Etch primer

Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Okay, this may sound a bit n00bish, but I've not made a habit of using an etch primer. Personal models have always been handled with care, so I've never bothered beyond the standard Halfords type of undercoat primer. Now I'm letting models go off into the wild outside my supervision, I think I ought to take paint underpinnings a little more seriously.

If you use an etch primer on your metal models, which one do you prefer and why?

Ta.
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Hi Heather,

Adrian M recommended "Closterman Black Etch Primer" and I have tried the spray can - agree with Adrian about tenacity and finish... a hair-dryer helps with getting the primer to form a smooth surface as the can does appear to spray rather wet.

The cans are obtainable via E-bay... you have to look at the various offers to decide which one to order (different colours, can sizes etc. do not buy from the picture as the ads seem to share a common pikkie).

If you are thinking about "Acid 8" from Halfords then read the technical data and the reviews. I was surprised to see that the product is not recommended for brass and (twelve months back) there were a couple of grumpy reviews.
 
taliesin

taliesin

Western Thunderer
Oh dear, i have recently bought a can of u-pol acid 8 from Halfords due to so many people telling me just good they have found it to be, i wonder why it's not recommended for brass. I have previously used an etch primer from Wurth which has proved to be good stuff but i do like the idea of a black etch primer. It might be an idea to have a can of this Closterman Black and a can of Wurth which is light grey depending on the colour of the top coat. cheers Rob
 
tomstaf

tomstaf

Western Thunderer
Heather you need this: http://www.gundamplanet.com/b519-mr-surfacer-1000-spray-170ml.html Why? Because it provides a silky smooth very even finish every time, it forms a tough painted surface, and perfect base for modelling paints to stick to. If it was available in cake form (I like them) Mary Berry would champion the stuff.

I'm also recommending this because I know you have an aversion to airbrushing the stuff:p . Should the airbrush tempt you though, Vallejo's entire range of primers are ready thinned and go on extremely well just like the Mr Surfacer.

HTH

Tom
 
Steph Dale

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Heather,

There is an alternative y'know - and Tom's half way there in my humble opinion.

In the US what we call etching primers are nearly impossible to get hold of as a mere hobbyist; they're actually pretty nasty things to deal with. The answer is to use decent acrylic and bake it on to the model; which is what most US brass factory and (good quality) custom finishes are.

This can be done even with plastic; for styrene models I aim around the hot hand held temperature for about half and hour to an hour to cure and level the paint then leave it for its full drying time to harden. With soldered brass models you can of course go a good bit higher.

I regularly do it with my US stuff, all water-based acrylics will do the same giving you a very hard-wearing, very thin, very smooth paint finish.

Steph
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Tom and Steph, thanks for those ideas. I'm intrigued that a baked-on acrylic might resist chipping. I might dig out some personal models and have a go with some Simoniz acrylic car primer (which is my usual standard base coat).

I'm not actually that averse to airbrushing. It's the prep that annoys me. I'm impatient, and having to spend time measuring and mixing stuff before I can do the actual job bugs me.

That said, I had a look around the Phoenix web site yesterday. They have an information page about etch primers, which answered a lot of my questions. I had worries about cellulose and two-part with all the annoyance about having to mix and so on. Apart from the shelf life of the single pack premixed stuff, and the requirement for the correct thinners, this is a road I may explore some more.

The biggest pain is Royal Mail. Since someone decided that sending noxious chemicals through the regular mail, based on what appears to be no evidence at all, is dangerous and must be stopped, all paints and chemicals that we modellers tend to use have to shipped by courier at vast expense. An example I can cite is the C&L can of primer, which is about £20, with another £6 to ship it. The stuff had better be bloomin' miraculous for that price! It makes the exorbitant prices for shipping from Pheonix seem most attractive, especially if I opted for the two-pack primer system.

Anyway, all good information. Thanks chaps! :thumbs:
 
Steph Dale

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Heather Kay said:
The biggest pain is Royal Mail. Since someone decided that sending noxious chemicals through the regular mail, based on what appears to be no evidence at all, is dangerous and must be stopped, all paints and chemicals that we modellers tend to use have to shipped by courier at vast expense. An example I can cite is the C&L can of primer, which is about £20, with another £6 to ship it. The stuff had better be bloomin' miraculous for that price! It makes the exorbitant prices for shipping from Pheonix seem most attractive, especially if I opted for the two-pack primer system.
Click to expand...

Heather,
Don't blame the 'Elf and Safety Police for that one: I suspect it's possible to write off most of the expensive bits of a mail sorting machine with a surprisingly small quantity of liquid if it's well-aimed. And cleaning it is very difficult as you've first got to work out what it is and then how to clean it.
Simple economics I'm afraid...
Steph
 
Ian G

Ian G

Western Thunderer
No problems with air brush still the same nozzle, every time i use my air brush a badger 350 I strip it down and clean it out.

Ian G
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
TheSnapper said:
Did you airbrush it? Is so, any problems afterwards?

"Some say" use a different one for etching, to avoid eating-away the nozzle.
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Tim, if you take a peep at the page I linked to over on the Phoenix web site, they explain about airbrushing with their etch primer. They claim it's quite safe if done properly, as the actual etch part doesn't begin until the primer is on the surface and drying.
 
ZiderHead

ZiderHead

Western Thunderer
Does etch primer work over chemical blackening? Or will it try to etch the blackening and not adhere properly (if that makes sense)?
 
OzzyO

OzzyO

Western Thunderer
ZiderHead said:
Does etch primer work over chemical blackening? Or will it try to etch the blackening and not adhere properly (if that makes sense)?
Click to expand...

I've used etch primer over chemical blackening and it works just as well. The chemical blackening does not work like a coat of paint but works on the metal it's self.

I also blacken the wheel rims on both sides before spraying the outside of the wheels with black etch primer. It maybe a bit OTT but if the paint chips off it's a black rim that shows not a bright steel rim.

OzzyO.
 
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