particle board for big full-scale props?

[Sulla]

I've been reading through itsawrap's trek auctions and the have some ENT consoles up on the block. In the description of each piece they say they are pretty much made of particle board.

I am getting ready to build some full scale trek consoles of my own, and was wondering, If I used particle board, how would I seal the seams (like at corners) to make it look like one smooth extruded part? Would bondo and sanding work or is there a trick I am not aware of?

 

[exoray]

Use MDF instead of particle board, seal it with common shellac and seams can then be bondo, wood filler or even plastered smooth if needed...

Once you seal MDF with a few good coats of shellac you can sand it to near glass smooth without much work... So unless you have large voids (small ones can be filled with the shellac) you won't even need any additional fillers...

 

[clonesix]

laminate a skin on it, either formica or any other surface.

 

[Raffles]

We used to use MDF as base blocks for all our studio models. We used contact adhesive and coloured or plain styrene sheet to finish the surface.