Jump to content

I haven't used primer yet am I crazy😯


Walter

Recommended Posts

I've completed a few models now painted with an airbrush using solely Mr Hobby color acrylic paints "H". I haven't used a primer before painting. Most of the time I put a base coat of paint on all over the kit, this gives me a good base to work with. For me This shows up flaws nicely because the paint is flat and light. 

 

I probably will try a primer in the future. So far I've not experienced any of the issues mentioned in discussions regarding the necessity to use primer with acrylic. 

 

So what's the go am I just lucky! There's no real question here more opening up a conversation about your own experience to prime or not to prime. So have you found the use of primer with acrylic water based a huge benefit or could you take out leave it? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with you Walter. I also use Mr Hobby and increasingly more often Mr Color paints. I usually spray a base coat of black Mr Finishing Surfacer to show up flaws like you said and also because I like to paint on a black base.

In my experience it isn't necessary to prime before using these paints.

Roger. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even their "waterbased" paints are more like solvent based (which probably explains why they work with cellulose thinner) so they'll grip really nice to the surface. I just find it cheaper to use their actual primer to show up flaws rather than using paint. But then again whatever works for you works best :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Roger Newsome said:

I can live with that, I was beginning to think it was just an extravagant and expensive black base. 😉

On the contrary. It is a little expensive, but it's so smooth and very good quality. All the Mr Surfacer's are worth every penny 🙂

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do use Mr Surfacer 500 to tidy up gaps and blemishes, its a great product I'm sure Surfacer 1000 and 1200 would be very nice to use. Is it a necessity as people seem to expouse I'm not entirely convinced but I have to say I haven't tried it yet so I can't talk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In all the years of modelling under my belt(about 50 plus) I have always used Halfords car auto primer, (this is a rather large aerosol can)I have also used Mr surfacer but always return to Halfords...…………..easy to find in the store, usually top shelf of their car autos display.  Its never let me down yet, you can if you wish and feel like you have the time, decant into a smaller bottle and spray with airbrush.  I also use there touch up paint, its a 6 inch canister with a small brush in it, ideal for smaller jobs, such as undercarriage, wheels, etc, etc

Sorry, I see that you live in Australia, still, not a problem, you must have car auto stores out there selling primer for cars prior to them applying any type of paint. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Halfords primer is ok, but I've never been satisfied with the poor finish it gives. I'm happy to use it out of laziness if the objective is to check a particularly difficult seam filling with the expectation of having to sand and polish it all back anyway, but I prefer Mr Surfacer from an airbrush for priming when I want to paint next without a full flatting and polishing exercise in between.


The finish from an aerosol can is usually either a bit coarse or a bit orange-peely for my liking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/12/2020 at 7:06 AM, Walter said:

I've completed a few models now painted with an airbrush using solely Mr Hobby color acrylic paints "H". I haven't used a primer before painting. Most of the time I put a base coat of paint on all over the kit, this gives me a good base to work with. For me This shows up flaws nicely because the paint is flat and light. 

I've tried various primers over the years, but now I do exactly what you do; I use Tamiya and Mr Hobby Aqueous acrylics.  I don't think omitting a primer coat has angered the modelling gods, and I make sure I clean my models well before any paint goes on them, so issues with adhesion are minimised.

 

Quite apart from anything else, I really don't cope very well with "rattle" cans.  I can't use them in the house because they tend to smell; and I end up flooding the model in some places, with no primer at all in others, and overspray on everything else within sight.

 

If you want to prime, and feel you get better results that way, more power to your elbow, if you prefer not to that's up to you also.  Room for both in the hobby.

Edited by MikeC
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think there's a little misunderstanding here: using a primer is always advised when using water thinned acrylics like Vallejo, Xtracrylix, Lifecolor and similar paints. These stick very little on bare plastic and not using a primer is a sure recipe for paint lifting.

Gunze and Tamiya however are different type of paints and both adhere well enough to plastic. Priming under these is not strictly necessary.

So it's not a matter of luck but a matter of the same name (acrylic) being used to identify two very different paint families.

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

I think there's a little misunderstanding here: using a primer is always advised when using water thinned acrylics like Vallejo, Xtracrylix, Lifecolor and similar paints. These stick very little on bare plastic and not using a primer is a sure recipe for paint lifting.

Gunze and Tamiya however are different type of paints and both adhere well enough to plastic. Priming under these is not strictly necessary.

So it's not a matter of luck but a matter of the same name (acrylic) being used to identify two very different paint families.

Well that coincides with a lot of reports least of all from the manufacturer (Gunze) that their acrylics are not water based alone. They do mix well with water though. They are marketed as a water based paint, hence my original confusion. Mr Hobby acrylic is brilliant! not to mention the range of colours they have but I digress, this has been a nice insight into what fellow modellers think about primers. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lots of people colloquially say "water based". None of these paints are based on water - water colours are. Some of these acrylics are water dispersible, which means that it can dissolve in water.

 

It may seem pedantic, but thinking acrylics are actually made from water is probably how many people make the absurd decision to avoid oil or alkyd resin based paints for health and smell reasons, then end up with acrylic resin based paints with a high solvent content to make them behave more like oil or alkyd resin based paint - which would be laughably stupid if it weren't so common.

Edited by Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies
apostrohpe atrocity
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...