Giant Santa Carving

Colin, I have painted for 40 plus years, but have to admit nothing the size of what you do, so don't know if I can help with the paint...but what I would do....is contact a local paint store, tell them what you are doing and see if they have a paint that is similar to the hobby acrylics...if so, you can play with it and mix with water with very little pigment etc and get a feel for it...if you just get an opaque paint like a latex, you may or may not be happy with it! In the above case, I believe I would take a practice piece and spray with 'deft' to seal first and then play with the paint....a practice piece is a good idea all the way around..sorry wish I could tell you just what to use! One drawback to latex, is dries too fast to be able to blend and is flat so you would probably want a little shine to protect the paint etc...the problem with oils is the cost for one and the time to dry etc.....not much help huh?

Colin..I just had a thought...whew that hurt! How about the colored stains we see in the hardward store..wouldn't be opaque, but would probably look just fine, I would seal with that minwax sealer first if compatible so your stain wouldn't bleed...

Thanks Dave,
I think I will probably go with the stain and hope that it looks ok. Only problem with it is that if I Dont like it I cant paint over it. Well I am not to the painting stage for a few more days so I will think about it. Thanks for all the advice makes it hard when you have never painted a piece before. I guess you still havent recieved the package we will give it another week and if nothing I will send another.
Colin

No haven't rec'd the carving yet, but haven't been to post office yet today so will see...as for the carving, I don't know why you couldn't paint over it after staining if you didn't like the stain! you would have to use an opaque paint but would still cover.

Hi Gang,
Well guess what the giant santa is now in the final stages I have about another two hours carving to do and then the painting will begin. Now my question is should I give it a coat of sanding sealer or similar product before painting. Also the wood even after a year and half is still very full of moisture. Will this hurt the sealer I am not sanding the carving and I am applying latex paint I think because the better half wants it bright santa red.
I would appreciate all comments before the painting that will hopefully happen tomorrow.
Colin