Fretsaw project: Wacky Races - Dick Dastardly & Muttley

[yamatetsu]

"Wacky Races: Dick Dastardly & Muttley"

46 x 40cm, backer board 4mm, Dick & Muttley 4mm, Dick & Muttley backer boards 4mm thick, 'cheap' DIY store ply, done with a hand held fretsaw with a #1 blade.

 

[daveww1]

nice job

[Scrappile]

Is that segmentation?  Very fine detail.  Great cutting.

[yamatetsu]

1 hour ago, Scrappile said:

Is that segmentation?  Very fine detail.  Great cutting.

Yep. I start by cutting two boards to the exact same size, one to be the bottom layer, the other, the top.

I then cut the first piece. When that's done, I paint it completely, except for the bottom. I set that one aside to dry.

While the first piece is drying, I cut and paint the next one. After three or four pieces, the top layer has basically become a template.

I put that template on the bottom layer, aligning them perfectly. Now, to glue my pieces to the bottom layer, I just have to plop them into their respective holes and then gently lift the top layer to avoid getting it glued to the bottom layer accidentally.

Rinse and repeat. 

Edit: This is a special case, since Dick Dastardly and Muttley are basically two separate pictures.

So I made three backer boards, the big one I glued Dick & Muttley on, and a backer board for Dick & Muttley each. I then made two top layer boards.

I used double tape to tape the backer boards to the top layers and then cut out Dick & Muttley's shapes out of the two boards. So I ended up with two backer boards in Dick & Muttley shape and two top layers in the exact size & shape. From this point on I used the process of cutting and glueing the pieces to finally get Dick & Muttley on their backer boards, which I then glued on the big backer board.

Edited June 29, 2025 by yamatetsu

[FrankEV]

Very well done.  

How do you paint?  Looks too smooth for a brush especially on cheap ply.  Is the black limes following the joints?

  

[yamatetsu]

1 hour ago, FrankEV said:

How do you paint?  Looks too smooth for a brush especially on cheap ply. 

I use a brush. Small pieces I can give that smooth look, larger pieces sometimes don't look that good, those I work over with a foam roller.

 

1 hour ago, FrankEV said:

Is the black limes following the joints?  

The backer board is painted black. So by glueing the painted pieces to the exact places where they belong, the black lines are created automagically because they are the only pieces of the backer board that are still visible.

[rjweb]

Looks great, thx for explaining your process, RJ

[Gonzo]

Looks great!  Wacky Races, I loved that cartoon. You should do one of the character Penelope Pitstop.

[wombatie]

They look amazing.  Excellent work.

Marg