The + and - of Tamiya primer

[The Rat]

Many of you know that I love Tamiya Fine White primer. It goes on smoothly, and is so nice that it can just be used as a final white coat, no need to paint over it.

That's a +

The -? Don't try stripping it, because it isn't easy. I thought that I had washed the Airfix Westland Scout years ago, it appears that I was wrong. The primer went on rather blotchy, so let's strip that off. Dettol should be nicer than brake fluid, soak it for a few day. Not a great idea. It hardly removed the paint, instead turning it into a sticky coating reminiscent of gum. Let's try removing that with some Goo Gone, "Removes Grease, Gum, Stickers, Crayon, Tape". Didn't remove whatever this stuff was. Alright, I've heard people recommend Simple Green, so... Nope, 2 days of soaking did nothing. Now I'm back to brake fluid, and crossing my fingers.

So a word of caution; if you use Tamiya primer, you may be committed to live with it.

[frank2056]

Have you tried either denatured alcohol or Isopropyl alcohol? either will remove Mr. Surfacer, so they may work on the Tamiya white primer.

[zenrat]

I occasionally have the first coat of Tamiya fine white primer fisheye over fresh styrene.
I've found the second coat goes on OK.

[Old Wombat]

I always use Tamiya Fine Grey Primer first, then put Fine White over the top of that, the grey is much better at adhering to styrene & the white adheres much better to the grey primer.


Isopropyl Alcohol usually removes both types of primer, even when fully dry but it takes a bit more effort than removing Tamiya acrylics.

[The Rat]

Have you tried either denatured alcohol or Isopropyl alcohol? either will remove Mr. Surfacer, so they may work on the Tamiya white primer.

I seem to recall trying that before, so either it wasn't successful and I didn't do it again, or my recollection is wrong.

[The Rat]

24 hours soaking in brake fluid.

No joy.     

At least the stickiness seems to have gone, so I'll have to just persevere with the paint.

[seadude]

@The Rat:  I share your pain. A week or two ago, I accidentally sprayed TAMIYA white primer on some Battlestar Galactica model parts when instead I really needed to use the gray primer.
I tried EASY-OFF oven cleaner in the blue can (No fumes) which removed about 50-60% of the primer, but no more than that.
Few days later, I then tried Isopropyl Alcohol at 91%. That didn't work much better either. Only removed maybe 5% or less more primer.
Today, I went out and bought a product called Purple Power which some modelers tend to highly recommend. I tried that too and the same results similar to the IPA. Only got maybe another 5% or less of white primer off.
I'm stumped on what to use or do next.    I really don't want to waste a bunch of money on more cleaning products that might not eventually work.
I'm thinking I should just cut my losses and respray the parts with gray primer without finishing removing all the white primer first.

[kerick]

If I decide to use oven cleaner I use the Easy Off in the yellow can. It has the sodium hydroxide that cuts enamels. I haven't tried it on acrylics yet. It also removes most of the putty too. Best if you use it outside!

[seadude]

If I decide to use oven cleaner I use the Easy Off in the yellow can. It has the sodium hydroxide that cuts enamels. I haven't tried it on acrylics yet. It also removes most of the putty too. Best if you use it outside!

How long did you leave the cleaner on the model before scrubbing or rinsing the solution off? 30 mins, an hour, more or less? Did the cleaner harm the plastic at all?

[kerick]

If I decide to use oven cleaner I use the Easy Off in the yellow can. It has the sodium hydroxide that cuts enamels. I haven't tried it on acrylics yet. It also removes most of the putty too. Best if you use it outside!

How long did you leave the cleaner on the model before scrubbing or rinsing the solution off? 30 mins, an hour, more or less? Did the cleaner harm the plastic at all?

I would start at 30 minutes and keep checking the paint. Then wash, wash, wash. I did an old airliner fuselage and the plastic came out kind of rough. Nothing a little sanding couldn't fix.

[Old Wombat]

IPA works if you don't let the primer dry too much (so a first response kind of thing).

Pretty sure gum turpentine & mineral turpentine (white spirits) work to remove Tamiya primer but I'm not sure what effect they have on plastic (been a while since I've made that same mistake).

[jcf]

Tamiya spray primers are an acrylic lacquer similar to that used in auto-body repair, it's not a "water based" acrylic.
In the context of paint, acrylic only refers to the chemical composition of the resin that forms the paint film after it
cures.

Denatured alcohol/methylated spirits (which works better than IPA) will clean it off if used within a fairly short period
of time, however once it's been on the model for a long period of time it will be fully cured and the film will be very
tough and resistant.

This also applies to Gunze primers and primer fillers like Mr. Surfacer, they are also acrylic lacquer.

[The Wooksta!]

I've tried Tamiya paint once and positively loathed it so much that I'll never use it again.  I've used Halfords primer for nearly 25 years and I've rarely had an issue with it.

[Old Wombat]

I've tried Tamiya paint once and positively loathed it so much that I'll never use it again.

Whilst I really like them & they constitute about 90% of my model painting.

Currently experimenting with the Australian made SMS paints, which are very nice but lacquer-based, so somewhat more difficult to clean up if errors are made.