Need Tamiya Paint Help

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

I have a paint question answered. I am building the polar lights seaview and my hobby shop didn't have the medium gray in the model master spray paints. I did find both colors i needed in the Tamiya spray cans.
the guy at the hobby shop said these tamiya paints are a synthetic laquer.
HERE ARE THE PAINT NUMBERS

AS-16 LIGHT GRAY AND THE CAN SAYS FOR AIRCRAFT

TS-32 HAZE GRAY AND THE CAN SAYS FOR PLASTICS

Is there a difference in these 2 paints and are they compatable with each other ? do i use a primer with these paints, and if so what kind ? can i use the testors model master gray primer ? I have never heard of synthetic laquer. I have always used enamels. the hobby shop did not have any tamiya primer. thanks for the help, i haven't opened these paints and i am waiting for some information in case i need to return them to the store.

[Floyd Walker]

Tamiya sprays are good
They level quite well and dry quickly.
The AS and TS are just different colors, matched to different standards (F.S. vs. generic vs. naval, etc.)... not different types of paint. They should work well together.
As to a primer - that's your choice. They seem to adhere decently to normal styrene without any primer - in my experience. Others here should be able to tell you more.

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

thank you for the helpful advice. i have always used model master enamels and never have used tamiya. i have never primed a model before, and had no problems, does the synthetic laquer of tamiya bond better than an enamel will ?

[Floyd Walker]

Possibly not without priming, but I really don't know for certain. What you -might- want to try is going over the surface with the finest steel wool you can find. If it's fine enough, it won't leave any scratches, it'll just take the shine off the plastic. That'll give the paint more to adhere to - just to be on the safe side.
I primarily airbrush - enamels and acrylics - and only use the spraycans when I'm just doing a one-color basecoat and don't want to bother with the airbrush. The only one I've used consistently is their AS-12 Bare-Metal Silver. From my experiences, it gives one of the best non-Alclad bare metal finishes out there - with a whole lot less work
All in all, you should be just fine shooting Tamiya sprays on your Seaview.

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

thanks floyd, i wasn't sure if primers are different for enamels and laquer. i don't know what primer consists of, is it an enamel or laquer or is primer just primer and all the same ?

[Kylwell]

The only spray you have to be cautious with are the PS (Polycarbonate) sprays.

Tamiya recently expanded thier color line with the Aircraft Colors.

Priming tends to be a personal prefrence, some never prime, others never paint without priming.

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

This will be my first time priming. I have had good success before without priming and i am wondering how much better the paint will look on my model if i primed it first.

[Kylwell]

Colors will tend to be more even, paint tends to stick better.

I usually only prime when I'd painting a dark colored plastic a much lighter color or have bashed somethng with various materials or it's resin.

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

The seaview is molded in black and i will be using a tamiya haze gray ( medium gray in model master ) and a light gray tamiya ( looks like camoflage gray in model master paint ) so yes, i will be using lighter colors and want to use a primer for that. some grays i considered are the exact color of the testors model master primer, how could you tell what was primer and what was paint ? a white primer would be nice so you could tell the difference