Do you re-prime the primer?

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starmanmm
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Do you re-prime the primer?

Post by starmanmm »

Ok, this maybe dumb, but I have never seen this question come up.

Do you re-prime the primer after your have sanded it? Sometimes when I sand the primer smooth, the color of the plastic comes thru. So I was wondering if you would re-prime it and then lightly sand it again?

I sand with 400 grit.
caveslug
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Post by caveslug »

some times, I often use the primer to tell if all the seams are covered good.
And If I have to go back and work on the seams I will reprimer after.
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Mr. Badwrench
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Post by Mr. Badwrench »

Yes, I use primer for two or three seperate reasons. First, as cave troll said, to help find stray gaps and seams. Sort of a half way stage between construction and finishing. Also if you are building something with multiple colors of plastic, like a kitbash or aftermarket resin and photoetch set, the primer coat really ties things together, lets you see the model as a whole for the first time.

The other reason for using primer, and this is in answer to your question, is to act as a base for everything that comes after. Preshading, primary paint job, weathering; all are served by a smooth, even primer coat.
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big-dog
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Post by big-dog »

Once things are as they should be I tend to prefer either Scotchbrite (very fine) or even four-O steel wool to sandpaper on the last primer coat. Very lightly applied.
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woozle
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Post by woozle »

When I'm kitbashing, with different shaped pieces of different kinds of plastic, and putty galore, I spray sandable primer on, give it a light sanding to see what stands out as pits or raised spots.. fix them, re prime, and repeat as needed. Some day I'm going to try-out Mr. Surfacer.

Different color paint-jobs or effects can also look different on different prime coats.. for instance, metallic finishes look better on a black prime or base coat...

In general, that final (or only) coat of primer depends on the paint. Or instance, I often use a coat or two of Future, to prime the actual painting, to make a smoother base coat.
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eeun
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Post by eeun »

Yeah, what Woozle said...;)

On most kits, I'll lightly primer, just to make sure I've done a good job on the seam lines, and to give the model some tooth for the acrylic paints - if I'm using Liquitex in the airbrush this is a must.

My scratchbuilds tend to get more primer, as there's more shaping and sanding to do. And I don't have to worry about obscuring panel lines, because they don't exist yet.
The two computer mice I've made into models each must have had half a dozen coats of primer, and the Cosmo Tiger I'm working on has had about the same - though on this I'm intentionally filling in the panel lines.

I did use Mr. Surfacer as a spot primer, hand-brushed over more troublesome areas.
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Lt. Z0mBe
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Post by Lt. Z0mBe »

What wooz said if I'm using different media. Oftentimes, I will scribe my panel lines over my primer, if I am using Duplicolor filler primer.

I hope this helps,

Kenny

www.sigmalabsinc.com


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