Beware: Halfords Primer Brushed On

[Stevekir]

Until recently I used Vallejo Surface Primer applied by airbrush. Sometimes I later touched up small areas with a small brush, for example where the airbrush missed due to the method of supporting the part (eg., tweezers). I now use"Halfords Primer" which is in a spray can. Not "Halfords Plastic Primer" which people on this forum recommended but there's not much difference and I had bought a huge can of it.


When recently touching up as mentioned above but with Halfords Primer, it dried on the brush very quickly and when cleaning it in water it was gummed up. Obviously it uses a smelly solvent, not water. I was faced with a ruined brush but then I cleaned it with IPA, Isopropyl Alcohol. (No, not the beer!) It worked perfectly, although I had to work the bristles for quite a long time until dark bits stopped coming out.


In future, any touching up I do will be with the Vallejo primer.

 

[dubster72]

No offense Steve, but why would you think an automotive product would act like one specifically designed for model making?


I would never attempt anything like this. Instead I'd wait for the primer to dry, and then squirt the area that wasn't reached in the first place.


It might take a little longer, but that's life.

 

[eddiesolo]

I have to agree with Patrick, canned paints and primers work best in there cans, the pressure is there to start off with. Yes, I know you can decant the cans, have done it myself, but feel that primers etc like this should be used direct from the can and then left to dry. Touching up is just a no, no, it never works correct.


Never mind Steve, at least a lesson learnt.

 

[Stevekir]

..........Touching up is just a no, no, it never works correct.

Well, in my experience, it is usually necessary to hold the part when spraying or airbrushing either primer or colour finish, and often to turn it to get the paint on both sides. I usually use narrow tweezers, pieces of White Tack on a stick or double sided sticky tape, attached where possible on an area that does not need paint. Inevitably, with a part that needs nearly all of its surface painted (except for a small area to have glue on), it is necessary to hold it in such a way that part of it to be painted is left bare. That needs to be touched up. One way is to wait for the paint to dry and then respray the bare parts, again using the can or AB. But that can cause overspraying the rest. I therefore, occasionally, resort to a brush.


So how do you always avoid touching up with a brush?

 

[eddiesolo]

Well, in my experience, it is usually necessary to hold the part when spraying or airbrushing either primer or colour finish, and often to turn it to get the paint on both sides. I usually use narrow tweezers, pieces of White Tack on a stick or double sided sticky tape, attached where possible on an area that does not need paint. Inevitably, with a part that needs nearly all of its surface painted (except for a small area to have glue on), it is necessary to hold it in such a way that part of it to be painted is left bare. That needs to be touched up. One way is to wait for the paint to dry and then respray the bare parts, again using the can or AB. But that can cause overspraying the rest. I therefore, occasionally, resort to a brush.
So how do you always avoid touching up with a brush?

I agree Steve, sometimes it is necessary to touch up areas, however, I have noticed, like you, that Halfords primer does not lend itself to touching up direct from the can to brush, it clumps-despite shaking and using a good quality brush. The solvent used also seems to react at times to the surrounding primer. These types of primer are superb for one shot coverage on larger items IMO but for detail work a airbrushed water based or touch up on detail or small parts is the answer.

 

[dubster72]

It doesn't matter if a part is partially sprayed again with primer. And even if you go unexpectedly too heavy, a quick rub down & it's sorted!

 

[stona]

It doesn't matter if a part is partially sprayed again with primer. And even if you go unexpectedly too heavy, a quick rub down & it's sorted!

Yep, I've done it more than once. Sometimes the initial application of primer will reveal a problem or show a blemish you thought you'd solved. After doing some work on that you always need to re-apply primer. I find that the one I use (the plastic primer) blends very well and usually only needs a very light rub down or polish with some 2500 grit wet 'n' dry or similar.


Cheers


Steve