Vallejo primer. What am I doing wrong?

[Guest]

I think surface adhesion is perhaps an important difference between the 2 most popular types of modelling paint (notice my diplomatic language there!)


The type that uses white spirit or cellulose thinners are chemically "hot", and so bond to the plastic at a molecular level.


The " water-based " type sit on the surface of the plastic, creating their bond by shrinking as they cure. So using a primer becomes much more important as a first stage.


I think if I used these types of paints regularly, I'd prime all of the smaller parts whilst still on the sprues as soon as I received it. Then by the time I got round to building the kit, the primer would be rock solid & therefore the colour coat would mean its less likely to rub off.

[Guest]

dubster72 said, "I think if I used these types of paints regularly, I'd prime all of the smaller parts whilst still on the sprues as soon as I received it. Then by the time I got round to building the kit, the primer would be rock solid & therefore the colour coat would mean its less likely to rub off."


I think that is a great idea. Having a primed part seems a bit easier to paint uniformly for me, but I usually only prime the primary parts once assembled, leaving the smaller parts (i.e., tools, tires, kit supplied stowage, etc.,) for later, bare-plastic painting with a brush, and sometimes airbrush.

[Gern]

You got a point there Patrick. I'll give that a go with the smaller bits; but I think I'll stick to making up the large assemblies (you see what I did there!) before priming though as I'm not keen on getting paint on joining surfaces for obvious reasons.

[Guest]

Today has seen me change teams!


I bought vallejo grey primer quite a while back, and i struggled, ended up finding the product was old and stored badly, (it had froze at some point!)


So for a time i resorted to spraying everything with rattlecan primer.


Although its a good primer, the ability to spray small areas is a lot harder, and it stinks!! But theyre the only downsides in all honesty.


Then i got a few Vallejo model air kits, and one came with a 17ml bottle of model air grey primer. I tried it, and it was way better, and i had full control of where i wanted it to go. So thats been my primer for the last few weeks, and no issues to speak of, apart from cure time, and you cant speed it up, or it screws it!


But then this morning i got my delivery of stynylres from badger, grey, black and white.


I tried them on one of my tester models I use to try things, and i am way way sold on it!


Light coats cover and adhere really well, and best of all, ten minutes after ive sprayed, its dry!! I use grey as an all over primer, then light coats pf black for shading and white for highlights. Model air over the top works brilliantly, allowing the primer base to help with preshading!


So im sold on this badger stuff! Yeah its a bit more expensive than vallejo, (60ml vallejo is £7 whereas stynylres same size is £10, however i got three 60ml bottles for £23!) but the ability to continue in such a short period of time is a big bonus!

[Dave Jay]

Today has seen me change teams!
I bought vallejo grey primer quite a while back, and i struggled, ended up finding the product was old and stored badly, (it had froze at some point!)


So for a time i resorted to spraying everything with rattlecan primer.


Although its a good primer, the ability to spray small areas is a lot harder, and it stinks!! But theyre the only downsides in all honesty.


Then i got a few Vallejo model air kits, and one came with a 17ml bottle of model air grey primer. I tried it, and it was way better, and i had full control of where i wanted it to go. So thats been my primer for the last few weeks, and no issues to speak of, apart from cure time, and you cant speed it up, or it screws it!


But then this morning i got my delivery of stynylres from badger, grey, black and white.


I tried them on one of my tester models I use to try things, and i am way way sold on it!


Light coats cover and adhere really well, and best of all, ten minutes after ive sprayed, its dry!! I use grey as an all over primer, then light coats pf black for shading and white for highlights. Model air over the top works brilliantly, allowing the primer base to help with preshading!


So im sold on this badger stuff! Yeah its a bit more expensive than vallejo, (60ml vallejo is £7 whereas stynylres same size is £10, however i got three 60ml bottles for £23!) but the ability to continue in such a short period of time is a big bonus!

I thought at first you were going to tell us that you've gone back to enamels!!!


Aaaaaaarrrrgggghhh........shock horror! :P

[Guest]

Hi folks. I need some help here.
I normally use Halfords primer which gives an excellent bond so my paint doesn't fall off every time I look at it. I have to use that outdoors obviously so with winter coming I thought I'd try Vallejo Surface Primer which I can spray indoors.


Sprayed a couple of parts, left for a few hours then sprayed with Vallejo paint. I left it overnight and tried to mask it for more painting using Tamiya tape. The tape touched the part in the wrong place so I lifted it to place it correctly and it took off the Vallejo paint and primer right down to the bare plastic.


I could maybe understand if I'd burnished the tape down, but it had barely touched the surface. What am I doing wrong, 'cos I've read that Vallejo primer is usually pretty good?

The only acrylic prime that I use is Vallejo's Grey Polyurethane Primer. An example of the grey is in a medium sized bottle numbered 73.601. I have never had any problem. As someone said, I think your difficulty is somewhere else, probably in the preparation of the plastic part. I wash all mine thoroughly in hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly and dry with a lint-free cloth, and cover from dust until primed. I dilute the primer very slightly, about 2% with Vallejo Air thinner. I use a 4mm nozzle. I sometimes use micromesh gently on the primer to remove any slight lumps. I don't much use Tamiya masking tape straight on to primer because with all my models I paint the background camouflage all over before masking with the second colour. I can over-coat using an airbrush with Vallejo Model Air acrylic about 8 to 12 hours after depending on room temperature, sometimes only one coat. I have never had it peeling off, not even from the usual very shiny surface of most modelling parts.


Have you tried another type of plastic part? Could the actual plastic type in your test be the cause? Tyr experimenting more.

[Gern]

That's the same one I used Steve. I suspect I just didn't leave it long enough to cure. I'm used to being able to mask and spray over both Halfords primer and Vallejo paints (if painted over Halfords primer) after about an hour.


I've not given up as I'd like to have a primer option for my A/B - those Halford cans work really well but they're wasteful on small parts and, of course, the spray pattern is huge so I have to work outside.


I'll post something saying how I get on in due course.