primer substitutes

Hello again,

My local model shop doesn't sell a Tamiya primer. Last time I asked for a primer they assured me that their "Railmatch" brand of enamel primer would work fine with Tamiya lacquer sprays, but I had disastrous results.

Question one: should I use grey lacquer spray from a can, or airbrushed grey acrylic paint, or something else (insert product here) to prime my latest model parts?

Secondly: I can't find one, but does anyone know of a UK retailer who sells a Tamiya-suitable primer, or for that matter the larger 23ml bottles of Tamiya acrylic paints?

Thanks for your continued help folks.

In a bind, you could use Tamiya's flat white lacquer as a primer too.

If you live in the UK, you can buy plastic primer from Halfords. It comes in white, grey and red and costs £5 for a can. The can is quite big and can coat about 4 cars. I've been using it for a long time and have never had any problems with it.

plastic primer from Halfords . . . can coat about 4 cars. I've been using it for a long time and have never had any problems with it.

Thanks for the suggestion.

It may seem a silly question, but can you paint lacquer over it? This (http://www.tamiya.com/english/scale/beginner2/2.htm) page suggests that lacquer paints are really picky about what they will go over.

If it's suitable as you say then I will certainly try some.

I have been using Tamiya Matt/Flat black and white as a primer. These work really well with a Tamiya spraypaint of your desired colour over the top.

I don't think Flat White will cover as good as Primer.

and as for the Lacquer Over Enamel, It should be fine. Alclad 2 ask for Enamel Gloss Black as base cote for the Chrome Alclad (Lacquer)

The Halfords paint should work fine. Though I'm in the US, and therefore never used Halfords paint or primer, I use Rustoleum primers all the time; all these primers are made to be possibly used on a real car, and most cars are painted with a lacquer that is chemically hotter than Tamiya sprays.

Railmatch sounds like a hobby paint made for model railroaders; I would shy away from railroad paint and supplies, as they tend to use acrylics and enamels a lot more than anyone else. Don't ask me to account for this difference, though.

I use an enamel primer for all my models and it works fine with acrylics, lacquers, oils etc. There is only one rule....you have to let the primer cure completely! Once it has done so it is impervious to any top coat you will apply to it.

After the very helpful advice, I had success yesterday with Tamiya acrylics and lacquers sprayed or brushed over "Holts Dupli-Color" grey automotive primer.

Presumably it's a US brand given the spelling, but it works fine in the UK too!

When I lived in England I used the Halfords primers all the time along with there own range of car paints, you can get pretty much any colour you want. I have also used the Halfords primer under Tamiya Lacquer sprays with no problems, I believe that Tamiya Synthetics are an acrylic lacquer similar to the Halfords, either way, it still caused no issues. The Halfords paints also go on like a dream when warmed up beforehand.