Primer colour for ships?

[BattleshipBob]

Evening all, yep i am back, nagging

Starting Tashkent in the morning, i always use mr surfacer for priming in black on StuG's.

Would grey be more suitable on ships as are generally grey??

Thanks bob

[dalej2014]

Wouldn't it be a red oxide rust proofing undercoat? That's what's used now apparently.

https://navalpost.com/why-are-the-decks-of-russian-ships-red/

[Tim Marlow]

I’d go with grey myself. I don’t like black priming much. I find it difficult to paint over for some colours. It’s great under metallic finishes though.

[JR]

I'd make a suggestion but you wouldn't like it :smiling3::nerd:

[Dave Ward]

On a real ship, red oxide is the traditional primer, but on a model, I'd say a neutral grey - after all, you're not trying to prevent the model from rusting!!
Dave
ps If the ship you were on was coming back to the UK ( or homeport ), the Chief Officer would want the ship to look good - so every day, the deck crew would be hard at work with the chipping hammers ( woodpeckers as they were politely referred to ), going down to base metal & then applying red oxide primer - the ship looked like it was suffering from measles. The idea was, when the management camr down to the ship, they'd find it spotless - which reflected well on te Chief Officer!

[Jim R]

I'd go with grey. I tend to prime with grey most of the time. It is neutral and shows up any areas which need attention before colour goes on.
Jim

[JayCee]

Can I be a heretic and upset everyone ? I very rarely prime anything. I agree with Peter Day's saying that it is just another layer to hide detail.
Regards,
John.
P.S. I exclusively use Vallejo paints.

[dalej2014]

Can I be a heretic and upset everyone ? I very rarely prime anything. I agree with Peter Day's saying that it is just another layer to hide detail.
Regards,
John.
P.S. I exclusively use Vallejo paints.

I'm with you there. I've never primed anything model wise. Never needed to. I paint everything by brush, and also use Vallejo.
That said I'm considering buying an AB and would like to try some different techniques. Priming in black and white, spraying from below and above etc. Be interesting to see if there's a visible difference.

[Dave Ward]

Dale, John,
it's not heresy - it's just the way you have found that works best for you :thumb2:
I find the a/b applied primer brings everything down to a level playing field, ready for whatever I want to throw at it. Just personal foibles!
Dave

[BattleshipBob]

Sorry all completly missed all the replies, when you reach 45 you lose the plot!

Sound advice, thanks all mr surfacer 1500 grey it is

Cheers bob

[Tim Marlow]

Dale, John,
it's not heresy - it's just the way you have found that works best for you :thumb2:
I find the a/b applied primer brings everything down to a level playing field, ready for whatever I want to throw at it. Just personal foibles!
Dave

+1 on that Dave.

[Ancientmariner]

Generally primer for ships comes in black, red, grey and dark green for external decks and areas from most main paint manufacturers.
These are all the same primers, different colours are so it can easily be identified how many coats an area has had (ie colours always applied in the same colour order 1st coat black/green, 2nd coat red, 3rd coat grey) and end up with lightest colour on top.

As for what colour to use on the model I go for what ever I have in the consumables locker (grey, black or red). Though I'm having a lot of issues with my Vallejo clogging up my airbrush and the bottle seems to be full of lumps.

[Ancientmariner]

On a real ship, red oxide is the traditional primer, but on a model, I'd say a neutral grey - after all, you're not trying to prevent the model from rusting!!
Dave
ps If the ship you were on was coming back to the UK ( or homeport ), the Chief Officer would want the ship to look good - so every day, the deck crew would be hard at work with the chipping hammers ( woodpeckers as they were politely referred to ), going down to base metal & then applying red oxide primer - the ship looked like it was suffering from measles. The idea was, when the management camr down to the ship, they'd find it spotless - which reflected well on te Chief Officer!

I don't think it's changed from the sounds of it Dave, apart from the hard working Deck Crew

[Dave Ward]

I don't think it's changed from the sounds of it Dave, apart from the hard working Deck Crew

I spent 5 months on a bulk carrier - she had a chipping machine! It was like a very large motor mower, operated by one man! - Mind you, with the deck area of a bulkie, you needed mechanical help!
Dave

[Ancientmariner]

I spent 5 months on a bulk carrier - she had a chipping machine! It was like a very large motor mower, operated by one man! - Mind you, with the deck area of a bulkie, you needed mechanical help!
Dave

Things haven't changed Dave,

Deck scalers still exist and are the same basic technology though such things are found on bulkers and general cargo only due to the thicker scale from more mechanical damage when working cargo.

Needle guns and angle grinders are what my lads use these days as generally areas of scale are more localised.

How long did you do at sea Dave?