How many coats of white primer

[mickbench]

Hi,

My first post, and I've done a seach for help topics on priming a car body and primera man help with his "how to". Problem is just how many coats can you get away with, as I sprayed my first coat of white primer and it showed a few marks in the body that I had to fix.

I used 1200 then 1500 wet n dry to remove the marks, and the body is really smooth, but I went through to the gray primer below the white as I applied a coat of gray primer first then a coat of white, and in some small places to the actual plastic colour (red), so if I coat again this is three coats. Is this getting too much, as the panel lines are still well visable but not sure.

As you can guess this is the first time I've sprayed a car body using primer. Oh and because I couldn't get Tamiya primer I got angry and went and got some automotive plastic primer. Hope I haven't stuffed this, as to be honest the underbody I sprayed came out really well.

Thanks everyone.

[Vric]

usually I put 2 light coat, then sand lightly with 1500 sandpaper. (Tamiya primer)

[mickbench]

Thanks, so is it safe to apply another coat of white primer?

The pic below shows what has happened after I sanded the problem areas, can I now just apply the top coats as per the painting guide on this forum, or do I need to touch the problem areas up?



Many thanks

BTW - This is my first car build for nearly 15 years, and I never used to prime them when I was 15, so please be gentle. I need to learn..

[Vric]

you better have a very even primer coat. if you have part that is darker, the paint will have a darker shade in those part. so be sure it's white everywhere before painting your color.

just put a mist coat of primer over this.

[RallyRaider]

Hi Mick, welcome to AF.
Probably too late to help this build, but I try and get rid of all the imperfections whilst still at the grey primer stage. Only when that is acceptable do I start with the white. In fact I find it easier to spot imperfections with the grey.

Also, if you have an airbrush, there is no reason why you can't respray just the affected area, so as not to build up too much paint all over the whole model.

[mickbench]

Oh.. Erm yeah I did spray a coat of grey first and I did fix the problem areas, but then I applied the white and for some odd reason I started to see what looked like little circles.

I sanded these out and now I can see grey primer as I sanded the white off. I do have an airbrush but the primer is rattle can automotive.

Can't I just patch those up with the can, and then "very" lightly with 1500 paper sand the body to get it all smooth?

I also read this help guide http://www.italianhorses.net/Tutoria...aint/paint.htm

And he says -

"First coat is ALWAYS gray primer. If everything looks good, I spray a coat of white primer and let it dry completely. If I make more corrections, I spray another coat of gray, then white. This is very critical stage, and I'm a firm believer that the body MUST be white for absolutely any color, except black and silver. These two colors will cover anything. Gray color requires gray primer. After white primer is dry, I smooth it by slightly wet sanding it with 1200-1500 sandpaper, and then brushing it with toothpaste. Make sure you don’t sand trough white. Then thoroughly wash the body several times to remove all toothpaste and other residue. Dry for 2-3 hours."

From reading this, he primes as many times as he likes until he is happy. My issue is the same as RallyRaider, doesn't this build up the paint, and then start to hide details?

I'm getting more and more confused.

[RallyRaider]

Probably depends on a number if factors, like how thick each of your coats are. If you are using a rattle can then the coats are probably on the thickish side. I always find I can lay much thinner, but well covered coats with my airbrush, compared to the cans. If you are concerned about the detail you could always try rescribing it, but then you'd be down to the plastic again.

I wouldn't sweat it too much, go ahead and patch it like you suggested, it will probably work. If it doesn't then put it down to experience. Learn from it so your next paintjob will be closer to the perfection we all seek, but rarely achieve.

[hirofkd]

I guess it's too late for this project, but for the next one, try using a small flat brush and apply either GSI Creos (formerly Gunze)'s Mr. Surfacer (in a bottle) or your primer which you can spray into a paper cup. That way, you only add primer to the areas where you're fixing (i.e. sink marks, seam lines, gaps, puttied areas etc.), and the rest of the details will remain crisp and sharp. Repeat this prime-smooth-check process several times until you are comfortable with the finish. After body prep is done, follow the body priming instructions other members have suggested.

Mr. Surfacer bottle lasts for a dozen of car models, and you can also save spray primer in a long run.

[Fkouch]

Originally Posted by hirofkd

I guess it's too late for this project, but for the next one, try using a small flat brush and apply either GSI Creos (formerly Gunze)'s Mr. Surfacer (in a bottle) or your primer which you can spray into a paper cup. That way, you only add primer to the areas where you're fixing (i.e. sink marks, seam lines, gaps, puttied areas etc.), and the rest of the details will remain crisp and sharp. Repeat this prime-smooth-check process several times until you are comfortable with the finish. After body prep is done, follow the body priming instructions other members have suggested.

Mr. Surfacer bottle lasts for a dozen of car models, and you can also save spray primer in a long run.

Mr Surfacer is good stuff alright. But if you can't get ahold of GSI stuff, Tamiya have just released their 'Liquid Surface Primer'.

If you can't get either just mix some Tamiya putty with Lacquer thinners.

Cheers

Farrokh

[mickbench]

Thanks all.
I lightly cover the parts where I had to sand and almost covered the entire body, however the details are still visable.

I read on this board that someone used a really sharp craft knife to scrap out the paint from door seams etc..

I wish I knew you could just brush some primer on the trouble areas. I read so many FAQ's and no one mentioned you could do that..!! Put this one down to "Learning" and I've learnt from it. Thankfully I think I got away with it.

The underbody only had one coat of grey and one coat of white therefore I guess this is correct, whereas the body has had one coat of grey, 2 x coats of white the last one being almost a mist. RR - I know what you mean about cans. The primer does lay a little thicker then the airbrush.

If I now apply 2 mists of top coat, and then 2 wet coats will I now been fine, provided I don't make anymore mistakes?

Thanks all, nice to have a good resource like this. Very helpful.

[primera man]

I'll throw my 2 cents in here and say to you not to bother sanding if the primer is alright.
If you get it spayed nice and even and smooth i cant really see the need to have to sand before the top coat goes on.