am going to throw it out there anyways…
So this kit came with either super thin white wood or cardstock that has siding lines printed on it for realism on the shack. However, this white material has these very fine but decently long and definitly noticable grey wood fibres so the white isnt a pure white but has these unrealistic looking grey fibres. I tried taking a picture but the fibres do not show up on my camera.
My question to you is this: Should I paint over this and get rid of the siding lines or is this just an issue inherant with wood kit models and I should leave it as it gives the building a bit of a ‘dirtier’ look when viewed from more than a coupel feet away? Or perhaps theres a way to cover up these fibres? Any and all suggestions would be most welcomed!
I am not a fan of wood kits, but it sounds to me as if the cardstock is to be used in conjunction with the wood siding. The cardstock is likely for sub-walls, with the printed guide lines to aid in installation of the wood for the finished outside walls. The instructions should tell you whether the wood is to be applied to the cardstock first or if the cardstock is to be assembled into a sub-structure, with the wood applied later.
No no… the white cardstock that has the printed siding on it goes on a more solid wood wall. The cardstock is white and printed and is meant to look like a white siding for the wall of the shack.
Hmmm, I’ve not made the jump into one of these new wooden kits yet. I have been eying the NP standard station kit for a couple years now. All of my wooden kits were the Campbell type from 30 years ago. I will be watching what people think / recommend with interest.
If the cardstock is meant to represent the visible wall, for what is the thin white wood used? It seems unusual to me that a laser-cut kit would supply one-dimensional material for such a purpose.
It might help if we knew to which kit you’re referring: a quick google search turned up only this one in that price range, and it appears to be only a partial structure.
Could the cardstock be for the roof? I have seen cardstock sub-roofs on some craft kits, with lines printed so you can line up the shingles that cone with the kit.
It would be helpful to know the brand of kit you are using?
It sounds like the card-stock siding is meant to be a laminate for the wood? Most all the laser kits that I have built use milled wood sheet with the clapboards milled into the wood rather than as a card laminate. Anyway the kit instructions should provide details on painting, but if they do not, I would assemble the walls, apply the card stock laminate and any interior bracing before attempting to paint the exterior.
One thing to remember about wooden, laser cut, structure kits is that most of them are made by small companies. The quality of the materials and the instructions, varies tremendously between brands, so you can’t really judge wooden kits as a whole based on one kit.
I dont know if the white is cardstock or just very thin wood. I am going to lean on the side of cardstock because I do not think wood has the grey fibres I am seeing. The cardstock is definitly not for the roof. I know exactly which part of the kit is for the roof. Unfortunatly the instructions do not say anything about painting this siding. I am thinking they have created it to be left as is on the model. Its just the grey fibres that worry me. I was hoping someone else might have run into a similar situation like this.
The sheet of cardstock is meant to be glued onto the more sturdy plain wood walls. It gives it the look of white siding without me personally having to paint lines to replicate siding.
Since you’re familiar with their website, why not see if you can drop CGLaser an e-mail and ask them about it?? The picture makes it hard to tell about wood siding or what it is. Do the “gray fibers” look like they might be meant to represent places where the white paint has faded and the gray wood under the paint is showing thru??
OK, the kit comes with siding that have printed lines to represent clapboards or shingle or board and batten. If printed, the material is likely cardstock, 'cause running sheet basswood thru a printing press won’t work.
And the pre printed cardstock walls look kinda ugly due to something fiberous in the cardstock?
You might try asking the kit maker for a replacement piece of wall cardstock. Tell him it was damaged.
Not familiar with GC laser other than having heard of them and seen their adverts. I would certainly drop them an email, explain you are a first time buyer of such a kit and ask about painting recommendations, mentioning of course your concern.
The response you get will tell you a lot about the company.
Regardless of how the wood and/or cardstock parts are intended to be used, I’d say your finished model will look better appropriately painted, which would make the darker-colored fibers a non-issue.
I have built many GC Laser kits, but I know they came out with a less expensive set of them that were some form of card stock. I don’t have any of those, as card stock usually warps due to my unstable environment (over 100yr old house). I would try a wash of the color (like a stain) you would want, but it may blend out some of the printing. Howerver, if it is laser scribed, even airbrushing full strenght paint won’t fill the cut marks. I would test both methods on a fret or a knockout if there are any.
A lot of GC Laser’s kits have cardstock walls. The fact the walls are white is indicative of the color of the basic material only. The cardstock is probably stamped to provide the 3-D siding effect, a side effect of which would be the “fibers.” As with virtually any craftsman kit, the parts are intended to be painted.
Rob’s right, as further evidenced by the photo on the web page the Original Poster provided. The GC Laser kits I’ve seen have reasonably clear instructions, including guidance for finishing the kit (paint, stain, etc.) Surprised if that’s not the case here.
OK I shall drop them an email and see if the fibers are supposed to be there. I work in the printing industry and most low quality cardstock does have those fibers. We’ll see if they have any instructions for me.
For whatever reason I think you guys think the kit is a cardstock kit. It is a wood kit. Everything is laser cut wood minus the cardstock that is glue on top of wood walls and the roof panels. It is just for a finish that is all. Structurally it is all wood. And the cardstock is not stamped. It only has lines printed on them.
So if I repaint it, do you guys have any advice on how to make it look like siding again if those printed lines will be disappearing once I paint it. They would have to be super fine lines. Or should I not even bother with this cardstock and paint the wood walls themselves?
Thank you everyone for your responses! If I forgot to respond to you or I sounded harsh at all, I am trying to write this in 5 minutes at a Mcdonals lol. I apologize in advance. I really need internet at home… :S
I agree with Steve (do I get brownie points for siding with the Editorial Staff?[:D] – maybe a free issue?? [;)]).
I’ve used several wood kits (though not a GC Laser Kit). I’d never leave one unpainted. Even if I wanted raw wood, I’d dapple something on to represent weathering. Just paint over it.
GC Laser’s site mentions that kits looking similar to yours have “laser-etched wall appliques.” I didn’t catch that earlier (a lot of older kits used stamped cardstock). I would assume the lines are intended to remain visible after painting, but if there is no texture at all that sounds like an odd kit design.
Use spray paint or an airbrush to get an even, thin coat of paint, assuming there’s an actual texture to the appliques and not just printing. The plain wood sub-walls probably won’t look like much, painted or not. You could make new appliques from something that would retain visible siding detail, like Evergreen styrene.
Report back on what the manufacturer tells you. If the siding detail has insufficient relief to stand up to painting, I don’t think I’d purchase one of their kits with the cardstock appliques.
Build a lot of wood kits and believe me , they are not all equal and I have seen some that are just plain bad all the way up to masterpieces. Unfortunately a bad first experience can swear someone off of wood kits. I personally hate the peal and stick windows on some. If you want a good cheap experience go to railroadkits.com, they have a good one for under $10. As far as your siding it sounds like one of the new high-bread materials it is hard to keep up with the new laser materials but it sounds like a ply with the top layer being a type of paper .