Primer necessary?

I have a Fujimi Ferrari F-40 LeMans kit I am about to paint. I sanded all the mold lines and everything. The whole body has been sanded with 400-600 grits. Would it be necessary to use some sort of primer? Or could I go straight into color? I will be using Tamiya sprays. Thanks. :)

400-600 grit sandpaper would leave marks in the plastic that would show up in your paint.

The point of primer is that it fills these scratches and allows you to further sand the surface smooth (at least 1200-2000) before applying paint.
It also evens out any variations in plastic colour that can occur and when using TS sprays that are pretty translucent, aids in giving you an even colour afterwards.

If the body is all molded in one single colour then I don't see any reason that you can't paint directly onto it but you sill still need the body to be perfectly smooth or else any and all scratches on the surface will show up as the paint cures.

I always lay a good primer coat on to anything I paint no matter how small just so that in time the paint doesn't lift or peel off.



gpz900ra7.

The primer step also helps eliminate problems with surface tension (bare spots and ripples on or near corners) and crazing that can occur with lacquers like the TS colors from Tamiya. Years ago I tried to skip primer on a Gunze E-type because the body was beautiful right out of the mold. I shot British green TS-9 on the white body and ended up with little white lines at every panel line. I added another coat, and another coat, and another coat.... I never did get rid of those starved spots no matter how much paint I dumped on the car.

Learn from my folly. Don't skip the primer.

Always use primer, it helps you correct flaws, once you correct the flaws the primer will also protect the plastic from being etched by the paint solvents.

It also helps you find flaws in the first place, so yes, use it.

http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/Primer/primer.htm
http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/PerfectPaint/paint.htm

And to address future question you might have:
http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutorials/tutorials.htm

:-)

Another reason to prime is for good color consistency. A white primer should be used under bright colors like white, yellows, orange and reds. Gray for dark colrs. Also on lighter colors it helps the model look less like a model and more real because it looks more solid. Some times a bright light will shine right through an unprimed part that is thin, like a wing end plate on a race car.