Problems with automotive spraycan primer

I'm writing my first post to this forum...

Just needing some comments and advise for this kind of problem: Concerning the body of the car model, I've used the automotive spraycan primer (SprayMax 1k) to give a good base for the automotive paint (mostly DuPont). I've not sprayed the primer straight from the can, but I've sprayed it out from the can and putted it to Aztek airbrush and then airbrushed it to the body. That's because with spraycan I won't get steady and uniform spray enough to get good results IMO...
However, the problem is, that the spraycan paint has really fast thinner (acetone?), and while I'm spraying the other side of the body, the other side has got already dry, and the spray flying around will land on the dried surface forming very coarse result... Most of the time this can be handled by sanding thoroughly the coarse areas, however, that's not the idea of the primer paint, I think... :screwy:

So, finally, my question is, what kind of primer do you use, when using the automotive paints on top of the primer? I've also one liter PPG's DP40 (2k) primer, which may suit for model cars also (never tried)... Is this DP40 familiar to you in this matter?

I think you hit the nail on the head: The primer is starting to dry before you can spray it on with the airbrush. I would stick with the spray can, or get some bottles/jars of primer that is meant to be sprayed with an airbrush or gun.

Oh, and welcome :wave:

I agree. Primer is not that delicate as paint so there should not be a problem with primeing straight from the spray can, well at least that is what I do. But Tamiya white primer is also good with automotive colours.

But it's good to do light sanidng on primer before paining other color. I do that to get better layer of colors.

The problem is because the paint is drying too quickly before it hits the model's surface. The airbrush is atomizing it more completely, so what works for the volume/flow of the spray can isn't set up for the finer application by airbrush, a common problem. You can either try to add some thinner (might work, but not always), or some retarder to the mixture that will keep the paint liquid for longer. No matter what, my best primer results seem to be from a can of Tamiya primer

Yes, I agree with all of you... It's may be true, that my primer has already started "drying process" while it's still waiting to be sprayed in the cup of the airbrush. So, maybe one conclusion would be, that I would work faster, however, in a great hurry I haven't never achived good results in any circumstances... :rolleyes:

I agree with you, Zeljko, sanding the primer is surely only way to have smooth surface for paint, however, the roughness of the primed surface is so bad in this case, that the surface of the body is nearly "hairy", if you know what I mean... Only good thing with that primer is, that it's quite easy and convenient to sand...

However, it's interesting to hear that the Tamiya's primer would work also in this case, is it available in bottle also, or as a spray only?

Tamiya makes both versions. I have a fairly new bottle, and have tried it, and it's okay-especially to cover small defects as I'm doing bodywork, but I prefer the spray can variety, it goes on so smooth at the right consistency that I haven't been able to quite match w/the airbrush unless I'm really spraying it as wet as it comes out of the can. Seems like the primers work better as wet coats, just as regular paints, at least after a few mist coats.

ZoomZoomMX-5: I tried to find out about those Tamiya primers, however got confused with different alternatives... Could you give me little more exact information about the spray- and the jar-primer also? What are those primers that you have used?

Tamiya primer in a bottle:

Bottle Primer (http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM87075)

Tamiya spray primers:

White spraycan primer (http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM87044)

Gray spraycan primer (http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM87042)

Fine gray spraycan primer (http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM87064)


They all work. The white and fine gray are the smoothest.

Thanks, now it cleared up! I think I will order that bottle-one and the fine-gray-spray also, and try them!

Interesting: We don't get the bottled primer over here. The Tamiya enamels either.

What's the difference between the white/gray primer and the fine gray? Tower lists the fine gray as about a buck more.

I've tried the Testors Acryl bottled primer, and it goes on very thin and smooth.