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Need help priming and then painting with white.

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  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: Las Vegas, NV
Need help priming and then painting with white.
Posted by CaptainHawk1 on Saturday, July 22, 2006 12:04 PM

Currently working on the AMT/Ertl Star Trek Enterprise-A from Star Trek: VI.  Many of you may know who have this model, the Aztecking was etched into the hull and requires a ton of putty and sanding.  

I primed the whole thing using white primer (Model Master's acryl white).  I then sprayed the saucer section with Tamiya TS-27 (matt white).  The problem I'm running into is that it'staking a ridiculous amount of coats to ensure that the red lines from the putty don't show through.

I have since bought a can of what looks like light gray colored (according to the cap color) Tamiya primer that I wanted to use on the other parts o f the ship.

The questions I have are:

1.) WIll this help solve the problem?

2.) Will the light gray primer cause a difference in shade in the white that will be on top of it?

3) The can of primer I bought has nothing written in English on it besides the label on the front describing what it is (primer for plastic/metal).  Other than that it is completely in Japanese.  How long should I let it dry before spraying on the white?  Keep in mind that I live in Las Vegas (100° F+ temperatures, very dry).

I appreciate any help any one can provide.

-Shawn

"Never mind...it's just easier to call you stupid." -Brian Griffin
  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: White Mountains, NH
Posted by jhande on Saturday, July 22, 2006 12:33 PM
Don't know how to tell you this, so I'll just go for it.

Using two different colors of primer under a white finish coat will effect and show through the resulting finish.

You mentioned priming with white and the red putty shows through.
Light colors have trouble covering darker colors. Is that auto spot putty by chance?

What would have been the easiest why to get a nice one shade result, would have been to use a "light" grey primer or silver. Then you could give it a coat or two of white primer or flat prior to your finishing coats.

For the light grey primer? I use the large cans meant for automotive work. They are cheaper than the smaller cans with a modeling companies name on it.

1.) "WIll this help solve the problem?"
    If you spray "everything".

2.) "Will the light gray primer cause a difference in shade in the white that will be on top of it?"
   
Yes it will cause it to be just a bit darker, but not too bad.

3.) "... it is completely in Japanese.  How long should I let it dry before spraying on the white?"
Sorry, I don't know Japanese nor am I familar with Tamiya products.


-- Jim --
"Put the pedal down & shake the ground!"

  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: Las Vegas, NV
Posted by CaptainHawk1 on Saturday, July 22, 2006 12:48 PM

Jim, thanks for the tips.  Yes, I am using automotive spot putty (Bondo).  As far as the paint is concerned, I found that it is indeed white primer (Tamiya), the cap just looked kind of gray.  I've gone ahead and started to use it. 

Now, you brought up and interesting point about automotive paints.  I purchased wutomotive paints (@ Pep Boys) for use on my resin phaser kits.  What I noticed was that the primer seems to be very thick and heavy, which is fine for 1:1 phaser kits that don't have a ridiculous amount of tiny detail but I was very concerned about using it on model ships.

Am I just nuts and the automotive paint is really no more thick/heavy than the model paint or is there something better that you would suggest?

Appreciate the help.

-Shawn 

"Never mind...it's just easier to call you stupid." -Brian Griffin
  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: White Mountains, NH
Posted by jhande on Saturday, July 22, 2006 6:46 PM
You're not nuts Shawn, a lot of the auto primers are thicker. Some are thin - sealers, a bit thicker - sandable, and real thick - filler.

You can try Krylon or Duplicolor - (not the self-etching or filler), both of which I've found at Wal*Mart.

I basically spray the primers as mist coats, never usually a heavy wet coat. A couple of blast and it usually covers everything including the putty. I'll then wet sand lightly with a really fine grit - 1000 or even finer just to smooth out the surface.

Wink [;)]



-- Jim --
"Put the pedal down & shake the ground!"

  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: Las Vegas, NV
Posted by CaptainHawk1 on Saturday, July 22, 2006 8:44 PM
Excellent advice... I appreciate it.
"Never mind...it's just easier to call you stupid." -Brian Griffin
  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Peoples Socialist Democratic Republic of Illinois
Posted by Triarius on Sunday, July 23, 2006 10:19 AM
Jim mentioned silver as a primer. This was discussed in a recent thread. Silver has the advantage of tremendous hide in a very thin paint. Silver works well under "problem" colors like white, yellow, and red.

Ross Martinek A little strangeness, now and then, is a good thing… Wink

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: White Mountains, NH
Posted by jhande on Sunday, July 23, 2006 11:25 AM
Actually I passed along the silver paint as a primer from Ross as he originally mentioned it I believe.  Confused [%-)]

I have used the silver and gold paint as a base coat for the transparent & pearl paints. But because of the expensive little Testors cans, never really used it on a wild scale for primer. It does a really great job too at covering body work and resulting in a uniform shade of the color coat.

Wink [;)]

-- Jim --
"Put the pedal down & shake the ground!"

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