Tigers primer is a bit gritty or grainy?

[william smith]

Hello again everybody , I’m not sure if this is normal for Vallejo surface primers (I’m using the white one) , I sprayed at 1.5 bar (20 psi) and sprayed the primer on in light thin coats at around 4 inches away from the model using a crown air cap and 0.4mm nozzle , the surface feels fine however when showed under a light at an angle , the surface isn’t really even and certainly not smooth looks almost dusty or sand papery , I initially thought this was just the nature of the primer to give the paint something to grip too is this normal? I completely stripped my airbrush and cleaned it thoroughly , so it can’t be that , I want to say it’s normal as I didn’t really mind with the cheiftain as the cheiftains turret is cast so it gives a good effect , however with the tiger it’s a bit different , and I will probably strip the primer off the tiger today.

 

many thanks 

 

William 

[Stef N.]

I've had this problem with Tamiya before, and it sounds similar to your problem with Vallejo. I feel it was too warm,or I was too far away, and the paint was drying before it hit the plastic. A stiff brush cleared off most of the gritty texture. Maybe a fine grade sanding will suffice rather than a repaint.

[william smith]

I have decided to strip it down , the reason it grained as bad as it did is because I was moving way too quick 

[william smith]

That or the primer is just bad 

[william smith]

my technique is to spray it on in light coats if that helps only bringing the trigger back a little 

[Stef N.]

I'm not sure mate. Your technique isn't any different to what they suggest on videos, 20psi, light coats. Maybe try a drop or two of retarder or as you suggest a slower action.

[colin]

Primers need to go down wet, I don't mean flooded just when they hit the surface they look wet and then flash off(lacquer type) if their drying before they hit the surface you'll never get a smooth finish, especially with any surface that is angeled to another, the bounce back from that surface will just settle on the other surface and be rough

With lacquer based primers you can get away with wet sanding with fine sandpaper to smooth out and respray, the other type don't seem to like being sanded at all and tend to peel in my experiance

[william smith]

So you are saying I need to pull the needle back more? again my technique is light coats as they advise to do , now can it be drying before it hits the surface? I’m spraying at the right distance (4inches)

[colin]

 What are you thinning the primer with for spraying

 

[william smith]

23 hours ago, colin said:

 What are you thinning the primer with for spraying

 

it doesnt require thinning

[colin]

For brush painting no, for airbrush I would think so imho or up the air pressure, even when I decant Tamiya spray can primer to use with my airbrush I thin it a little

 

[william smith]

I reckon my technique was wrong and I didn’t shake the bottle enough , it’s white primer so I would probably need a good shake , my technique was like when I paint but I thing it should have been long passes left and right 

[william smith]

Hello everyone I have solved the issue , problem was that dastardly tip dry apparently if you spray close (which I like to do) you can end up with a rough coarse texture on your model , hence I will get some flow aid