Skincoating lauan w/ Muslin

[Lisa Borton]

Hi all!

We’re creating some hard scenery legs & borders using wood framing, covered in lauan, and then skin coated in muslin so that I can paint on a hard surface but with the smoothness of muslin. Can anyone recommend the best way to apply the muslin? Starch? Thinned paint? Applying larger pieces of muslin and then trimming it down once it’s dry? Is there any danger in the muslin tightening and warping the lauan? Help.

Thank you!

Lisa

[Sarathescenic]

Hi Lisa,

I’m sure there are many ways to do this, but here’s what we do at CTC in Minneapolis. And these are mostly observations because this job falls under carpenter duties most places where I work. We use flex glue to adhere the muslin to the lauan. It can be rollered on and dries clear. You want to be careful to not leave any holidays or there might be a bubble or wrinkle in the muslin. You also want to be careful not leave any puddles of glue or you will get glue burns through the front. A nice even thin coat of glue is key. Using a wallpaper method of applying the muslin works well. I.E. have your piece cut a little bigger than what you want and folded up like an accordion. Then apply the glue in a manageable strip, say 2′-3′, and then smooth the muslin like wallpaper. Then move to the next section, repeating those same steps. Make sure you get the edge burnished well. The muslin will shrink a little so do not wrap the muslin around the edge on the first pass. If the lauan is attached to the frame it will not warp. (*caveat: We make flats out of steel, not wood, so we haven’t run into warping) To take care of the edges, you can either cut off the excess after the front has dried or for a cleaner look, glue down the excess on the side of the flat after the front has dried. You may need to reglue the perimeter of the flat if you choose to cut the excess off because when the muslin shrinks it can pull up around the edges.

Then once all is glued and dried, we size the muslin with thinned flex glue. About the consistency of skim milk. Flex glue will show dry edges, so it’s important to size a whole wall in one pass.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

[EvanWRapp]

I’ve used elmers glue mixed 50/50 with water. We did this recently on very large pieces of scenery. I mixed the glue and water, applied to the wood with a 9″ roller, laid the muslin on, brushed it out with a wallpaper brush, then rolled the mixture on top while it was still wet.

I’m not sure if any of what I did was “proper” but it worked well and it went quickly. We had no issues with delamination and it was a nice surface to paint on.

It was also fun picking the glue off of my hands

[Author]

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