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alclad grey primer


geoff m

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I wonder if anyone has had problems with Alclad grey primer? I am a huge fan of it and have used it exclusively for the last 3 years however this morning I opened a new tin and had some major problems. The problem was that when spraying it was leaving behind what I can only describe as a thick grey sludge in the airbrush cup. Funnily my airbrush didnt seem to mind and the primer seemed to spray without difficulty and also seems to have dried to a good finish but cleaning up my airbrush afterwards took an eternity.

I tried it through both my airbrushes, an Iwata HP-BH and an Iwata TR1 both with a 0.3 needle and sprayed at 15psi. The same thing happened with both brushes. Any advice or comments gratefully received.

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Was this sludge full of air bubbles? I've over-shaken Alclad primer before now and ended up with some "scum" in the cup. It's also possible that you might be getting some air bleeding back into the cup causing bubbles that dry and create the sludge? :hmmm:

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Have always given mine a good shake,and never had problems with sludge. It can be a bugger to get out of the airbrush,but like you,am a huge fan of the stuff and wouldn't use anything else. Like you I try and shoot it at low pressure otherwise it just makes a haze of dust,it is so fluid. Never used it in HP-B,my HP-CR handles it fine. Can you really "over shake it?" Decant it into a smaller container perhaps like a film canister to keep the air out of mixing in,though even as I get down to the dregs of a can I have never had any issues with airbubbles.

Wish you luck it .

Can anyone tell me if there is such a thing as white Alclad primer? Can't seem to see it listed anywhere,and Alclad never answered my question as to stockists.

Cheers

mtd

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What I mean by "over shake" is when you've got a half-empty can, you shake it so much that it gets a LOT of bubbles in it. Because the bubbles are so thin, they sort-of dry out on top of the liquid, and that can leave a scum line round your airbrush cup :)

Can anyone tell me if there is such a thing as white Alclad primer? Can't seem to see it listed anywhere,and Alclad never answered my question as to stockists.

There's a white and black primer too. I did a review of it when it first came out here. They've also got a new range of clear coats - lacquer & acrylic gloss, and a new range of matt and mattish lacquers. I've just used their matte for the first time, and it's great! :frantic:

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What I mean by "over shake" is when you've got a half-empty can, you shake it so much that it gets a LOT of bubbles in it. Because the bubbles are so thin, they sort-of dry out on top of the liquid, and that can leave a scum line round your airbrush cup :)

Thanks for the swift replies. Mike yes I did shake it very vigorously before use but it was a brand new tin so I dont think that was the problem. There was no bubbling so no leak in the airbrush either. Next time will puor it straight from the tin and see what happens.

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Hi Mike,

Yes,you can get the bubbles,but I use an Iwata HP_CR with a bigger paint cup,and tend to fill it up and wack it through.

I appreciate that,thinking about it,airbubbles would be a bigger problem if you used an airbrush like the HP-B,with its smaller integral paint cup.

I tend to keep the smaller airbrushes for acrylics only. Am just getting to the bottom of a tin of grey primer now,but haven't found the frothing a problem-as I said,decanting it into a smaller container,where it is mostly liquid and no air might help. I cast my own lead ball bearings for use as agitators,which also help.

Thanks for the link to Relish,I have already placed an order for some Alclad white.

Cheers

mtd

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Having been away from model making for 10 years I used this stuff for the first time on my second project, absoluteiy superb. I would say that as you have 3 years experiance of using it, added to the fact you stated that it was a new tin tells me it is probably a dodgy tin, can't imagine you doing anything wrong or any differently in terms of application technique after this amount of time. Sprays through my HP-BH superbly even at around 5psi. It's the only primer with exception of halfords that appears to bond to styrene and do exactly the job a primer should , stay stuck on! Used Vallejo Grey Primer on my first project and while the finish was OKish, (not as smooth as Alclad) durability was poor to say the least, will not spray through the HP-BH had to use my Eclipse SBS No contest really.

Stuart

Edited by Merlin 28
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Can this stuff be used on Resin kits to prime them?

Yep - just make sure you wash your resin thoroughly before you prime, as nothing will stick to it if it's still covered in mould release agent :)

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