I purchased a bottle about a year ago and I have not tried it yet. I think I have the thinner as well. Last I checked, the primer has separated within the bottle. It is a gray goo at the bottom, and a murky liquid half way up. I assume it is nothing that a good shaking can’t fix. I hope that is true.
I read people think Stynylrez is the bomb, some of those reports within this forum. And of course, the search feature didn’t bring up the threads that I was looking for so, I thought it’d be good to start a formal discussion.
I would like to hear from people that are using it. How you like it, and how you use it. I recall Patrick mentioning that he uses a touch of, I think he said, IPA, to thin it.
I am looking for advice because I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, if I don’t have to.
I’ve used it, stuck with the gray,not very happy with the white or black;they seem to splotch more. I also find that it’s a bear to clean up,even with lacquer thinner,but it does level out nicely. I haven’t seen a need to thin it out. Believe it contains a poly-resin additive.
They vary in thickness, black thinnest, then greens, greys, to white thickest anyway.
White, Greys, greens & silver especially separate & sludge up. I drop a few 4-6mm marine grade stainless nuts in the bottle & shake it like you’re at a disco! (I have seen paint shakers & jigsaws(!) modified to mix paint).
It is intended to be applied with a higher pressure than normal, and is thicker than top coats anway, so don’t be unduly concerned, unless it doesn’t spray.
I have heard that Badger Airbrush cleaner can help thin it a little, but I haven’t tried it yet. Make sure the primer is thoroughly mixed, as above, then DECANT some into a jar BEFORE thinning SLIGHTLY.
IF it’s been frozen, (Airmail, USPS via an Alaskan winter, kept in man-sheds) then contact your vendor for replacement as it’s a fudgesicle, & no good.
I’ve been using Stynylrez for 2-1/2 years as it’s become my primer of choice. I have no trouble with the black so not sure what’s going on for the poster above. I keep white and black only and create the shade of grey I want from those two. The white goes down very smooth if thinned just a tiny bit with filtered or distill water, I’d say maybe only 5% water added. It goes down and dries nice by itself actually straight from the bottle but I shoot it through a .25 needle often and that 5-8% or so makes a difference, it goes on wetter looking if that makes sense. Alcohol will thin it but it accelerates it’s drying and you can expect dry areas that need steel wool to smooth out ( I scuff with steel wool anyway generally, 000 gives Stynylrez a sheen that enhances gloss coat finishes). Anyway I saw a series of articles or it may have been videos actually where Badger covered the use of Stynylrez, their recommendation is it shouldn’t need thinning but if you feel it does then a small amount of water is all that is needed. That’s from the horses mouth so figured I’d try it and have to say it works decent. Also if you use alcohol dilute it to 50% before adding to stynylrez. With the alcohol in there the droplets hit the surface more like solvent primer but it goes on nice anyway. I’ve done the alcohol thing adding a little retarder, it comes out nice. Don’t add flow aid, it screws it all up. At the end of the day though, water is sufficient if you feel it needs thinner. I’d put it down straight from the bottle first though, don’t let the film thickness fool you, it dries right back nice and snug into the smallest details.
On another note, shake it really well to get it mixed, it may look mixed but shake some more. When it’s fully mixed it will lay down nice, but if there is still any separation present it can do funny things in the film that look like pooling but yet when dry there are no ridges from pooling but transparency is there in places, it’s almost a motor oil kind of look on water. Just make sure it’s really mixed well and it will perform great.
On a stubborn clean up ( and the airbrush doesn’t have to sit long for it to become a stuborn clean up) 91 ipa is the best solvent I’ve found ( even 70% ipa works well if you can’t find 91 in these times we are in ), it pretty well melts it down. Rinse with water or wash some more with warm water and dish soap, then rinse with water. Do several really good back flushings and it will come clean. Use an old paint brush or get into your cup with a Qtip is all you need to scrub with.
I use stynylrez all the time and there is no need to thin it, in fact if you read the instructions on the bottle the first thing it says is no thinning necessary. Shake it real well and then spray it between 20 and 30 psi. It says you have to use a .5 needle or larger but I use a .3 with no issues at all. Great primer that does what it should.
Thank you everyone that posted. You provided some excellent input and detailed information. It gives me a good starting point. I will do some testing using the information provided.
Guessing I’ve been using it for 3 yrs, still on my original bottles. I haven’t had a reason to thin it it yet, I’m spraying through an Iwata with .5mm needle/nozzle. I spray it just under 25 psi.
This is the only primer product I’ve ever used that I can spray, clean the a/b, and it’s time to paint.
I normally use Badger airbrush cleaner to clean up.
Yes I shoot it at around 25psi as well. I don’t always put in that slight thinning either, kind of depends on my mood, which is why I mentioned shooting straight from the bottle first. Mostly I do that for the .25 nozzle and it works great. And on many model parts I just put down one thin coat too, just enough to cover the bare plastic.
Mainly I just wanted to pass on Badgers comments that it shouldn’t need thinning, if you feel it needs it anyway, just a small amount of water is the suggested way. It doesn’t say that on the bottle, the Badger rep said that, fwiw.
The arrows show the speration, as best as I can tell. The bottle still has the factory seal, not opened. There is plenty of fluid when I shake it. I am guessing that if I give a good long shake–it should be OK. I will try spraying some of this tonight and see how it goes.
Steve - My normal use for the gray primer is for both a surface prep, and a slight imperfection filler. That I usually shoot straight from the bottle.
After that, I usually thin it about 5-10% with either distilled water, or alcohol. I think the alcohol gives me a little better “flow out,” meaning the primer lays down a bit smoother for easier sighting of remaining flaws. Those secondary coats I do in multiple layers. I do think the alcohol does give me a bit faster drying time, but not a significant amount.
Just my personal discipline, but I never spray any paint or primer without a stirring of the bottle, to ensure complete blending of all of the ingredients. A waste of time?? Not for me, I believe if it’s not a complete blend, you didn’t get the full benefit of the product you paid for, and maybe not the desired end result.
When I incorporate a thorough stirring, I almost always find some thick material at the bottom of the paddle, that didn’t make it’s way into the carrier agent. It doesn’t really add that much additional time, as an old retired bugger, that’s about the only thing I have plenty of.
What a wealth of knowledge. You guys exceeded my hopes, by far. I am honored by your responses and the time you took to write them. This is a big help.
Thanks to all that shared their knowledge on this.
Btw. I did try the Google method. You shared that tip with me another time and it does work. Unfortunately, this time, not so much. What I was looking for was buried in a generic primer post. I think that skewed what came up.
Thanks for the suggestion, and I am glad this post is helping you too. [Y]
