Rattle Can Primers as good as Tamiya?

No_6 · Post by **No_6** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 6:45 pm

Seeing as how the Tamiya primer hasn't been available in... forever, I need to an equivalent replacement. I loved the Tamiya because the spray was so fine and yet had excellent coverage. I wasn't very impressed by Model Master or Testor's spray primers. Any other suggestions?

Joseph Osborn · Post by **Joseph Osborn** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 11:42 pm

Mr Surfacer 1000 and 1200 in a spray is available from several places, including Sprue Brothers for a decent price. It's gray, but still good stuff.

I have a can of white Tamiya still wrapped in plastic; are you sayin' I need to put it on Ebay?

seam-filler · Post by **seam-filler** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:38 am

I know you guys across the pond can't get it, but Halford's White and Grey acrylic primers are excellent if you're in the UK. Because they are intended for cars, they are very fine grained, cover well and come in large cans. They are also much, much cheaper than anything intended for modellers. They also do a plastic filler primer that is about as good as Mr Surfacer (except that it's chromate yellow in colour).

pocketpencil · Post by **pocketpencil** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:24 pm

I think mr surfacer is about the same as the Tamiya...save the color.

Joseph Osborn · Post by **Joseph Osborn** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:49 pm

I'll tell you about another favorite primer: Floquil Railroad enamel SP Lettering Gray sprayed through an airbrush. Very little waste compared to a rattle can and the surface is just perfect. I cut the paint with lacquer thinner to give it that extra "bite" into the model's surface.

Glorfindel · Post by **Glorfindel** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:33 am

Anyone have problems spraying Krylon gray primer in the rattle can? I have purchased several and most seem not to shoot when the button is depressed. This happens with brand-spanking new cans!! Very frustrating.

And its funny because I never had problems with Tamiya sprays before I picked up an Airbrush. I cant even decant these things! Any tips to get these puppies to work besides:
1. returning them
2. shooting them with my neighbors gun
3. driving over them with my SUV
4. mailing them to my x-girlfriend
Suggestions?

Joseph Osborn · Post by **Joseph Osborn** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:41 am

Glorfindel wrote:Anyone have problems spraying Krylon gray primer in the rattle can? I have purchased several and most seem not to shoot when the button is depressed. This happens with brand-spanking new cans!! Very frustrating. And its funny because I never had problems with Tamiya sprays before I picked up an Airbrush. I cant even decant these things! Any tips to get these puppies to work besides:
1. returning them
2. shooting them with my neighbors gun
3. driving over them with my SUV
4. mailing them to my x-girlfriend
Suggestions?

Are you clearing the nozzle after using them? Turn the can upside-down and spray until the paint stops and just propellant comes out. You could also try swapping a nozzle from a good can to the can that doesn't work.

Beaveranger · Post by **Beaveranger** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 11:04 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOLkzL8w ... re=related

Glorfindel · Post by **Glorfindel** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:59 pm

No, these are brand new un-used cans this happens to. Though I will try swapping out buttons.

Glorfindel · Post by **Glorfindel** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 3:05 pm

By the way I love the video!

DaveVan · Post by **DaveVan** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 3:48 pm

Dupli-color makes a white, 2 grays, black and brown/red primers. I keep all on hand and the filler primer too. The light gray is the closest to Tamiya. Most auto parts stores and big box stores have them.

Glorfindel · Post by **Glorfindel** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 9:01 pm

OK this evening I switched the nozzles on two cans ( one that works fine to one that's dead silent) Nothing happened. I should have switched to decaf instead.
Dave that's a great idea....I'll be hitting the auto store on my way to work tomorrow. Thanks for the tip...I'll be showing the Krylon the front door.

Glorfindel · Post by **Glorfindel** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 9:06 pm

On a side note: I bounced an E-mail off the folks at Krylon this morning explaining my rattle can problems and so far received an auto-response saying I will be notified by somebody, by way of E-mail, within 24 hours. They'll probably gift me a subscription to Field and Stream magazine.

Glorfindel · Post by **Glorfindel** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 12:07 pm

I picked up a can of Rust-oleum gray automotive sandable primer. The AutoZone I went to did not have the Duplicolor brand primer. The nozzle is a much larger button and had no problems shooting paint. The psi shooting out I think is stronger than the Krylon (when those cans did work) and also is a far darker paint. Coverage was thick on finer details but that is my fault because I did spray too close to the model.

Could I brush lacquer thinner on to the heavily sprayed areas to thin down the thickened areas of primer on detailed spots to help bring out said details? The primer is already dry and my instincts tell me it couldn't hurt.

Joseph Osborn · Post by **Joseph Osborn** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:42 pm

It is possible that your Krylon were from the same batch and were defective, i.e. no gas in the can, just paint. I prefer Dupli-Color paints myself, but I think Krylon's a big enough company to offer you a refund or something.

I wouldn't try putting lacquer thinner on a styrene model to try to remove the excess. That's asking for trouble. Try using denatured alcohol instead; it should cut the paint but leave the plastic unharmed. Bear in mind your plastic may be pitted a little under the thick paint due to the aggressive solvents.

robiwon · Post by **robiwon** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 5:04 am

DaveVan wrote:Dupli-color makes a white, 2 grays, black and brown/red primers. I keep all on hand and the filler primer too. The light gray is the closest to Tamiya. Most auto parts stores and big box stores have them.

I just picked up the Dupli Color grey primer for my Cricket Phaser as I was going to use automotive lacquer on it. I was quite impressed with the coverage and smoothness of the paint. It dries super fast too. I think I found a new best friend!

I like the Tamiya primer. Never did like the MM in a can though. Always seemed to thick to me. I don't airbrush a lot so can't comment on how it works thru one.

MandoMan531 · Post by **MandoMan531** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:04 pm

I've been meaning to pick up some MR Surfacer 1000 spray but I keep putting it off. For a few projects now I've used cheapo ColorPlace primer from WalMart. Dries fast, gray ( very close to the color of FineMolds styrene used on the Falcon and Slave1) and at $1.10 a can I can buy it by the case if I want.
Here's my Slave1 primered with it.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f100/ ... 50c596.jpg