Primer for enamels?

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Each to their own on this subject. However, paint always needs a 'key'.
My personal method is to go over the model parts with either Scotchbrite wadding or fine wet'n'dry paper to prepare the model surface itself to a dull matt finish.
Wash off with dilution of detergent to get rid of any dust and mould release agent. When dry I always prime with automotive acrylic primer, before top coating.
Never use acrylic over enamels or lacquers. Oil based paints take a long time to thoroughly dry and an acrylic used on top will be like putting a plastic membrane over it that will eventually bubble through.
It is OK the other way around though using enamels over acrylics as acrylics dry fast.
 
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Jakko

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It’s also due to adhering better to the plastic than to metal, I think. My experience is that it wears off much more easily from metal figures just by gaming with them, than from plastic figures that see the same or even more use.
 

rtfoe

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That’s what I was reminiscing about too :smiling3: Humbrol straight from the tin to the model.
Likewise in my youth and when Humbrol was the only paint I used till the acrylics came into my life and then I started priming having seen it done in magazines. Now I prime to check flaws and even out the surface color of plastic and fillers.

Cheers,
Richard
 

Tim Marlow

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It’s also due to adhering better to the plastic than to metal, I think. My experience is that it wears off much more easily from metal figures just by gaming with them, than from plastic figures that see the same or even more use.
I must admit I’ve never had that issue Jakko. I have metals that are forty years old, with broken bayonets and cracked swords from extensive use, but they still look as bad as the day that I painted them ;)
I think washing before priming is essential on anything that is likely to get a lot of handling, like gaming figures. It just gives the primer the best chance to do it’s job properly.
Do you varnish your figures? I know a lot of gamers don’t because it is another stage to go through before the figures can be gamed with. I have always gloss varnished then matt varnished mine. Gloss varnish has a much lower friction coefficient so will wear much less than matt. If the Matt starts wearing off you get a chance to re varnish before the main paint job is damaged. Saying that, I have never actually had to re varnish anything :tongue-out3:. I still keep it as a finishing stage though because it makes the matt final coat much more reliable.
 

Jakko

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For metal figures, I’ve always started by taking off the layer of white crap that’s usually all over them, with a copper-wire brush (“Oh no! It’ll scratch the figures!” lead ones maybe, pewter ones will be fine), then priming, followed by painting, and after that a layer of gloss varnish and then matt. Not that the figures chipped much after all that, but more than the plastic ones. Metal figures of other people tended to chip more, probably because they were less thorough :smiling3:
 

Tim Marlow

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I used to suede brush my old minifigs etc back in the day as well. After all, there wasn’t much detail to lose…..Now that lead has been eliminated from the mix I no longer find this necessary. Never had a lead rot issue either, but then, I don’t close up unpainted figures in air tight containers…..
They still get a scrub with an old toothbrush and dish soap before priming though :tongue-out3:
 

Jakko

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I do it mainly so that glue will stick better. I’ve seen too many metal figures (the vast majority of them not mine) on which parts broke off because superglue had securely bonded two layers of crap together, which were not stuck to the metal as well as to the glue …
 

Tim Marlow

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I Always use two part epoxy on metals. The bond is so superior it’s not even funny….superglue has no shear strength at all in my experience so joints fail under any stress whatever. I have even drilled small blind holes to improve glue bonding on critical joints. Never bothered drilling and pinning, though I always replace lances and spears with brass or nickel silver pin wire whenever possible.
 
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Jakko

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Same, except for small parts where mixing up epoxy is too much bother :smiling3: But even then I clean off the layer of residue before glueing.
 

Mini Me

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What is primer to a modeler who uses nothing but enamel or lacquer paint on plastic. In the past 40 years I have used nothing but enamels and lacquers on styrene and found them to be superior when it comes to adhesion. When thinned properly for spraying there is enough solvents in the sprayed material to etch its way into the styrene to more than lock itself onto the base material. The only use I have had for a primer, is to create a uniform base coat when required so there is topcoat uniformity in the end result. I do, but not often seal with a matte coat if I think it is beneficial to the overall appearance of the finished model, otherwise it is left as is.
 
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Halfords only tend to sell the large cans of primer, the Tamiya primer i tend to order on line or if they have any left my local hobby shop..
Right!!
I'll have to find a local hobby shop again. the one i used many years ago has gone unfortunately.
 
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Local Model Shop!!!!!!!! Since Beatties (many will remember them) went belly up after buying out just about every LMS in the UK left a gaping hole, and in turn another company Model Zone that belonged to Amerang set up a chain that also went bust.
Cherish your LMS if you find one who in most cases are just hanging in there by the skin of their teeth. They used to be like little regular meeting places for local modellers as well as a shop.
Primers, paints, tools, kits plus the good staff knowledge of modellers needs all under one roof.
Now sadly most have long gone.
 

Tim Marlow

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Move to the south west Noel….we got model shops :tongue-out3:
 

Tim Marlow

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Depends which side……if you are on the west side, Salisbury isn’t too far to go. The LHS there is (or was, not been in for a few years since I moved further out west) decent.
 
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I guess I'm more south east.
But I will have a search for a shop close ish to me.
Cheers Tim
Ps, what the eather like down your way now?
 
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