Mr Surfacer primer

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**Mo7650**

Hi!
I'm new to painting and to this forum so go easy on me please. I want to know if anyone has used Mr Surfacer 1000 to prime their plastic miniatures? How is it? Do I need to thin it first or is it okay as is?

Thanks!

**DalinCriid**

I'd rather go for Mister Finishing Surfacer, which is what is the actual priming thing. I have Mister Surfacer 1000 which is a bit different and it happens to be a special kind of primer that most modelers use to create special textures on the hulls of WW2 tanks for example.

**notprop**

Yeah, it has the characteristic of filler as well. so great on rough surfaces but probably overkill on smooth plastics.

Excerpt from a product description;

A range of surface primers that can be used as gap and seam fillers as well as primers used by model makers and sculptors.

Many people think the Mr. Surfacer products are the cure for all modelling problemsbe it normal gap filling, smoothing or back filling, here at MDP we certainly prefer it to the likes of a Milliput wash or liquid greenstuff. There are three grades of Mr. Surfacer - 500, 1000 and 1200. Like sandpaper/emery cloth, the lower the number, the coarser the granules. Mr. Surfacer can be used straight from the bottle using a spotter paintbrush, cotton swab (que tip) or toothpick for filling in bumps, scratches and pits. If the hole is large, use several layers, keeping each application thin so it dries thoroughly. Mr. Surfacer is also great for filling in seams. Once it has dried, you can remove any excess with a swab dipped in rubbing alcohol (IPA). The alcohol will soften Mr. Surfacer and rubbing it will remove the excess or it can be easily sanded using our range of MDC or Pro Modeller sanding sticks and sponges.

A few notes of caution...Mr. Surfacer does dry very quickly. Also, remember that Mr. Surfacer is lacquer-based so you should complete as much of your filling and finishing work as possible before applying paint, especially enamel. Lacquer-based products can cause severe cracking, splitting or bubbling on enamels. To avoid this, you can use Mr. Surfacer 1200 spray as a primer or another lacquer-based primer on areas you find that may still need work.

More of a complicated Fine Scale Model product than simple Wargaming.

**AllSeeingSkink**

I use it a lot, I really like it. I mostly use it through my airbrush, though I prefer the 1200 or 1500 for airbrushing, Like sand paper, a higher number means a smoother finish, but realistically they're all relatively smooth.

It can be used as gap filling but also works great as a primer.

It's quite thick out of the bottle (even the 1500) so I recommend thinning it regardless of whether you intent to hairy brush paint it or airbrush it. I recommend thinning it with Gunze's Self Levelling thinner. Do NOT try thinning it with water, it won't work.

If applying with a hairy brush, you want to thin it down quite a bit and apply it quickly and avoid going over the same area twice, it will shrink down a bit and give a really tough surface finish that subsequent layers of paint will stick to really well.

If using it with an airbrush, just thin it down until it sprays nicely.

If using it as a gap filler, apply it without thinning and just sand it smooth.

It's my go-to airbrush primer and also my go-to small sandable gap filler, far better than liquid greenstuff as a gap filler and far better than Vallejo polyurethane primer as a primer.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

notprop wrote:
so great on rough surfaces but probably overkill on smooth plastics.

I don't really use the 1000 much to know how well it works as a general primer, but the 1200 and 1500 varieties work great as a primer on smooth plastics. It has heaps of bite so doesn't scratch off easily but also paints stick to it really well.

**Mo7650**

Okay thanks for all your input! I'm going to go get the Mr finishing surfacer and the thinner tomorrow then.

**AllSeeingSkink**

Are you using an airbrush? In hindsight after my previous post I think if you're new to painting and just using a hairy brush you might be better served starting off with a rattle can primer.

If you're using an airbrush then definitely the Mr Surfacer is one of the best primers you can use, but applying it by hairy brush might be a little bit tricky for someone just starting out.

**DalinCriid**

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
Are you using an airbrush? In hindsight after my previous post I think if you're new to painting and just using a hairy brush you might be better served starting off with a rattle can primer.

If you're using an airbrush then definitely the Mr Surfacer is one of the best primers you can use, but applying it by hairy brush might be a little bit tricky for someone just starting out.

It works just fine with hairbrush when you do tanks or airplanes. Did not tried figures thought, only airbrushed them.

**AllSeeingSkink**

Yeah I've used it with hairy brushes as well, but I don't think it's a great place for a new painter to start because having a nice smooth primer makes the rest of the painting process a lot easier when you're just starting out, so if you don't have an airbrush to produce that smooth primer layer you might be better served using a rattle can (initially at least) unless you don't have somewhere that you can spray.

**DalinCriid**

I will buy the Finishing Surfacer as well. It is even more thinner and I want to try it, because with the normal surfacer consumes quite a lot of thinner.