SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

Acrylic Primer with Enamel

1731 views
5 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
cml
  • Member since
    March 2007
  • From: Brisbane, Australia
Acrylic Primer with Enamel
Posted by cml on Monday, April 14, 2008 11:31 PM

G'day everyone,

Is there any problem with using an acrylic primer, then an enamel top coat?  Or should both primer and top coats be of the same base?  (ie both acrylic/both enamel?)

PS: I'm using Gunze Sangyo Acrylics and Model Master enamels.

Thanks in advance.

cml

Chris

  • Member since
    January 2014
Posted by enodaed on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 9:08 AM
 I've never had a problem with enamel over Tamiya acrylic, but I'm not familiar with Gunze products.
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Hayward, CA
Posted by MikeV on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 9:16 AM

If you give the acrylic time to dry completely I see no problem whatsoever.

Give it 24-48 hours to dry and then spray your enamels on it.

What are you thinning the MM enamels with? 

If you are concerned about compatibility then find an old kit and use part of it (say a wing) as a test bed and spray the acrylic, let it dry and then spray the enamel over it.  

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
    January 2003
  • From: Peoples Socialist Democratic Republic of Illinois
Posted by Triarius on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 9:16 AM

Not a good plan. It certainly can be done, but you have to make certain that the acrylic is very well bonded to the plastic surface and fully cured. That means that the surface of the model has to be absolutely clean and free of all oil, mold release agents—everything. Acrylics dry to touch quickly, but their full cure time is often longer than that for enamels.

Most people who do this sort of thing use an enamel primer and acrylics over that. I don't see the point of using both except for weathering purposes. I rarely use enamels, and I get excellent results using either Tamiya acrylics or Polly Scale acrylics as primers and top coats.

There is also a potential problem with shrinkage. Paint shrinks as it cures, and some enamels shrink more than acrylics. With the sometimes weaker bond to the substrate of acrylics, shrinkage of the enamel top coat could cause cracking and wrinkling of the acrylic primer. 

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

cml
  • Member since
    March 2007
  • From: Brisbane, Australia
Posted by cml on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 2:29 AM

Thanks everyone for the input.

Mike, i'm thinning it with Tamiya Enamel Thinner.  It's pretty hard to get MM thinner where i am, and i've had great results in the past with MM and Tamiya thinner.

Triarius, points noted.  Unfortunately, I have the colours i want in MM enamel - i might be cautious and just use a MM enamel undercoat instead.  I traditionally use Gunze for airbrushing and enamel for brush painting, but, i bought these colours specifically for this model a few years ago, so i'm kind of set on using them.

Regards,

cml

Chris

Dre
  • Member since
    June 2007
  • From: here, not over there
Posted by Dre on Saturday, April 19, 2008 9:27 PM
For all that it's worth, I routinely spray enamels over cured acrylics but I also build armor and pretty much wreck the paint during the weathering process.
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.