horrible primer experience - both Vallejo and Tamiya

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

Two experiments, and both were horrible failures.

1st was Vallejo surface primer, their USN light Ghost Grey. I mail ordered it, and it was shipped when the weather was extremely cold here in Utah, so it may have frozen in route. I opened the bottle, and it was just like a sponge. I mean exactly like a sponge! I had to use a toothpick to dig some out. It looks like there might be some liquid in the bottom third of the bottle.

2nd was Tamiya white surface primer (it came in the same shipment). I began by putting some 91% isopropyl alcohol in the cup, then just a very small amount of the primer, and it turned to a gooey glob of crap! I did not run any through the airbrush, but spent the next 20 minutes pulling the airbrush apart and cleaning it up with lacquer thinner, then ran some lacquer thinner, through the brush – not cool, as I am painting in the house. I have used Tamiya acrylics a few times thinned with alcohol with no issues at all.

Anyone know what is up with this? I am darn disappointed, neither primer is going to work for me. I guess it is hard to tell with the Vallejo, as I never got to even spray it.

2

I’m not familiar with the Vallejo primer, so I can’t comment on that.

However, I can say that the Tamiya primer is not compatible with Isopropyl alcohol and cannot be mixed with it. It is a lacquer-like product.

I have found that it is soluble in denatured alcohol, which we commonly know in Australia as methylated spirits. (roughly 95%+ ethyl alcohol)

3

Tamiya’s white primer is crap. Their gray rattlecan is good stuff though.

4

I like the gray can stuff also,works good for me

5

Vallejo will freeze in the cold. I’ve ordered MM acrylic paints and thinner before, as well as Aclad aqua gloss in the winter, and it freezes freakin solid. It did thaw out, and I saved the thinners but chucked the paints…Tamiya and Gunze acrylics won’t really freeze because they are more alcohol based.

6

The vallejo primer is excellent stuff. Maybe now that it is thawed try to mix it back up and see if it will re consitute.

As for he Tamiya, you need to use laquer thinner to thin that, it is just like Mr. Surfacer,

7

mr color levelling thinners is the God of all thinners, even worked wonders for my hair!

8

I can’t use anything lacquer based because I am painting in the house, and have no spray booth. I was hoping to find an acrylic primer that I could use in the airbrush, but looks like I’m back to the rattle can. I buy the cheap rattle can from the hardware store.

The local Hobby Lobby has a very limited selection of Vallejo paints, I don’t think they had primer, but it would be worth checking out again.

Thanks for the help.

9

ppl use all sorts of paint for primer, you dont have to stick to grey… sometimes ill just spray ona coat of tamiya flat black or flat brown, it wont micro fill like a dedicated filler/primer but will show surface blemishes to a degree and give a good base for a gloss coat. just use a colour that suits.if the plastic is bright green and the finish coat is bright green then why use a grey primer (unless you HAVE to use a microfiller coat), just use flat bright green!

10

part of the problem may be the product labeling

Vallejo Model Air “Gray Primer”, # 71.097 is the COLOR gray primer, not an actual primer that is colored gray

for Acrylics primering to get paint to adhere to a model surface, and not peel up when masking or sanding, I just last week developed this way of working

I had tried the Vallejo Surface Primer # 74601 straight from the bottle, but, I was still getting lift off from the ship hull I was using as a paint test mule, even with Tamiya tape, Line-O-Tape, Frog tape and Blue 3M Masking tape

so, I searched convos around the model websites, and ran across the Craft Acrylics talk on here,I sprayed and brush painted since that day I posted on here that I would be experimenting

here is what works

for brush priming, mix the Acrylic-Polyurethane 74601 with Golden GAC-200, in a 50-50 mix,let dry for 24 hours, mask with favorite low tack tape (even “shiny Scotch” cheap tape didn’t peel pain in the tests)

for the airbrush, 2 parts 74601 primer, 2 parts GAC-200, and 1 part thinner (new Vallejo formula, Future, distilled water, etc), and 2 drops of Liquitex Flow Aid # 5620, again let dry overnight before masking

I used “part sizes” for the mixture to fill up a 1/2 Oz PolyScale bottle, so that I will get one bottle of ready to spray primer for each time I mix up a batch. I will be switching to the 1 Oz Floquil/PolyScale bottle with the next batch, though, I have a paint storage method that does not dry out paints, even though I am a “shaker” (shaking is not the problem, a good air seal+ no Oxygen in the bottle is the solution)

11

i use cheap ace hardware $2.50/can for primer. usually gray but have used black and white. dries fast. i spray it in the garage and i airbrush with acrylics in the workshop.

12

That what I have been doing, and it looks like I will be going back to that. Not a huge deal, but I thought it would be nice to have a primer that I could AB.

Tarnship: This was Vallejo surface primer. They now have a half-dozen or so colors, apparently to match real life primer colors. Interesting what you have come up with. I like hearing what others are doing/experimenting with.

13

So the flow aid is to slow down drying time, and this GAC-200 makes the paint stronger? Do I have that correct?

Thanks

14

yes, you have it correct

I just a few minutes ago read the Golden site, and it says that Golden GAC-200 “dries to be hard and clear”

so, I am going to hand brush some straight out of the bottle, and mix up some thin enough to airbrush, and do another test with the Tamiya Flat Base additive

the stuff does not smell bad enough to make Anne gasp for breath, so, it might be a house friendly clear coat that helps me stay allowed to paint in the house

(Anne’s heath can’t even stand the paint fumes on my clothes if I go outside and paint Tamiya, Enamel, Lacquers or “smelly Acrylics”,I HAVE to come up with indoor products)