Primer over small parts?

[Scefen]

Hi guys,

I wonder if you usually prime small parts before airbrushing, like brake disks and interior parts and so on?

One of the interior parts I'm about to paint is red plastic from the beginning, and I will paint it in a tan colour. Would you prime it first?

Cheers,
Fred

[MPWR]

You will get some different answers on this.

I almost never use primer on parts that will not be painted body color. I prime the body, bumpers/fenders, and mirrors, but all other parts (engine, interior, suspension) I leave un-primed and spray paint directly on the plastic.

It is up do you if you want to prime everything, but it definitely does not need to be done. It usually will not improve the quality of the paint on these parts.

There are some cases where primer (or a base color) can help. Painting red plastic a light color (as you mentioned) is such a case. For this, I wouldn't use primer. A good coat of white or light grey over the red and before the tan should do nicely. You could use primer, but often primer will leave much more texture than a base coat of light, neutral colored paint.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Ditto what MPWR said. I prime body parts and occasionally interior parts that might need a solid neutral base if I'm shooting in a lighter color or if a seam in the front seat/seatback is particularly visible and the color it's being shot isn't going to cover it well.

Engine/brake/suspension stuff I generally just clean up nicely and shoot with color only. I'll prime the chassis if it's getting body color paint detail, ditto for underhood detail.

It's definitely not necessary to prime every single part, unless you have a hopeless case of OCD and then in no uncertain terms you MUST prime every part

Many modelers are poster children for OCD, so...

[ChillyB]

While both MPWR and ZoomZoom are better modelers than I, it is probably not because of this particular issue. I prime everything and I mean everything. Bodies get only Tamiya primer and the rest gets a light coat of an inexpensive primer. I've found that paint adheres better and covers more completely and evenly with a little bit of primer. And I don't do this out of some OCD problem.

But now I have to go wash my hands, once for each word I've just typed.

[Veyron]

But now I have to go wash my hands, once for each word I've just typed.

[Didymus]

I prime all car bodies, first with grey and then with white if the plastic is colored and I plan to paint it white, red, yellow or a pastel color.

I dispense with the grey primer for small parts, and apply colors like black, brown and grey directly on the plastic.

If the plastic is colored and I plan to paint the small part one red or yellow or one of those light colors, I do put on a coat or two of Tamiya White Primer. Two reasons:

1. Primer covers better than regular paint. For example, it takes several coats of Tamiya Pure White or Light Blue to completely cover colored plastic. I don't want that much paint on the car.

So if I'm painting a medium-toned (or darker) plastic piece, a thin coat or two of white primer will keep the plastic color from showing through. (I haven't run into "bleed through" yet. That calls for some sort of barrier coat. I'll cross that bridge, etc.)

2. Because paints are transparent, light colors "pop" better if there's white underneath.

Ddms

[guiwee]

guess its just a personal choice..im with chilly i usually prime everything just because the paint sticks better to me and doesnt require a lot of coats.........on the other hand ive primed with tamiya white and brushed painted x-11 chrome silver and it just didnt seem to cover well.maybe because i dont have an airbrush....so bottom line is try it both ways and see which way you like better and works for you.......p.s. in these economical times i think im not going to prime everything to try and save on paint costs..p.s.s. still waiting for my model stimulus money.LOLOLOLOLOL

[73superduty]

I concur on all counts.

However with that said I dare anyone to work on a high gloss Lindberg kit in high polish gloss red! Try not putting primer on any of that and see what happens! Damn this OCD.............