I am moving over to acrylics from Floquil. My question: when painting an undecorated or stripped piece of rolling stock, do I need to prime it? If so, what should I use? Thanks!
I really never do unless it is a really dark color plastic and I’m painting it a light color.
Floquil sticks to about anything well. (make sure you clean it good with dish soap first)
I like as few coats as possable so the details don’t get covered up.
It depends on the situation, I guess…
I am painting up an Athearn GP50 in CN&W’s Safety Yellow, and that definitely needs a neutral primer coat (light grey is good in this case) to cover up Athearn’s black shell without having to use a thick coat.
On the other hand, on a Canadian Pacific dual-flag engine I will be painting in the future, the darker cherry red shade will cover black plastic pretty well, so I probably won’t prime it.
I guess experience is probably the best teacher!
It’s ALWAYS best to prime anything you paint. Seals the plastic, show up flaws, makes a great base for the topcoat. Live and learn.
Bob Boudreau
Bob,
What do you use to prime? Can you recommend something in particular?
Thanks!
I use Floquil Foundation, a light tan colored paint. Floquil has their own light gray Primer, but it has fine particles in it that are intended to fill in imperfections in the item being painted. I look at them as just obscuring fine detail. But what paint is used isn’t really a big deal, it should be a lighter color, to give the final coat a base.
Years ago a friend who was also new to the hobby inquired how I painted my models, because he had to put up to a dozen coats on a black pastic shell, using water based Polly S paint. I asked if he had primed the shell first, he said no. He tried priming and found there was a world of difference, and a whole lot fewer coats of paint too!
Use whatever works for you, be in acrylic or lacquer based paint.
Bob Boudreau
Many thanks, Bob!
I always prime, always always … After priming which will show any defects, I sand with 2400-4000-8000 sandpaper… re-prime if necessary then paint. Depending on color I’m using I will prime with either white, grey, dark grey. Yes prime cuts down on the top coats, less paint on the model shows better details. MY[2c]
Definetly a good idea to use primer. I currently use Badger Modelflex and Polly Scale for most of my paint jobs. Acrylics do dry up faster which is why it’s important to flush out your airbrush as soon as you finish spraying.
BTW: Polly Scale is a big improvement over the old Polly S from years back.