treating softwood before painting

[miker]

im making some giant toadstools for a client, nothing fancy , just going to cut slices off some scotts pine and taper top edge with a chainsaw,maybe do some gills underneath, they need to look like fairytail fly agaric,whats the best way to seal the wood before painting bright red, going to drive some 4" round posts into the ground for stems, ideas please

[Chris Sheppard]

Used to use this over bare wood before painting when we used to build showjumps. PVA used to be quite good for going over rough end grain before primering too.

 

What you'll probably have most problem with is the moisture in the wood making any paint or primer be quite delicate - if you can, let them dry out a bit before primering.

[tree monkey]

would the resin in pine be a problem ? will it weep out when painted?