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What kind of primer do you use?

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  • Member since
    August 2007
  • From: Toronto
What kind of primer do you use?
Posted by BGuy on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 7:18 PM

Well, I just ran through my umpteenth rattle-can of Tamiya primer at fifteen bucks a pop and, being short of cash, thought I'd ask around about who uses what sort of primers.  I'd certainly like to hear that a nice big can of Krylon (2-3 times the volume at half the price?) works just as well as Tamiya's boutique-priced merchandise. 

Still--what's your favorite primer?  What works for you most and least?

  • Member since
    October 2006
Posted by JunJon on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 7:32 PM

Using Tamiya Primer here in bottle. But I find Tamiya a bit gritty when applied. So I order Mr. Surfacer 1200. I heard this product gives a smooth surface. Best for gloss finish paint.

I used the Tamiya primer and it only magnified the grittiness once painted with gloss paint finish.

  • Member since
    October 2008
  • From: Fullerton, Calif.
Posted by Don Wheeler on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 8:29 PM

I've used Krylon primer.  The first time, I got it on too heavy and some of the detail on the model started to dissolve.  Since then, I've decanted it and sprayed it with my airbrush with no problems.  So if you use it, do light coats.  Usually, I use flat Floquil or don't bother to prime at all.

Don 

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A collection of airbrush tips and reviews

Also an Amazon E-book and paperback of tips.

  • Member since
    March 2008
  • From: Steilacoom, Washington
Posted by Killjoy on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 12:45 AM
Duplicolor sandable automotive primer, right out of the can.  It comes in several color choices, so if you're painting a white model, you can undercoat in grey and not have to cover black primer with 15 coats!

A veteran is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to and including my life."

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Utereg
Posted by Borg R3-MC0 on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 2:52 AM

 Killjoy wrote:
Duplicolor sandable automotive primer, right out of the can.  It comes in several color choices, so if you're painting a white model, you can undercoat in grey and not have to cover black primer with 15 coats!

Yep, that's the one I use as well. Unless I want to do bare metal, then I use Mr Surcafer 1000 or 1200.

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Saturday, September 19, 2009 3:43 AM

 

what's your favorite primer? 

Gray primer from Wal-Mart, brand-name is "Color-Place"... 10 oz. rattle-can, 1.29 a pop...  I started spray-painting models from rattle-cans way before there were any "Hobby Brands" ('Cept Testor's and Practa) around my AO, so I don't know if it works like Tamiya or not... There's no way I'd pay that high of a price to find out either...  I don't know what works "least" for me, since Krylon, Color-place, Rustoleum, and store-brands all work about the same.  Biggest differences I've noticed are flash-time (some are faster than others) and overall viscosity... Krylon probably wins there for color-coats, but you can use Color-Place instead of Krylon for half the price..

Save your money and buy paint in places other than  hobby shops...  If you can get past the goofy "chick-names" of craft paints, you'll find that they come in the same colors as your FS colors and you'll get 4 times as much paint for a quarter of the price...  Just take your color chips with you, or compare the model paints and craft paints in the store, side-by-side..

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: A Spartan in the Wolverine State
Posted by rjkplasticmod on Saturday, September 19, 2009 8:22 AM

The only primer I use is Floquil Grey Primer.  Goes down very smooth & works equally well on plastic, resin & metal.  Has to be applied with an AB however.

Regards,  Rick

RICK At My Age, I've Seen It All, Done It All, But I Don't Remember It All...
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Hayward, CA
Posted by MikeV on Saturday, September 19, 2009 12:23 PM
 rjkplasticmod wrote:

The only primer I use is Floquil Grey Primer.  Goes down very smooth & works equally well on plastic, resin & metal.  Has to be applied with an AB however.

Regards,  Rick

Sign - Ditto [#ditto] I agree with Rick. When I use primer, which is rarely, it's Floquil's. 

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. " Charles Spurgeon
  • Member since
    August 2007
  • From: Toronto
Posted by BGuy on Saturday, September 19, 2009 3:57 PM
Thanks for the advice, guys.  Today I got a nice big rattlecan of Krylon grey primer, which I hope will work in place of the uber-'spensive Tamiya.  Please feel free to continue sharing your ideas here, though. :)

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Bicester, England
Posted by KJ200 on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 2:48 PM

I always use Tamiya's Sky Grey acrylic, applied with an airbrush.

Left to harden overnight it makes a very durable primer.

Karl

Currently on the bench: AZ Models 1/72 Mig 17PF

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Swindon, UK
Posted by F105-Thud on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 4:05 PM
For years I used good old Humbrol number 64, light grey. But since I found Mr Surfacer, I've never looked back. Straight from the can works well for me. Although Alclad grey primer is OK too, their black is not good for Alclad metallic paints. For that, I use gloss black Krylon decanted into the AB.
  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: Spanaway, WA
Posted by aagranata on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 7:31 PM
I use Testors Flat Light Aircraft Gray.
One good hour working on a model erases 8 bad hours at work!!
  • Member since
    November 2007
  • From: Potomac Falls, VA
Posted by darth_trader on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 8:06 PM
I use Krylon from Michael's craft shop.  I've used the primer for "regular" paint & I've used Krylon gloss black as a primer for Alclad 2.  I've never tried straight from the can.  Decanting & spraying from my Paasche H does the trick for me.  I always use some scrap plastic to test before shooting the model.
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Hayward, CA
Posted by MikeV on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 9:16 PM
Lets also remember that a "primer" is thicker and seals scratches better than just using a paint that is gray. There is a difference. Wink [;)]

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. " Charles Spurgeon
  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 9:40 AM
Ditto, Mike.. If you're using paint for primer, it's just an undercoat, it's not a primer..  Although you can use primer for paint, the other way 'round doesn't work.. If you need a primer to make the paint stick to the surface to painted (what it's designed for) and use paint instead, you're just wasting time & money...

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 11:44 AM

I use Wal-Mart's automotive primer, the name on the cans has changed, but it's about a buck a can.  I use light gray, dark gray and also a brownish color.  I use it on my metal figures and on plastic models.  I don't like paying the modeling companies' prices for their small cans, when the automotive primer works just as well (for me).

I used to use Rust-oleum's primer, before switching to whatever I could find at Wal-Mart, for the same reason-it was cheaper than Tamiya, etc, but worked as well, and had multiple applications, ie, not just for hobby work, but for home improvement-type chores.  But it's still around something like $3.99 a can or more.

I found both Rust-oleum and Wal-Mart's primers to be fine-grained, and providing very good tooth for the finished coats.

Hope that helps!

Brad

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

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