After many complains from the wife about the automotive primer even with a spraybox I'm done with it.
Is there anybody out there who has used Vallejo Primer with the airbrush.
I'm hope somebody can tell me the does and don'ts.

Marc

Hi Mark.
Its all I use. I have used it with an air brush & with a paint brush. I have had no problems with it and no bad smells in the house. I wouldn't change.
W

I have tried it but wasn’t a big fan I then tried Stynylrez it’s a fantastic primer much better than Vallejo.No thinning needed but you do have to use a 0.4 or like me a 0.5 set up.And 30psi.When I first poured it into the cup.I thought my god this stuff won’t spray but wow it went down well and self levelled and dried Matt.It can be thinned but they don’t recommend it.

I used Humbrol light grey for years before Humbrol became the disaster zone that it is today. Shame.

Then I changed to Vallejo grey surface primer which I have been using for the last 5 years. I am vaguely happy with it (mainly because I bought a large bottle) but, like all Vallejo paints, you must shake the bottle until your arm falls off. It goes on nicely with the airbrush, although I usually use a brush. The paint shrinks onto the model so that detail is not obscured and so long as you leave it for a few days to cure, makes a fairly robust matt primer layer. I usually paint in oils over the primer, often with extensive rubbing-off and I have never had the primer lift. I like the neutral, light grey colour which makes it very easy to spot any imperfections where you've missed a gap or a casting line etc. Being water-based, there are no issues with nasty fumes. (However, I have to confess that, because I have been using oil based paints for years, I rather like the smell of turps and linseed oil and can often be found practising substance abuse with my little jar of Mr Dissolved Putty)

I would not use Vallejo straight out of the bottle; despite vigorous shaking I have had the paint develop a slick, semi-gloss layer which is impossible to paint over and has had to be stripped. Stir the paint with a bamboo stick and decant some of the sludge from the bottom of the bottle onto a palette then mix in some of the liquid media until you have a nice, smooth mixture. Don't just use the sludge and thin it down, you must have some of the media to form a proper paint layer. A sludge and thinner mixture dries into an orange-peel effect, which has to be stripped. My bottle is starting to develop a really thick, sticky sludge and although it is still usable I wonder for how much longer. Vallejo is an OK primer but you have to be careful with it, which I would rather not.

Do yourself a massive favour and try Stynylrez as suggested by Bryan. Badger Stynylrez is everything Vallejo should be. No need for endless shaking and mixing, just a quick shake and it goes on easily with an airbrush or brush and shrinks nicely to a matt finish. I have only been using it for a few weeks and I am completely converted, my Vallejo is in the shoebox where all out-of-favour paints live.

Stynylrez comes in several colours but all the UK Ebay sellers seem to only offer a set of White, Black and Grey. The grey is much too dark for me but a 60/40 mixture of the white with the grey gives me the light grey I want. I haven't opened the black yet... I've never tried a black primer but I'm kind of thinking about it.

All the best with your painting

Steve

I use it as a brush on only because I already own it and rarely ever prime by hand anyway. The big problem with Vallejo is it’s not sandable.

thanks

I'm this weekend in Edingburgh and gonna look at a modelshop to buy a bottle.

Marc

Enjoy the City Marc-lots to see and steeped in History.

Keith

Thanks Keith

It is sorta kinda sandable. You need to use polishing grits (600+) rather than sanding grits and only after it's cured for at least 24 hours, longer if there's a lot of humidity. I use 400 sanding sponges that have been worn down to basically the foam with just a hint of grit and it works fine, and you can rinse the residue off the sponge to reuse it. Having to wait for it to cure defeats the purpose of using it as a seam/work checker though. I use Scale75 primer if I want to work quickly.

Kimmo

Good to know Kimmo! I must not be waiting long enough. When I’ve tried to sand it it comes off in chunks.

That's probably the main culprit. I also suspect sandpaper is a little too rigid, and if the primer gets tearing before it has cured, it will just peel off. Get some sanding sponges, they are a decent option to steel wool for figure work. Buy a full sheet and cut to taste.

Kimmo

3M maroon pads for sanding before priming and grey ones for sanding after priming are an excellent choice

Another fan of Stynylrez - I've tried a few other brands including cans but wouldn't use anything else now. I tend to use the white but have been increasingly using the flesh which also acts as a really useful base

Yip ! that's the answer : spray outside but not in the rain Tried a couple of the acrylic ones But don't work that well on metal .
Also decanted some auto primer into the air brush such as Halfords matt grey , you do get a very fine tight finish but its a devil to clean the AB

This is interesting as I use the Black Vallejo surface primer - I tend to drop a bit into my mixing tray (small plastic plant tray) after shaking the bottle till my arm goes numb, then I add a few small brush drops of water and mix together - then brush over my figures, I dry it using a hairdryer and like many find it dries ot a sating finish.
I use Vallejo Acrylic paints - watered down with distilled water from a kettle and paint a few layers - Red and Blue are always a task to get the to be a flat finish - infact I have resorted to haing to use Mig Ammo Lucky ultra flat Acrylic varnish over the top of my paintwork to try to flaten the paint finish.

I wonder if my lack of flat paint finish might be down to the Vallejo Primer?

W.

This was a well timed post, I just primed a couple of figures with Vallejo Black and added some matte medium to see if that would cut down on the shine and help my base coats go down easier. It seems to have done the trick. The sheen was certainly less noticeable and the first base coats felt like they were laying down better. I think the reason for Black being somewhat shinier than the other primers may be to help with metallics. The shinier the undercoat, the shinier the metallic paint will be. I can't offhand think of another reason why a black primer would be glossier. And for blues and reds, add some matte medium to those as well, it thins and enhances flow somewhat to boot. I find that Mecha varnish dries more matte than Model Color, so if you're picking up some paint, give that a try next time.

Kimmo

Its been a long term issue for me to get a True flat finish on my figures, I tried mixing in some Flat medium (Into my paint layers) - but to be honest I was not working from a wet pallette at the time instead I was just using the Vallejo Black primer un diluted direct from the bottle with a brush.
I have plenty more figures to make/prime/paint - so I will try using my Black Vall primer with some Flat medium diluted in a wet pallette even if it has to go on in thin layers.

W.

I use lately Greenstuffworld matt black primer and it is very flat