Hi Folks,
My wife surprised me with a Badger 350 set as a gift recently and I just got to playing with it last night… which brings up a couple of questions. I’ve read FSM’s ABC’s of Airbrushing - which had lots of info. But I’m still wondering about:
Priming
So, do you prime your model before painting the “real” color, or just start with the color you want the surface to be? And I assume if you do need to use a primer, that’s different than “primer colored” paint (I found a bottle of “hot rod primer” when going through my old bottles of Testor’s paints).
Amount of paint
This AB came with 2oz bottles - WAY bigger than the 1/4 oz paint bottles I’m used to. And the ABC’s I mentioned recommended NOT saving paint after it’s been thinned. Should I plan on buying larger bottles of paint now that I’m airbrushing?
Thanks!
Priming in scale modeling has three functions:
- finding flaws in the surface—use a light color.
- backing up a translucent color like white, yellow, red, or orange. For white, prime with silver, for yellow, red, and orange, prime with flat white. Flat paints have better hide than gloss paints.
- improving adhesion (bond) of the finish color to the surface. In scale modeling, this should be unnecessary since most of the surfaces are nonporous and should be clean.
Primer color should usually be a light one, preferably a very light gray. Do not use automotive primers, as they are intended to be sanded and produce such a thick coating that detail will be covered.
Thin only slightly more paint than you think you will need to cover the intended surface. You can always thin (reduce) more if you need it. You can store most reduced paint for several days to a week without adverse effects, provided you used a completely compatible solvent. However, paints are formulated to be stable with a certain proportion of solvents. Changing that proportion can, and often does, reduce their long term stability.