Hello. I’m going to be airbrushing a NJ Transit GP40PH-2 that I kitbashed. The model is undecorated and I’m wondering if it’s really necessary to prime the model before painting it. I was planning on doing 2 layers of the silver, masking it, and then 1 or 2 layers of the black. I’d prefer not to prime as it would just add another layer of paint that could wash out details.
Is there something negative that could happen if I don’t prime it? Would it be good enough to just put down the silver first and then the black or visa versa? I’m going to be using Model Master enamel paints. Below is a picture of the model I’ll be painting.
If a model is made of different materials having different colors, a light colored primer is generally used. However, since you are going to use silver, two coats should be enough without using a primer. Paint the light colors first and work your way to the darkest color. So the silver should be first and the black last. Red and blue before the black.
Painting is the one thing that worries me about getting back into the hobby. I invested a lot of effort back in the Floquill days learning to paint. Now with Floquill gone, I’m going to have to learn all over again.
I always used primer with Floquill. I never found out why, but it was WAY eisier to get a coat of primer on without it eating the plastic than it was with any other color. I would even prime a black shell before painting it black.
I’l reiterate Elmer’s point about different surfaces taking paint differently. Definitely true between metal and plastic. And even plastics can be different enough to cause the final appearance to be off. If you paint them side by side, the finish will come out differently if you use a finish coat and no primer. If you prime them, they will either appear identical or very much closer to that than the first example.
If you’re worried about too much paint by priming, I recently learned a fix for that. I’d read about people using it for years, but Tamiya makes an excellent spray can primer in both white and gray that I finally tried. Very impressed with it. It goes on very fine and controllable. Not cheap, but if you want it right, worth the price.
I would prime first. Gray primer and you may be satisfied airbrushing only one coat of the silver. Years ago w/ Floequil, I could paint refer yellow or white over a black shell w/o primer or even barrier, wouldn’t attempt that w/ today’s acylics that tend to be a bit more transparent.
On this paint scheme, you will be masking. Not saying you must, but I would definitely use primer. I could never get paint to stay on without primer when masking, it tends to pull off on me. Just something else to consider…
For the color scheme You are using and being plastic, a primer is not necessary. Throughly wash the model in a detergent like dish soap and blow dry with Your air brush. Then give it a dust coat of the silver…the whole body…let sit at least an hour and then put one or two final coats on it. Let sit at least 72 hours, before doing any masking and when You do mask it…I recommend 3M #218 fine line tape, burnish lightly with a Micro brush with brush part cut off, then You may use masking tape or blue painters tape for larger area’s. Then start painting the same way…a dust coat first, hit the masked area head-on, not at a angle…let sit, and put Your final coat on. You may remove your masking, when paint sets up, but not dry, remove at a angle, away from line. The key to masking is letting the paint cure before masking…most people are in a rush when painting and don’t give the paint time to Cure, not dry, drying is not curing.
One pic of a Ulrich cast metal truck from 50’s just redone about a month ago. Castings were stripped, washed and a coat of Floquil reefer white was applied,( I have a lot of Floquil paint left) tank was then painted with ModelMaster Yellow enamal, sat for 72 hours, then masked with the fine line tape, then red was added. One lite spray of Dullcote, then decals added.
Second pic’ models waiting for paint. White primer, cast metal will be Yellow, Gray primer, Polurethane resin will be Red.
When I had the pull off, no primer was used. My next attempt, I used a spraycan of Testors Primer, now, I tend to use Krylon Automotive primer, or Badger Primer, in my airbrush when it’s warmer weather. (I will “scuff” first, with sandpaper, to give some tooth, even with “Badger Primer”, when airbrushing, as I am not sure if it is real primer or not… When masking will be involved, I tend to stick to spraycan real primer.) Spray can version works all year long. (Well, almost all year long. I wouldn’t have attempted any painting yesterday here, our high temp was a whopping 12F, and that was at 2 am. Daytime high was lower, and our low temp Thursday daytime got down to -8F, Thursday night -19F. Yes, I paint in my garage, but it is only insulated, not heated. It today had a temp of a whopping 38F. Any colder and I would have been worried about my pump house, which is in my garage, under the floor in the back. Yes, I could spray whatever I’m painting, then bring it into the main house, but then my family would complain about the smell while it cures, and I would be joining another thread discussion…[:$]) I have better results now that I started to use primer before base coat and masking for color schemes, and using the spraycan version of real primer. You are right, there is a difference between real primer, and primer colored paint, I just don’t want to find out on my model trains anymore… [:-^]
