Whats the best way so far to get the MDF side plates to be black and not be shit?
When my company wanted mock up’s or demos they would use CNC’d MDF then paint it first with “Spray Putty”, a thick automotive sealer used for panel repair. Sand back, clean then spray paint. The spray putty would seal the edges and give a smooth consistent finish. May need to do a couple of coats and sand till it’s smooth but would come up well enough to be used in product brochures. Just mask any holes/areas you wish to keep.
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I use this on a similar MDF part for another job and it worked well
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The trick is to use a product that “flashes” off quickly - most paints will raise some of the surface and if you are not careful or a bit unlucky you could get into quite a mess.
For sealing before painting Shellac is good, a methylated spirits based primer is good (BIN 1-2-3) and as above, spray primer/fillers are great as well. If you lay down a thin first coat it will be dry almost before it hits the surface and you’ve got a great starting point.
Using satin finish paint helps too, and once you think it’s good enough - a couple of coats of clear over the top will make it look like the duck’s nuts!
On the other hand, you can whack a coat of acrylic anything on, sand it, and repeat a couple of times and it will look pretty good as well, with not much effort. If you use clear, and a few coats you might not even have to sand it! 
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Second for clear acrylic spray. Cheap, available just about everywhere, and I use it all the time. Couple light coats from about a foot away keeps the solvent from building up in the mdf, let it sit for a few hours to dry, another light coat, let it dry again, sand and paint.
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