Acrylic Primers?

[Jay.Blanchard]

I have seen acrylic enamels at Home Depot, but never a 'pure' acrylic primer. Am I barking up the wrong tree? I want to stop using the Tamiya enamel primer and use something with lower VOD.

What are you guys using for primers?

[Kylwell]

I've used Valleho's primers but they aren't made for fill work, just as a paint primer. Other than that I use Mr. Surfacer which is lacquer based.

[irishtrek]

Future floor polish works as an acrylic primer.

[Jay.Blanchard]

I'm not too worried about fill work, I just want a good primer with low VOD that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

What is an acrylic enamel? This may sound dumb, but I thought it was one or the other.

[Kylwell]

Enamel is, classically, paint that air dries to a hard, usually glossy, finish that is very durable. Enamel paint was standardly a high VOC, oil based paint.

Not quite so any more. Acrylic doesn't need to be dissolved in a high VOC solvent so it's much friendly but typically has a less durable finish. Acrylic enamels are a harder wearing version of your standard house paints as 'latex' paints actually have no latex in them, they're acrylic.

[TER-OR]

I've used Vallejo's primers, and while they airbrush very well they don't adhere nearly as well...

OTOH, most acrylic paints I've used from Tamiya, Gunze and Testors did adhere quite nicely. If I don't have a lot of resin and metal on the plastic, I'll just paint. If I do, it's Tamiya or Gunze's primers.

[Skynet]

Completely agree with the above. Vallejo primers spray very well and give a lovely surface to paint but do not "bite" into the styrene. This means that they can be cut and peeled off almost like a latex mask.

Now I tend to use Gunze (Mr Hobby) Mr Surfacer 1200 50/50 with Mr Leveling thinner shot through a 0.5 airbrush at 15psi. It bites into the styrene nicely and gives a good surface to paint. The only issue is that it only comes in grey.

Sky

PS. Don't shoot Mr Surfacer neat unless you want a lovely cobweb effect on your model!