A question for experienced lacquer color users

I went from enamels to lacquer, and I rarely prime for either one. I have primed a Dragon Ki61 that I'm currently building, but that's because of the putty work; it ghosts through the natural metal finish. That said, I am careful what's underneath when spraying lacquer; or it's an accidental preshade.

When I’ve primed, I’ve used Tamiya or Mr Surfacer. I have tried AK’s primer that is supposed to be like Stynelrez, but not with those lacquers, I think that I used it under regular Tamiya. I have also used Humbrol primer quite a bit, but never with the lacquers. For the lacquer paints  I've used AK and Mr Color.

I’ve used Stynelrez under AK RC and MRP paints on a few builds with no issues.

I'll be getting back to you on the compatability soon Greg. I'm in the process of testing that very combination. The "mule" has a coat of Stynylrez and when I get a moment I will be laying down a coat of MRP light gray to see how it works.

If worse comes to worse, MRP has their own primer and it sprays quite nicely. Just a bit pricey and I would like to find a reasonable substitute. 

Should be getting back to you tomorrow.

I've shot MRP paint on two builds to date with Stynelrez as primer with no issue. Just be careful when laying down your clear coats, certinly be extra careful if you intend using MRP clears. I had a bad experience.

If your concerned, test on a mule.

damouav

I've shot MRP paint on two builds to date with Stynelrez as primer with no issue. Just be careful when laying down your clear coats, certinly be extra careful if you intend using MRP clears. I had a bad experience.

If your concerned, test on a mule.

 

What issues did you have with their clears? I’ve been thinking about trying them for semi and flat coats.

I like to use auto primer also for lacquers (including acrylic lacquers thinned with solvents).  These primers can be used under almost anything.  They do tend to be thicker than model primers, so I may not use them on very small models like 1:144 airliners or small 1:72 models.  Then I go to Tamiya fine primer, but I do have to be careful what I use over it.

Thank you all for taking the time to opine. Great information, it will help guide me.

I always use Tamiya. It's never let me down.

I've shot two or three different brands of lacquer nail polishes over Stynylrez which should be hotter than you acrylic type lacquers unless automotive acrylic lacquer. I've also shot the Tamiya acrylics thinned with lacquer thinner and that went fine too ( done a lot of that combo). Not had an issue but with one brand that I thinned with mostly xylene. That was the only one that kind of softened up the Stynylrez. I'm thinking it was LA Colors brand and the xylene in combination. I've shot the same paint with just lacquer thinner and it went fine. I chock that one incident up to a bad experiment because it's never happened since..

FWIW enamels go over it well too.

rooster513

 

 

damouav

I've shot MRP paint on two builds to date with Stynelrez as primer with no issue. Just be careful when laying down your clear coats, certinly be extra careful if you intend using MRP clears. I had a bad experience.

If your concerned, test on a mule.

 

 

 

 

What issues did you have with their clears? I’ve been thinking about trying them for semi and flat coats.

 

 

After allowing the MRP laquer base coat 7 days to cure, I shot the MRP high gloss clear as a pre-decal step.

I had run a test prior to shooting on my build with no issue, but when I shot the clear the paint bubbled... Sanded the effected area re-primed and then shot MRP base again and used Tamiya X22 clear cut 50:50 with laquer thinners and had not issue.

The MRP clear had been given a good shake as the solids in the jar had seperated, but from my experince what ever was used as the base was super hot. Proof being the use of Tamiya X22 cut with laquer thinners.

damouav

After allowing the MRP laquer base coat 7 days to cure, I shot the MRP high gloss clear as a pre-decal step.

I had run a test prior to shooting on my build with no issue, but when I shot the clear the paint bubbled... Sanded the effected area re-primed and then shot MRP base again and used Tamiya X20 clear cut 50:50 with laquer thinners and had not issue.

The MRP clear had been given a good shake as the solids in the jar had seperated, but from my experince what ever was used as the base was super hot. Proof being the use of Tamiya X20 cut with laquer thinners.

 

Oh my, that's not quite what I wanted to hear....

I always prime.  I've settled on Mr Surfacer thinned with Mr Levelling Thinner.  I was having trouble with some resin models and used decanted self-etching auto primer which worked well for that.  On a couple of occasions where I've shot paint straight onto a model I've had minor issues, so just stick with priming always now.

Hope this helps,

Phil