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Well I've finally got to a stage were I can think about painting some of my Death Korp models and I tried using a product from Japan that I oredered via Hobby Link Japan recently.

Its called Mr Resin Primer Surfacer and is a spray based primer for resin kits. I wanted to try this as I've had issues in the past with other spray undercoats and primers adhering to the resin (even after washing - apparently this is down to solvent strength of Citadels Chaos Black).

Problem is the instructions are of course all in Japanese, and the majority of its in Kanji (Chinese Characters) that I can't read at all. I did some tests to see how it comes out as I knew very little about the product before use. Its a grey coloured primer and has a nice consistency, works really well with the resin models both highly detailed infantry (DKoK Grenadier Sarge) and Tanks (Leman Russ Mars Alpha pattern).

However I noticed online that one retailer in the US puts the following line next to the basic product description - Do not use on plastic kits.

This is really worrying me, as with many FW tanks its a mix of large REsin hull pieces and GW plastic parts. Unaware of this I battered my Leman Russ with the Primer. I only did two very light coats as I like to build even layers up rather than over apply at once. So far nothing terrible has happened to my Tank but I'm not sure if its wise to continue. Unfortunately I have no other grey spray to use to continue the undercoat/primer layer.

Has anyone else had experience with this product or a comparible primer? I really want to try and work out if its safe to continue using on my Armageddon pattern Basilisk as I really don't want it to melt or something after application.

Any ideas, experiences, or thoughts would be most welcome! Cheers guys!

I would bet that the primer contains a chemical called MEK (methyl ethyl ketone). MEK is commonly used to make paints bond to things like PVC, PET, Acrylics and other polyvinyl compounds(resins). Add a tiny bit to any acrylic paint and it truly does work miracles. Basically it acts on plastic like a less volatile acetone and softens any plastic it comes in contact with making an easy bond for paint. Formica/plastic laminate paint almost always contains MEK.

I'd try the stuff out on some sprues first. One very thin coat is probably all you need. Check to see how the paint affects things like sharp edges and other thin areas of plastic. Also I'd think that temp and humidity will have a big impact on the results. Warmer and dryer is more likely better.

As beefHeart suggests, try it out on some sprue first, but don't get your hopes up - Gunze Sangyo's Mr. Resin products are made expressly for garage kits (i.e. models made out of urethane resin). There's plenty of primers out there for styrene kits.

Out of curiosity, have you tryied auto body primer on your kits? I think that tends to be a bit more forgiving when applied to surfaces that may still have some oils present like mold release. 

Hi guys thanks for the feedback and advice. So far the Mr Resin seems to work great on the Forgeworld stuff. As of yet no problems with the plastic parts of the Leman Russ. I read somewhere however that if you use it very carefully spraying closely in fast strokes it should be alright to use. Very light coats that don't stay on the plastic parts for a long time don't allow the chemicals to eat into the plastic.

According to the article I saw online you can get away with covering small plastic areas in this way, as its the duration of time that the chemicals inside the spray propellant that cause the damage if they keep in contact for too long.

Urethane resin... is Forgeworld resin Urethane based do you know?

Unfortunately With the cans being all in Japanese and my knowledge of the product before hand being very low I really wasn't sure if it was alright to use. However after some observation and a few different techniques I think I've found a way that works well.

With regard to car primer I was a bit concerned that it would be too thick for use on fine detial models kits. FW infantry are even more detailed than normal plastic or metal GW minis so thats a major concern for me.

I'll post some pics of the finished primer coating online, and show people the outcomes and results.

If your careful and use Mr Resin skillfully it can give solid results. Much better than the GW spray and purity seal experiences I've had in the past! Problem is I can't get the American products you guys use here in the UK, very few places stock Testors and Krylon.

As far as I know, urethane resin is the standard casting medium for resin model kits reproduced with RTV silicone rubber molds.

I see your point about car primer obscuring detail. Most folks use it on larger kits, but some thing else to remember is that primer isn't (or doesn't have to be) the basecoat. You really only need a misting to give your model "tooth" for your paints to adhere to. A light misting of primer followed by a basecoat of paint thin enough to not fill in the details works very well. 

Hi Elusive

Thanks for the pointers thats interesting. Before I've only ever used spray paint as an undercoat and never actual primer.

Knowing very little about primer I didn't realise that primer isn't actually paint although it has colour to it. Also I didn't realise that you could get away with light misting layers.

So far I've built up a nice even coverage over the grenadier sarge by applying lots of very light misty layers. I'm hoping to start undercoating and base coating tonight.

2 days after spraying my Leman Russ and theres definately not been any disasters! Thank god for that!