Hey all, newbie first time builder here, working on Rolife’s Sakura Densya book nook. I recently completed one of the pieces that includes a white cat sitting on a window sill.
I have an orangeboi at home, and he is my whole world. My partner suggested we colorize him to match (just by making the white cat orange). However, since this is the first time I have ever built a book nook, I am VERY EXTREMELY NERVOUS of messing things up.
For those of you who are more seasoned, what are some do’s/don’t’s or tips and tricks when it comes to doing some relatively light customization of pieces? For the record, I don’t have a lot of craft supplies or knowledge, but it would seem that colorizing a white piece of wood should be fairly easy, right?
Thank you in advance for any help or insight you can offer!
Hey, thanks for responding! The cat figure appears to be made of the same lightweight (balsa?) wood as most of the other props/pieces. It isn’t one of the cardboard signs or lights or anything like that, but rather one of the pieces from the wood that you have to punch out
Welcome to the community if i want to try something i use a piece of plain wood what is left over off the sheet and try what happened to the wood. If i like it i going to paint the piece i want to paint. There are a lot of tip and tricks about painting. At the top of the page you will see a magnifying glass. If you click on it and enter paint you will see all articles about painting. If you have questions let me know and i’m here to help
Welcome to the group @TheOneStew . I only wanted 1 kit. Others here painted for than I do. I suggest don’t do thick layer. Each layer should be think so it will dry quicker. If you think it doesn’t give a good coverage then do 2nd layer. Always wait for the paint to dry before adding more layers as I find if the paint is still wet you can see the brush stroke.
Thanks for the recommendation @Jerry_Boswijk . Yes, you can easily paint the small pieces wether they are wood or thick paper. I painted the paper canopy on the dream gift factory without issues. I use apple barrel acrylics from Walmart. I’m sure it will turn out lovely.
You can color the wood however you want. With bookends there isn’t much customization. They are easy to assemble and come in a variety of colors. Good luck to you
What type of brush should I use? Foam? a super small paint brush? (im not doing fine detailing, just wanting to colorswap what originally was a white cat and make it look more like my orange cat). Sadly not too much help has been given yet
If you want the whole cat to be orange and it has details you wish to keep, you might consider dipping it in a stain rather than using a paint. I havent tried this yet so i would test it on a scrap piece of timber first thats similar to the cat.
Enjoy! I look forward to seeing your results and what you end up doing!
Hey all, back with an update! After trying a few different products to see how color would take to the white wood, my partner and I ended up settling on a super basic approach: An orange colored pencil and an orange marker. We used heavy shading with the pencil along the back of the cat and along the “etchings/grooves” that mark legs/whiskers/etc, and then doubled over that with a thin line of orange marker. With shading, the coloration came out perfectly and gives the impression of soft, orange-cream colored fur, which is EXACTLY what we were going for. I haven’t figured out how to upload pics on here yet, and I know one or two asked to see how it came out (as soon as I figure out I’ll post again).
What we did was by no means intricate or impressive, but to me…for my project and what it means to me to be able to build this with my partner…it is the definition of perfect. Thank you all for being so welcoming!
I have to be honest, I’ve already started eyeing up my next book nook and I can’t wait to let you know how that one goes, too!
To upload a pic, look for the symbol with an arrow pointing upwards. I am NOT a tech savvy person so I struggled in the beginning as well. I have also discovered that if doing so from my phone, it is much easier to select a ‘tag’ at the end. Hope this helps.
This sounds perfect. If you want to upload a photo you can click the button with the arrow. You can choose a photo. Wait till uploading is gone in the right down corner and you can post your photo good luck!
if i want to try something i use a piece of plain wood what is left over off the sheet and try what happened to the wood. If i like it i going to paint the piece i want to paint. There are a lot of tip and tricks about painting. At the top of the page you will see a magnifying glass. If you click on it and enter paint you will see all articles about painting. If you have questions let me know and i’m here to help
good luck!
