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People keep telling me there is somethuing in primers that bond to models and paint, in the way paint does not do.

They have the imperial primer little box. People have told me that despite the name, that is not a primer.

Then we have the spray paints. Is it indeed primer in them?

I have started using amsterdamn acrylic paint as a primer. The off white I use on my nids is a bit thick, so I only spray it on the spruces. The black I also spray on the spruce.

It uses 24 hours to dry, the GW one does not take so long. Is it better? Can I use the GW paint?

Here is a random google serach after the amsterdamn cans.

http://www.yandlesartandcrafts.co.uk/amsterdam-spray-paint-400ml-lamp-black/p865

Any insight that can clearify this for me would be great.

Primers are Polyurethane based meaning they are essentially a liquid plastic. Whenever searching for primers (in my experience) i always make sure it says "polyurethane" primer, like Vallejo has.

Would that not just push the problem further if the primer basicly is liquid plastic? We are looking for something that binds to plastics and to paints.

Different kind of plastic to what the models are made of. Primer adheres to the plastic of the model and gives a finish that other paints can adhere to.

 Niiai wrote:
Would that not just push the problem further if the primer basicly is liquid plastic? We are looking for something that binds to plastics and to paints.

Yeah, Polyurethane primers do exactly that. They bind to the plastic.

Are there other primers, or only that?

There are "primers" which simply means base coats before your top coat, like painting a wall for example you would lay a base coat then your top coat (the base coat would just be called a "primer"). Then you have miniature primers for the likes you find in our hobby that are the same thing but aren't quite the same strength as polyurethane as that is a completely different compound and mixture unlike no other "paint" it is purely a "primer" that essentially shrink wraps its self to the model creating a surface most if not all acrylic paints will adhere to without a problem at all.

DarDar2205 wrote:Primers are Polyurethane based meaning they are essentially a liquid plastic. Whenever searching for primers (in my experience) i always make sure it says "polyurethane" primer, like Vallejo has.

PossumCraft wrote:Different kind of plastic to what the models are made of. Primer adheres to the plastic of the model and gives a finish that other paints can adhere to.

DarDar2205 wrote:

 Niiai wrote:
Would that not just push the problem further if the primer basicly is liquid plastic? We are looking for something that binds to plastics and to paints.

Yeah, Polyurethane primers do exactly that. They bind to the plastic.

These are wrong. Are their polyurathane primers? Yes. A urathane primer is mostly good for helping to cover up damage (like smoke damage in a house) that is bleeding through a water based primer/paint. It has to do with the resins used in urathanes.

Niiai wrote:Are there other primers, or only that?

Look. Paint and by extension primer is a emulsion ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulsion ) made up of 3 basic parts.

The Base is the core fluid the rest of the product is suspended in. It sets the tone of the product. It influences how it dries. It has a lot to do with what it will adhear to. It can impact a lot with what some of it's other properties.

The Pigment is what gives it it's color. Most primers come in a slightly off white. Primers your looking for come in a large variety of colors.

The Body is a mixture of all the other chemicals in the product that give it it's properties. Is it fast drying? Surfactants in the body help to evaporate the water in a water based paint so it dries evenly and correctly. Is it a gloss instead of a satin? How much gloss agent is added to the body impacts the end shine level.


What makes primer primer is hooks. If you looked at dried primer under a microscope you would see that it dries with a rough hook like surface that creates the perfect surface for paint to adhere. This means all primer is a complete matte finish. There is no shine. If what you spray has shine, it's paint. Not primer. Primer also has chemicals in the body that help it to make a chemical bond to the type of surface it's supposed to stick to. If you go to a paint store you might notice primers made for plastic, or metal, or ceramic. It's because these surfaces are extremely smooth and need that to get an actual bond onto them. Painting wood? Use anything. It's so rough and porous that pretty much everything will stick anyway.

This...



is primer. I use the black one myself.

I THINK the Army Painter ones that are CALLED primer might also be primer. But I am not 100% on that.

I'm not quite sure what I was wrong about? If you could clarify so I don't give out the wrong advice to people.

DarDar2205 wrote:
I'm not quite sure what I was wrong about? If you could clarify so I don't give out the wrong advice to people.

Polyurathane primers do not, by their nature, bond to plastic. There is a wide range of primers in all manner of bases designed to bond to all kinds of surfaces. Pretty much any primer you get from a miniature company is going to be formulated to bond to plastic/metal/resin. So thats not something unique to polyurathane based primers. Lots of water based primers bond just as well, have significantly less smell, and don't require chemical cleaners/thinners. Water based technology has advanced so far in the last 5-6-10 years that outside of extreme edge cases (that will never come up in miniature painting) there is no reason to use the other products.

It's basically not the polyurathane that makes the bond. It's all the crap they put in the body.

That being said, there ARE water based polyurathane clear coats now. I use them for my final seal coat. It's a interior/exterior furniture finish, so... the model should basically break before my paint chips.

I sort of have some confision thought around this.

You mentioned wood and regular painting of say walls. Wood can absorb paint, so the paint goes into the cracks and bonds physically in the wooden fabrics by the holes left when the wood was a wet tree. Also when you paint a wall, you want to put down 2 paints of couts. The first paint to make sure the next coat looks even.

When you spray a model you just cover it in paint very fast and effective. This is what I think the GW paint does, is this corect?

But a good base should bond to the material making it stick really good. And on the other side acrylic paint should bond to the base. Sort of like soap functions like a chain between fat and water. (Fat and water usually does not like to chain together.) The hooks lance talk about sounds like a physical and not a chemical bonding (sorta like welcraw.) Is that correct?

It's basically not the polyurathane that makes the bond. It's all the crap they put in the body.

Like the Urethane. Which to my understanding is the singular of the two terms. Poly being plural.

Appreciate the clarification.

The word "primer" is just a generic term for a coating that prepares a surface.

What that preparation is depends on the substrate and the topcoat you plan to paint over it.

Some primers fill gaps, some don't, some primers are sandable, some aren't, some primers are porous, some aren't, some primers produce a rough surface, some produce an exceptionally smooth surface, some primers will etch a surface, others won't.

A paint doesn't even need to be called a primer to fulfill the role of a primer. Sometimes a paint labelled primer from one range will be a worse primer than a paint not labelled a primer from another range.

I used to prime with GW Skull White and Chaos Black. They weren't called primers BUT they did a good job of sticking to the model and further paint layers stick well to them, so as far as I'm concerned they were fit for purpose as a primer.

A rose by any other name and all that jazz.

These days I use Tamiya primer in a rattle can or Gunze primer through my airbrush. These are both lacquer primers, a lacquer is a strong solvent which bites on to plastic extremely well. Gunze primer produces a slightly rough finish (depending on how much you thin it) while Tamiya primer is a bit smoother. I use them because they're tough, sandable and they're like priming on easy mode, I'm yet to screw up the primer coat on a model using either of those paints.

Vallejo primer is a polyurethane acrylic which I used for a while, but I found it wasn't terribly tough, took too long to cure and was finicky in how it sprayed. Even though Vallejo primer is called a primer IMO it did a worse job of priming than a decent rattle can acrylic paint that wasn't even called a primer (like GW's old sprays).

In reality, for plastic models, I've found a lot of rattle can acrylics work great as a primer regardless of whether they are or aren't called a primer. If I were trying to save money (as my weapon of choice, Tamiya primer, isn't cheap) I'd probably just find a decent hardware store acrylic rattle can to use.

 Niiai wrote:
I sort of have some confision thought around this.

You mentioned wood and regular painting of say walls. Wood can absorb paint, so the paint goes into the cracks and bonds physically in the wooden fabrics by the holes left when the wood was a wet tree. Also when you paint a wall, you want to put down 2 paints of couts. The first paint to make sure the next coat looks even.

When you spray a model you just cover it in paint very fast and effective. This is what I think the GW paint does, is this corect?

But a good base should bond to the material making it stick really good. And on the other side acrylic paint should bond to the base. Sort of like soap functions like a chain between fat and water. (Fat and water usually does not like to chain together.) The hooks lance talk about sounds like a physical and not a chemical bonding (sorta like welcraw.) Is that correct?

When you paint a wall its supposed to be 1 coat primer 2 coats paint. The reason is the primer makes the best possible surface to get the most longevity from your paint. 2 coats gets you the correct milage to create the most durable surface. Coverage may require more than 2 coats. Reds are the most noticable. The brighter the red the worse the coverage. You may need up to 5 coats to get good coverage on reds.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
The word "primer" is just a generic term for a paint that prepares a surface.

What that preparation is depends on the substrate and the topcoat you plan to paint over it.

Some primers fill gaps, some don't, some primers are sandable, some aren't, some primers are porous, some aren't, some primers produce a rough surface, some produce an exceptionally smooth surface, some primers will etch a surface, others won't.

A paint doesn't even need to be called a primer to fulfill the role of a primer. Sometimes a paint labelled primer from one range will be a worse primer than a paint not labelled a primer from another range.

I used to prime with GW Skull White and Chaos Black. They weren't called primers BUT they did a good job of sticking to the model and further paint layers stick well to them, so as far as I'm concerned they were fit for purpose as a primer.

A rose by any other name and all that jazz.

These days I use Tamiya primer in a rattle can or Gunze primer through my airbrush. These are both lacquer primers, a lacquer is a strong solvent which bites on to plastic extremely well. Gunze primer produces a slightly rough finish (depending on how much you thin it) while Tamiya primer is a bit smoother. I use them because they're tough, sandable and they're like priming on easy mode, I'm yet to screw up the primer coat on a model using either of those paints.

Vallejo primer is a polyurethane acrylic which I used for a while, but I found it wasn't terribly tough, took too long to cure and was finicky in how it sprayed. Even though Vallejo primer is called a primer IMO it did a worse job of priming than a decent rattle can acrylic paint that wasn't even called a primer (like GW's old sprays).

In reality, for plastic models, I've found a lot of rattle can acrylics work great as a primer regardless of whether they are or aren't called a primer. If I were trying to save money (as my weapon of choice, Tamiya primer, isn't cheap) I'd probably just find a decent hardware store acrylic rattle can to use.

All wrong. Primer is not paint. Yes, lots of primers have lots of different properties. When you consider what bonding to galvanized metal must be like compared to concrete its a no gak assumption. Calling primer paint is like calling warm water a cleaning agent. Can it break stuff up? Yeah... Kind of. Because its hot. But a degreaser/soap will actually do the job.

So where do gw's sprays and the amsterdam acrylic spray fit into all this?

Its a rattle can of their paint. Abadon black paint.

 Lance845 wrote:
All wrong. Primer is not paint. Yes, lots of primers have lots of different properties. When you consider what bonding to galvanized metal must be like compared to concrete its a no gak assumption. Calling primer paint is like calling warm water a cleaning agent. Can it break stuff up? Yeah... Kind of. Because its hot. But a degreaser/soap will actually do the job.

Dude Bro, take a chill pill, my apologies, I should have said "coating" instead of "paint", no need to give yourself an aneurysm I edited my post to say coating instead of paint though I'm pretty sure most normal humans understood what I meant before as well.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL :
Primer may not have pigment in it, thus it may not necessarily be a paint.

That said, paints can absolutely act as a primer even if the manufacturer didn't stick "primer" on the label.

GW's old Skull White worked well as a primer even though it wasn't labelled as such, better than some paints I've used which were labelled as primers. I don't know if the same applies to their current batch of paints though, I haven't bought any since they were labelled Skull White.

Fact is a lot of matte acrylic rattle can paints work fine as primers for plastic models. Not all, you have to test it and see how it goes. But rattle can acrylics often use strong solvents as their base which do a good job of biting in to plastic models. Then if you're using a matte one, paint should stick to it fine as well.

For priming metals it's better if you can use a metal primer as they'll etch the surface more effectively, Gunze make a good one that I've used, Tamiya also make one which I haven't used. Metal primer also works on plastic models but if you aren't careful and let it pool it can melt the plastic.

In the context of plastic toy soldiers, IMO a primer needs to be...

1. Somewhat tough

2. Stick will to the plastic it's applied to

3. A good base for paint to stick to it

4. Provide a consistent colour to paint over

If a "paint" can do that then it can effectively be used as a primer.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Lance845 wrote:
All wrong. Primer is not paint. Yes, lots of primers have lots of different properties. When you consider what bonding to galvanized metal must be like compared to concrete its a no gak assumption. Calling primer paint is like calling warm water a cleaning agent. Can it break stuff up? Yeah... Kind of. Because its hot. But a degreaser/soap will actually do the job.

Dude Bro, take a chill pill, my apologies, I should have said "coating" instead of "paint", no need to give yourself an aneurysm I edited my post to say coating instead of paint though I'm pretty sure most normal humans understood what I meant before as well.

Im chill. At no point am I getting upset explaining the difference between paint and primer to people who don't know any better.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL :
Primer may not have pigment in it, thus it may not necessarily be a paint.

The absence or inclusion of pigment is not what makes it paint or primer. Clear "varnishes" are paint without pigment. Art' Coat is gloss paint with no pigment. Lahmian Medium is Matte paint without pigment.

That said, paints can absolutely act as a primer even if the manufacturer didn't stick "primer" on the label.

No. It can't. Paint doesn't do what primer does. It might STICK. But it won't stick as well or create the optimum surface for the paint to adhere to. When you prime a surface you are prepping it for painting. (like priming a pump or other machinery for use). Paint is the end application. Primer is the preparation.

GW's old Skull White worked well as a primer even though it wasn't labelled as such, better than some paints I've used which were labelled as primers. I don't know if the same applies to their current batch of paints though, I haven't bought any since they were labelled Skull White.

Again, it's not about being labeled one thing or another. It's a different product. It does a different job. You never had a paint that was called a primer (outside of the nonsensical paint and primer in ones). Primer isn't paint. All products have varying qualities by manufacturer. I am sure the high end paints worked great compared to the total crap primers. But a good quality primer applied correctly with a quality paint will create a stronger bond and more longevity then a paint on it's own.

Fact is a lot of matte acrylic rattle can paints work fine as primers for plastic models. Not all, you have to test it and see how it goes. But rattle can acrylics often use strong solvents as their base which do a good job of biting in to plastic models. Then if you're using a matte one, paint should stick to it fine as well.

Rattlecans in general have solvents in the aerosol that helps keep them under pressure and workable as a spray. True. But thats not a factor that helps in their applications outside of ensuring even flow out of the can. Matte paint certainly helps better then gloss for adhesion on the paint side. But not on the plastic side.

For priming metals it's better if you can use a metal primer as they'll etch the surface more effectively, Gunze make a good one that I've used, Tamiya also make one which I haven't used. Metal primer also works on plastic models but if you aren't careful and let it pool it can melt the plastic.

Sure. Get the correct primer for the surface your priming.

Dude, to prime simply means to apply a preparatory coating. That's it. It doesn't need to be called a primer to be a primer. A paint simply means a coloured coating, so a primer can be a paint.

To put it in the words of Oxford...

Primer:

1 A substance used as a preparatory coat on wood, metal, or canvas, especially to prevent the absorption of subsequent layers of paint or the development of rust.

Paint:

1 A coloured substance which is spread over a surface and dries to leave a thin decorative or protective coating.

Varnish can't be a paint because it's not coloured, but now we're just getting in to semantics, I don't really care if you call varnish paint or not.

Based on your posts I'm guessing you work in some sort of paint related field, perhaps in that field adherence to some specific (i.e. not global) definitions of paint and primer is important.... in the context of little plastic toy soldiers, it is not.

A paint can serve as a primer if it's used as an initial preparatory coat and a primer can serve as a paint if it's pigmented and used as such.

Personally, I actually TEST what I intend to use on my models rather than believing what a manufacturer tells me (ever since something called "primer" tore off in huge chunks when I pulled masking tape off one of my models). From actual TESTING I can confirm that there are products called paints that function well as a primer... GW's old skull white used to be one of them, can't comment about the current ones.

 Lance845 wrote:
Rattlecans in general have solvents in the aerosol that helps keep them under pressure and workable as a spray. True. But thats not a factor that helps in their applications outside of ensuring even flow out of the can.

Spray a pool of rattle can paint in to a plastic cup, come back in a few minutes and see what happens (tip: don't leave the plastic cup on something you care about). Spoiler: It'll melt the cup. That's part of what makes rattle can paints tougher than brush on paints in the context of plastic models, they actually eat in to the surface slightly. It's not just a matter of relative surface energies and roughness like it is with brush on paints.

Lacquers do a similar thing, drop some lacquer thinner on a polystyrene model and it'll turn in to a melted pile of goop (ask me how I know ). I'm sure that's part of the reason Testors dullcote is such a well loved varnish and why Gunze's airbrushable lacquer primer works better than Vallejo's polyurethane airbrushable primer. From memory lacquers also form a more dense film.

EDIT: I will concede that in some contexts it is a good idea to heed the advice of manufacturers regarding what is and is not a primer, e.g. when painting cars, timber, porous, etc surfaces. In those situations the thing labelled primer may be significantly different to the thing labelled as paint. Plastic miniatures however, as long as it fulfills the basic functions I listed in my last post it doesn't really matter what the manufacturer labels it.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
Dude, to prime simply means to apply a preparatory coating. That's it. It doesn't need to be called a primer to be a primer. A paint simply means a coloured coating, so a primer can be a paint.

To put it in the words of Oxford...

Primer:

1 A substance used as a preparatory coat on wood, metal, or canvas, especially to prevent the absorption of subsequent layers of paint or the development of rust.

Paint:

1 A coloured substance which is spread over a surface and dries to leave a thin decorative or protective coating.

Varnish can't be a paint because it's not coloured, but now we're just getting in to semantics, I don't really care if you call varnish paint or not.

Based on your posts I'm guessing you work in some sort of paint related field, perhaps in that field adherence to some specific (i.e. not global) definitions of paint and primer is important.... in the context of little plastic toy soldiers, it is not.

A paint can serve as a primer if it's used as an initial preparatory coat and a primer can serve as a paint if it's pigmented and used as such.

Personally, I actually TEST what I intend to use on my models rather than believing what a manufacturer tells me (ever since something called "primer" tore off in huge chunks when I pulled masking tape off one of my models). From actual TESTING I can confirm that there are products called paints that function well as a primer... GW's old skull white used to be one of them, can't comment about the current ones.

 Lance845 wrote:
Rattlecans in general have solvents in the aerosol that helps keep them under pressure and workable as a spray. True. But thats not a factor that helps in their applications outside of ensuring even flow out of the can.

Spray a pool of rattle can paint in to a plastic cup, come back in a few minutes and see what happens (tip: don't leave the plastic cup on something you care about). Spoiler: It'll melt the cup. That's part of what makes rattle can paints tougher than brush on paints in the context of plastic models, they actually eat in to the surface slightly. It's not just a matter of relative surface energies and roughness like it is with brush on paints.

Lacquers do a similar thing, drop some lacquer thinner on a polystyrene model and it'll turn in to a melted pile of goop (ask me how I know ). I'm sure that's part of the reason Testors dullcote is such a well loved varnish and why Gunze's airbrushable lacquer primer works better than Vallejo's polyurethane airbrushable primer. From memory lacquers also form a more dense film.

EDIT: I will concede that in some contexts it is a good idea to heed the advice of manufacturers regarding what is and is not a primer, e.g. when painting cars, timber, porous, etc surfaces. In those situations the thing labelled primer may be significantly different to the thing labelled as paint. Plastic miniatures however, as long as it fulfills the basic functions I listed in my last post it doesn't really matter what the manufacturer labels it.

"Dude" ive worked on and off again over the course of 10 years in the paint industry working with manufacturers, stores, contractors, and home owners.

"To prime" is to apply the preporatory coating. That product is a primer.

"Paint" doesnt have to have a color. And primer is not paint. There is no part of PAINT that requires it to be a particular opacity or range of hues.

This thread started with a person asking for clarification on the products, what they mean, and what they are for. I clarified. Your just spouting misnomers and saying "close enough" with your misinformation.

On your last point, again, wrong. Wood is much easier to get proper adherence because of its rough and poros nature. Plastic doesnt have that. Its MORE important to get proper preparation on plastic if you want to maximize durability and longevity. Especially if its going to be handled often. Do people get away with not priming properly? Yes. Just like people paint their house without priming. But its better for your end result if you do it right.

I do not work with paint. Well I work in a storw that sells gw stuff so I guess I do teqnically.

I have an arts and craft baclground with modeling and colour. So i know colour theory, I know paint. I just do not know this primer terminolagy. It is not so much used in arts and craft as in more practical paint. (Water colour for instancr use the paper as your white colour. No primer there.)

Further there seems to be a lot of confuion and bad termanology ot missinformation about this topic. I wanne know what I am looking for in the can labeled colour spray.

 Niiai wrote:
I do not work with paint. Well I work in a storw that sells gw stuff so I guess I do teqnically.

I have an arts and craft baclground with modeling and colour. So i know colour theory, I know paint. I just do not know this primer terminolagy. It is not so much used in arts and craft as in more practical paint. (Water colour for instancr use the paper as your white colour. No primer there.)

Further there seems to be a lot of confuion and bad termanology ot missinformation about this topic. I wanne know what I am looking for in the can labeled colour spray.

A primer will mostly be called a primer. It will also often tell you what its made to stick to. Alot of the rustoleum primers for example are for metal. Many will say they are for plastic. Ones produced by miniature companys are often actually the most vague because they wont specify. Thats because they make their primers for their products.

If it doesnt say its primer there is a very good chance its paint. Those paints in cans are good for apply quick thing and even base coats without needing a set up for your own airbrush/spray gun.

Paint will mostly tell you what their base is. Water, lacquer, oil etc etc...

Also paint will often (but not always) tell you how shiny it is. Gloss semi gloss matte satin. Primer wont, because it doesnt have shine. Some companys indicate this with their caps. Rustoleum for example, the cap shows the color and has a glossy cap for the gloss paints and a flat cap for the matte finish.

So, basically, semantics.

In common parlance, people refer to things they use as a primer coat as primers, but they're technically wrong and for some reason it's vitally important they know that?

 Yodhrin wrote:
So, basically, semantics.

In common parlance, people refer to things they use as a primer coat as primers, but they're technically wrong and for some reason it's vitally important they know that?

They are using it as a BASE coat. Just like gws base paints. They are applying a coat of a base color on which to build the rest of their scheme.

Primer can help with color since obviously it comes in colors. But thats a secondary bonus effect. I dont prime my models to get a base coat. I prime them so my paint ends up the most durable it can be. I dont want to be touching them up constantly because spikes, edges, places that get handled alot have the paint chip or wear away because its not sticking like it should to the plastic.

Call it semantics if you want. I dont understand why its so difficult to understand the difference between applying a desired underlying color and preparing the surface for paint. They seem like 2 different things to me.

I don't use primers, never have

I love these threads

All I know is when I 'prime', I simply apply the first base coat that will be the primary color of the mini when finished. I usually always use Testors flat enamels shot through my airbrush. I find the enamels adhere better than acrylics to plastic on the base and the subsequent coats of acrylic stick great to the flat enamel. Enamel is a much more durable paint than acrylic. My old metal minis are testament to this. And, I can get the flat enamels from Testors in just about any color I can imagine. I like to use the base as the major final color as it saves me time painting and why paint a color you will just 100% cover up any way?

This is not the best or perfect method by any means, just simply what I do and it has provided excellent and long lasting results for over 20 years and thousands of minis.

 MDSW wrote:
All I know is when I 'prime', I simply apply the first base coat that will be the primary color of the mini when finished. I usually always use Testors flat enamels shot through my airbrush. I find the enamels adhere better than acrylics to plastic on the base and the subsequent coats of acrylic stick great to the flat enamel. Enamel is a much more durable paint than acrylic. My old metal minis are testament to this. And, I can get the flat enamels from Testors in just about any color I can imagine. I like to use the base as the major final color as it saves me time painting and why paint a color you will just 100% cover up any way?

This is not the best or perfect method by any means, just simply what I do and it has provided excellent and long lasting results for over 20 years and thousands of minis.

Enamel isn't mutually exclusive to acrylic. Enamel mostly means it dries very hard. They ARE much more durable. But there are acrylic enamels (though I can't say I have seen much in mini paint form). Testors uses a lacquer base. Testors are really good paints if you feel like dealing with a non-water based product.

OK, Lance you will have to help me with the vocabulary here because I find this confusing, even in Norwegian.

The first layer of paint you put down has 4 functions.

1 - It tryes to bond with the model.

2 - It tryes to prevent the model from getting scrached easaly and have paint chipp of.

3 - It provides a surface for the next layer of paint to hold on

4 - It provides colour for the model.

Most spray cans paints does step 1 and 2. Quite badly. GW's spray paints are mostly designed to do function 3 and 4.

How can I identefy sprays that also do do step 1 and 2 better?

 Niiai wrote:
OK, Lance you will have to help me with the vocabulary here because I find this confusing, even in Norwegian.

The first layer of paint you put down has 4 functions.

1 - It tryes to bond with the model.

2 - It tryes to prevent the model from getting scrached easaly and have paint chipp of.

3 - It provides a surface for the next layer of paint to hold on

4 - It provides colour for the model.

Most spray cans paints does step 1 and 2. Quite badly. GW's spray paints are mostly designed to do function 3 and 4.

How can I identefy sprays that also do do step 1 and 2 better?

You have it all wrong.

1) should be a primer. Its not paint. It serves none of the other function.

2) should be a clear coat, often called a varnish, and should be the last thing you do to your model. General rule- the shiner it is the tougher it is. Many will spray a clear gloss first and then a clear matte or satin to dull it back down but keep the durability.

3) is acomplished best with your primer since it creates the optimum surface for your paint.

4) can be done with a primer since they come in colors but its not its main job and you will find a larger range of colors in paints instead.

For your first coat you want 1 and 3. Primer. If your base coat is white black or grey, easy. If your looking for more specific its gunna get a lot harder.

You could spray 1 coat primer. Then spray 1 coat paint to get the color you want.

When your all done you clear coat to protect the paint. Anything that scratches the model has to chip through that first before it can effect your paint.