Spray Can Primers

[Knightflyer]

Hi All

HELP!

I'm in the process of building a Matchbox Handley-Page Victor (real world scheme this time round), which of course is moulded in 3  glorious colours of plastic. I'm approaching the painting stage and intend (I don't think I really have any choice!) to use primer - I normal hand paint smaller kits and don't normally bother.

Query

should I use a grey primer (I'm thinking Halfords) or will this cause issues with the white finish for the undersides?
or
should I use a white primer ....or will this cause issues with the camouflaged (green/grey) finish for the upper-surfaces
OR
Do I prime the bottom with white and the top with grey

all (Sensible!) advice gratefully received 

ta!

Kevin

[scooter]

Gray is a neutral color that tends to be successful at removing other colors, so you shouldn't have any problems with the anti-flash white undersides when you paint

[Dizzyfugu]

With white undersides, I'd recommend an overall coat with flat white acrylic primer. Tamiya offers a VERY good spray, but it's costly - I made good experience with white car body primer, you should get it either in a DIY store or at an automotive shop. One or two thin layers will suffice, and it makes painting an opaque white surface easy. The upper sides should be no problem - the white/light grey is the tricky part!

[PR19_Kit]

Go Grey.  

I've always used it for my airliners and most of them have LARGE white areas. I've found the grey to spray better than the white primer, which always seem to spray on 'rough' and needs to be flatted off afterward, whereas the Halfords Grey is pretty good as it goes on.

[sandiego89]

I too have had good luck with gray primer, and then putting white over the primer.  Cheap hardware store rattle can variety is fine. Gray really helps you find faults better, and goes on easier than white.  As dizzy says white primer works as well, but I find it a little trickier.  Two thin coats are better than one thick coat, so don't worry if a bit of the glorious matchbox black and green shows through on the first pass. If you try to cover it one pass you may end up with runs. Also the gray gives you a good contrast if you are putting white over the top.

I used gray primer on my Sea Victor, then covered the top with a darker gray, and the undersides with a white. Link: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,35740.15.html

[Leading Observer]

Knightflyer - thanks for asking the question , as it wil lhelp me with the Nimrod thats just arrived in the post

[Librarian]

Go Grey.  

I've always used it for my airliners and most of them have LARGE white areas. I've found the grey to spray better than the white primer, which always seem to spray on 'rough' and needs to be flatted off afterward, whereas the Halfords Grey is pretty good as it goes on.

Very much agree with the above. Halfords White Primer is problematic.

[Knightflyer]

Glad I could be of assistance Leading Observer! 

And a big THANKS to all suppliers of the answers above, I shall certainly approach the spraying with a little less trepidation 



Supplementary Question(s) Time

What would anybody recommend for the white undersides? Is it a 'satin' or a 'gloss' I've 'heard talk' of using 'Appliance White' ? Is it any good and what is it exactly ? 

[PR19_Kit]

'Appliance White' is another Halfords spray can, usually in the same place as the primers, not in with the special car shades.

It's designed for re-spraying fridges and stuff and is very white, more blue in shade than most car 'whites'. It's excellent for model use, hard wearing and sprays on divinely. I've used it for my airliners for years, well recommended.  

It goes on gloss but takes almost any sort of varnish if you want it satin or matt.

[jcf]

Tamiya Super-Fine White acrylic lacquer is the best spray-can primer I've ever used, of any sort.
It's da bomb.  

It is also smooth enough to use as the finish coat.

Is it more costly? Yes, but IMHO it's worth it.

So if I was to do the Heyford in grey-over-white with rattle-can, I'd use the Tamiya primer
overall and then mask off the white sections and spray the grey.

[Librarian]

'Appliance White' is another Halfords spray can, usually in the same place as the primers, not in with the special car shades.

It's designed for re-spraying fridges and stuff and is very white, more blue in shade than most car 'whites'. It's excellent for model use, hard wearing and sprays on divinely. I've used it for my airliners for years, well recommended.  

It goes on gloss but takes almost any sort of varnish if you want it satin or matt.

Again, completely agree....it's also the only white I've ever encountered that doesn't yellow with age. I find Humbrol spray white yellows almost immediately.

[kerick]

As far as using white primer and then white paint, it would be better if you had a light grey primer so that when you sprayed the white paint you could tell when you had good coverage. Your primer should be a different shade than your paint so you can tell the difference as you spray.

[zenrat]

I grey primer everything and then if i'm putting on a light top coat cover the grey with white undercoat.  This has better colour density than light topcoats so you need less coats of the more expensive paints.
I have tried white primers but they never cover as well as white undercoat for some reason.
I use White Knight paint which is unlikely to be availibe outside of Australia.

[NARSES2]

Again, completely agree....it's also the only white I've ever encountered that doesn't yellow with age.

Halfords Appliance White stays white as well.

[PR19_Kit]

Again, completely agree....it's also the only white I've ever encountered that doesn't yellow with age.

Halfords Appliance White stays white as well.

That's what the Librarian meant Chris. His post was in response to mine praising Appliance White to the heights. 

No matter how many coats of Klear you put over it, and sometimes that can be quite a few for a colourful airliner, it never seems to yellow. Unlike most Humbrol whites, which in my experience always yellow, even if it takes a few years. I've some airliners I just daren't display any more, they're that yellow.