Questions About Mr. Primer Surfacer 1000

Yes you can use acrylic over Mr. Surfacer. No you don't need a barrier.

White is a difficult color (along with yellow) to use regardless the brand you use. White is best by spraying several light coats at a time until you achieve your desired coverage. I have heard some folks using white primer as a base coat as well. You can't go wrong with Mr.Surfacer though.

I think you'd have better luck with Mr. Surfacer 1200 or 1500 as a primer as they're not as thick and will airbrush nicer. Be sure to thin it with Mr. Color leveling thinner. 

I agree with Nathan although I used 1000 a lot before there was 1200 and 1500. If you haven't used Mr. Surfacer before it needs to be thinned quite a bit and I also recommend Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. If you get cobwebs when you spray just add more thinner. Nothing better when you get the mixture sorted out.

Jay

All,

  Thanks for the replys.

  Do I add just enough Mr. Color Leveling thinner to break the surface tension, or use Color Leveling in place of the lacquer thinner?

JIM77

All,

  Thanks for the replys.

  Do I add just enough Mr. Color Leveling thinner to break the surface tension, or use Color Leveling in place of the lacquer thinner?

 

Use it to thin the Surfacer. Only use General Hardware store Lacquer thinner for cleanup. 

I find Mr. Surfacer likes to be thinned 50/50 or sometimes more. 

You can kill two birds with one stone. Get Tamiya fine white primer. it is in a can. Not only is it a better primer imho than mr. color, but it is white! It covers great, is very thin yet super durable, give a semi gloss finish and is a beautiful white too.

The suggestion to use Tamiya's white primer is a good one, especially if you're going to continue with acrylic paints. This avoids any chance of chemical reaction with petroleum solvent based paints, such as Mr. Surfacer. Mr. Base White 1000 (don't you love how Gunze-Sangyo names this stuff?) is available in both spray and bottles. I have had good results thinning Mr. Surfacer 1000 with lacquer thinner, but MEK provides a bit more adhesion. I don't consider either to be a sandable primer, though. Even wet sanding, it clogs the sandpaper, and scratches. Actually, the best way I've found to sand Mr. Surfacer is to polish it with Post-It notes.

As mentioned, white is a tough color to cover, even over a light gray primer like Mr. Surfacer. I prefer white primers with white paint, as well as yellows and some light oranges (i.e. Southern Pacific Daylight Orange). Tamiya paints are wonderful, if they have the color you want. Very forgiving in my experience. Tough to get a bad paint job.

I'm just getting started with Vallejo paints, so I'll stop short of making comments about them, and leave it to those with more experience with the paint.

Does anyone know what the best air psi/ distance to spray mr primer surfacer 1000 at? 

Cheers 

New to the forum in terms of having an account, but i've been reading folks posts forever and have learned so much!

I'm in the process of switching to Mr Leveling Thinner.  I was fairly committed to alclad primer but I'm having more and more trouble with it lifting off the model (with masks).

I have two questions about Mr Leveling Thinner.  It dries instantly, but how long do you let it go before you put another coat of paint on it.  I use Tamiya and Mr Color paints, if that makes any difference.  And how long do you let those sit before masking and laying down another color.  They all dry to the touch really fast, but I'm wondering whether there is value in letting them sit for some time.

Thanks,

-p

If you are entertaining thoughts of painting with white acrylics then I can only suggest two primers. White Stynylrez or white Tamiya. Forget grey, your white finish will always have an underlying grey tone to it and not look pure white. You want white primer, those two are both good ones.

phil172

I have two questions about Mr Leveling Thinner. It dries instantly, but how long do you let it go before you put another coat of paint on it. I use Tamiya and Mr Color paints, if that makes any difference. And how long do you let those sit before masking and laying down another color. They all dry to the touch really fast, but I'm wondering whether there is value in letting them sit for some time

Tamiya acrylic paints flash-dry in seconds, but can take some hours to cure. If recoating to build depth or if doing freehand camouflage, it shouldn't be a problem to paint over almost immediately. However, if masking is required, I'd suggest leaving it at least 12 hours (preferably more) before applying masking tape. 

Well, I feel dumb.  Looking back at my original post.  I'm in the process of switching to Mr Surfacer Primer cut with Mr Levelling Thinner.  I'm working on two models and had some lifting from the tape on both.  On one, it lifted off the primer.  On the other, it lifted off the paint but left the primer.   I cut the Mr Surfacer Primer about 60/40 primer/thinner, and I let each coat of paint sit for 24 hours.

Now, I've repainted where the paint lifted off and can't see that I lost any paint.  I also reprimed and repainted where it went down the the plastic and I also cannot see where it came off initially.   This is an improvement from what would happen with Alclad - always some filling involved to fix it - so I'm a step ahead.  But would still like any tips to keep from having anything lift....