I appreciate you putting this out there. I’m just getting started with models and airbrushing. I really like that you compared the three primers. I’ve suspected I’ve used too much primer and you’ve verified. Thank you.
Great video Will. Shows exactly why I tossed my Vallejo primer in the garbage, and switched to Stynylrez. You said it perfectly in the vid, Vallejo primer is fine if you don't need to sand anything. Problem at least for me, is that I almost always fins a piece of dust or something the next day that I want to quickly sand out.
Hi this is a really helpful channel. I have started to make 3D prints from my own designs, its great to get the information to start to try to get a better finish on my painted models.
Hi Will, Just had the good fortune to discover you, and your ‘treasure chest’ of highly informative videos. :-) Particularly impressed (and educated!) by this one on primers, and shall be stocking up on Stynylrez without any concerns or hesitation. You're a damned fine modeller, Sir, and you don’t do half bad on making RU-vid videos, either. An inspiration to all who have the good fortune to ‘discover’ you!! Cheers, my friend. Mark (in the WET part of the UK? Envious of your climate??? Only a tad!!!!!! 😜😜
+Mark Pearce thank you for all the kind words, Mark! I just try to keep it real and have a conversation with other guys doing the same stuff, So it's nice to know that it's well-received.
+will pattison My pleasure, Will. Only speaking the truth, though. But.... but .... but.... You ARE making me spend my dollars aplenty!!!!! Awaiting a slow boat from China (well, from Japan, actually!) bearing me a boxful of 20 assorted colors of that Washi masking tape.... no thanks to you!!!!! (lol) .... So I hope that you are feeling suitably guilty and responsible!!! Have a great weekend, Will, and send us some of that lovely sunshine over, could you, please! We sure as hell NEED it!!!! Cheers, Will. Mark Pearce (somewhere in Wales... cold.... grey .... but not actually raining today, just for a change!)
Thank you for this video, this is exactly what I needed as I was having the EXACT issues on my models using the Stylinrez. I think im moving on to Lacquers for my primers.
Awesome stuff here, wish I had watched this 2 years ago before going thru the process of buying all the primers that didn't work. I also have found "Dipli-Color" works well like Gil, I decant it into smaller bottles. Its very inexpensive and readily available at any automotive store Its pretty much the same as the Alclad, but wayyyy cheaper. The Stinlyres is pretty frikin amazing stuff though. I have found the same with it scratching off, but I feel this can be helped by slightly scuffing the plastic before priming, I never understood the total polishing of the model most do in prep work, I learned from doing body work on motorcycles you need a semi roughed. Great video as always!!
Mr. Surfacer 1500. Dilute 50/50 with Lacquer thinner. Best primer I've run into yet - Sprays beautifully out of an airbrush, no clogging. Haven't tried the Alcad stuff though. You can also use Surfacer 500 as a gap filler...Surfacer 1000 is kind of a gap filler/primer depending on how you use it, and if you thin it or not. But 1500 thinned is hands down my favorite primer now.
He Will, very informative primer comparison video. I recently switched to Stynelrez about a month ago. I couldn't agree more with your findings. Since my work bench is my kitchen table is my workbench. And my spray booth is a cardboard box. I can't really use lacquer based products in my airbrush. Thanks again for great video. Keep it up.
Another excellent video Will. I chuckled when you showed the Pink Vallejo Primer. I've almost finished the Tamiya SAS Pink Panther Land Rover and thought " That could have been used as a base on it". I think I will buy some of the Badger primer as its adhesion seems way better than the Vallejo.
Really enjoyed your video Will... Filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge of primers especially since I've come off being a Tamiya Rattle can man and into the world of acrylic airbrushing.. I'll try to get some of that Badger Primer.. It look like the kangaroos bollocks! (That means in Aussie slang good stuff). I did use some Ammo MIG acrylic primer on the Skoda, but I left it a good 2 days before adding the rest of the camouflage and had no problems with tape, bluetac or light sanding. However when removing the tools, which were tacked on with white glue, it pulled off large sections of that primer.. So that was a lesson. Keep up the videos. I really enjoy your channel.
Interesting vid and discussion Will. As well as off the shelf aki, vallejo and ammo primers I am quite fond of dollar store (pond shop to us,) auto primer in rattle cans. Strangely and counter intuitively it works wonderfully
+Armour Empire oh, I don't think that's counterintuitive at all. They are more than likely lacquers and formulated to be super easy to spray. Krylon and those folks understand that the average consumer is not a professional painter and probably has no technique, So they have to make it that way.
Thanks, Will! New to modeling and bought a bunch of Vallejo primers and was experiencing all of the issues you just described and was wondering if priming was really necessary because of all the hassle. Glad to see alternatives will try the badger. I noticed you also had the trigger spray gun. I think I would like to try one looks like it might be easier to control spray volume. Lots of problems to solve LOL I think it is one reason why I have been drawn back to models after 45 years of life. BTW your on-camera persona is very likable you could make more vids and I would watch. some of the VLOGs are just so annoyeing.
TY this was so helpful use Styntlrez and its killing my airbrushs but you have showed me the way. Much appreciated. You know your stuff. Might even try laquer primers now as well.
Will a great video. I use Alclad primer almost exclusively. I've found that you can actually clean it with IPA if your in a pinch or don't want to use laquar thinner.
i use the badger primer myself or lacquer. Badger likes some heat from a hair dryer to accelerate the dry time , otherwise it's best to sit overnight or 24 hours as the bottle instructions indicate.. I only wet sand primers with fine nail polish grits on those sponge blocks you can buy at Sally's, so I have no way to compare it to your dry sanding with course sticks by comparison. Still a good test though showing Velleo's weakness and Badgers strengths. Lacquer of course speaks for itself. Thanks for the video.
I tried Valejo three times on different models (fortunately enough I used it to prime fuel tanks), stripped it and threw away a bottle in the trash can. Now I am using Mr Surfacer 1500 or decanted Tamiya and never had any issues with it (other than once thinned it waaaay too much).
I agree with 99 percent of your analysis of these primers. I despise Vallejo but still have a few bottles I use for figures. like you, my go to is Badger's StyNylRez but I also use, Dipli-Color Automotive primer and Tamiya rattle can Primer. I differed on how to clean it out of your airbrushes but you knew that...lmao. Great discussion Will.
+will pattison lol....it's all good my friend. tossed that in as an aside as I agreed with your review whole heartedly but wanted to keep ya on your toes....lmao. kutgw. You need to do more of this type of video. Your good at it.
I've seen another video on Vallejo primer where the post hit it with future right after shooting it and it hardened right up. He wasn't sure why but it seems to react with Future so if you can't wait then that might be worth a try.
Not done any modeling for the last 5 or 6 years. Been using Tamiya spray cans, which seem to do a good job based off the 10 points, but are expensive as I seem to get though a can a model - spray - fix - spray - sand - spray - and on and on! Just bought a 3 pack of stynylrez so I'll see how that goes with my latest endeavors. Whatever I think it will be better than my skills! Seems the trick with it is to let it sit before any corrective body work.
Me neither. I have not used anything other than Vallejo primers for over 10 years now and I have never, ever ran into any problem at all. I also leave it to CURE (not dry to touch, which is a very important difference!) for at least 24 to 48 hours. After that, I can scratch it with my nails and it won't come off. I can sand it without issue. Etc. If you attack it with sand paper and other destructive methods after an hour... yeah... well... that's not how you are supposed to use it... Another important thing is, you need to apply it in multiple THIN layers! If you spray one or more very thick layers, it is not going to work as designed & intended. Also, you need to properly shake the paint before using it. Manually shaking it for a couple of seconds is NOT enough if the bottle has not seen use for multiple days. Preferably use a paint shaker and let it shake for a couple of MINUTES. I have indeed added a metal agitator, to have it mix much better. A glass agitator is NOT going to work, They are not heavy enough to do the job properly. Other than that, temperature, humidity, spraying distance and many other aspects can be of great influence. I'd say, use it the way it is supposed to be used under the conditions it is supposed to be used and it will work perfectly fine. Vallejo has video and/or written tutorials on how to use them, if I'm not mistaken. I suggest to look em up and go watch/read them and use Vallejo products the way the manufacturer has meant them to be used. It's simple, really. If you don't know how to use a product, it is never going to work properly. And that includes how to use your airbrush correctly. It's easy to blame the product, but I am willing to bet my Life that in 9 out 10 cases, it is, in fact, user error.
Shoot dang, I just picked up some vallejo! Guess I should have researched further before picking some up. Thanks for the video, I'll make sure and watch some more before picking anything else up. Thankfully I got small bottles before buying a biggun, lol.
Someone suggested I use the Stynylrez paint to prime the rubber parts of action figures I'm custom painting. Would anyone suggest using this or anything else on rubber?
Hi Will I just learned that my new Vallejo Model Color and Model Master Acryl paints peel extremely easily especially if I am using Tamiya masking tape. Some of the Vallejo paints flaked off from basic handling of the part. My hypothesis is that the Vallejo paints do not get fully mixed without an agitator ball which contributes to it flaming off easily. With the MM paints I’m not sure. I never prime with my Tamiya Acrylic paints and never had problems with them. I will conduct an experiment using those three brands over non-primed and primed plastic . Any thoughts ? Thanks.
I had high hopes for Badger Stynylrez but it clogged up bad on me, even out of a .7mm Badger 150. It sounds like every bottle is gamble. I've seen people say they can spray it out of .2mm nozzles and they swear by the stuff. Seen people say it's the only primer they use now. Others complain of clogs, drytip, issues all the time. Maybe I just got unlucky with my bottle...It almost immediately gummed up into like a rubber/gel type of consistency once I started spraying it.
I use them all, Stynylrez quite similar as I used Vallejos - but I let them dry or cure for much longer. Vallejo, a week.. Stynylrez preferrably the same but a day/24h seems fine too. Maybe two? Not primed a whole model with Alclad´s black until just now.. While listening to this.. ;) Started to prime a Tamiya P-51D, 1/32.. We´ll see how that goes.
Like the Stynulrex, but having a hard time cleaning up...using 91% Alcohol and I have to SCRUB the cup...worried about what is being left inside my AB...any tips?
Thanks for doing these Videos. I'm a nube and learning a lot from your videos. I have a question. What type of primer should I use on photo etch. Will stynelrez work? Thanks for the help.
Like you, I love model masters acrylic paints. However I have to use a canned primer to get them to hold up to tape. How do they hold up when using the badger primer? Thanks!
+principaldrew they hold up pretty well, but i've learned the hard way to never let my guard down with masking tape. always peel parallel to the work surface!
+will pattison Hi Will, got my first bottle of Stynylrez. The label says that you can paint over it after 20 minutes. Since I use MM Acryl paints, in your experience how long to you let the primer cure before painting? Take care! P.S. I made my first video if you would like to check it out.
Will, in your travels, if you see a 1939 Chevy four door sedan, please let me know. I get a lot of deliveries, and highly modded from lowering to chopping the roof. I want an original. It was the first car that had manual transmission gear shift on the steering column.
In my experience with Stynylrez...it acts very much like Mr. Surfacer. So I would say yes. It can be sprayed neat out of the bottle for a heavier filling effect. However it does react very well to being thinned all the way up to a 50/50 mix. If you wish to thin this much I would highly recommend using a drop or two of Flow Aid. I did do a video showing this if you are interested. Cheers from CDA
I'm having huge problems spraying Stynylrez. It keeps drying on the tip after just couple of seconds and I need to clean the tip constantly. I'm shooting it straight from the bottle with 0.5mm needle and tried PSI from 15 to 30, no change. Ambient humidity is around 30-50% and it doesn't seem to affect this in any way. Any ideas how to fix this?
Hey Will love your Videos, I noticed you Figure paintvalso and am surprised you didn't try Citadel paints Corax White in a can. Yes a can. I will warn you it has a hell of a smell. But it is my favorite it was designed for Warhammer figurines. It settles down extremely well and it has incredible tooth. The paint is not white but a light Grey. This allow you to see contours really well. It also is amazing to sand. I have accidently got a lil thick on a pass and it smooths out incredibley well. Obviously you have to give it a little more time. But it will settle. It dries fast. But it's drawback is itsctoxic fumes....I actually thing it may be autoprimer, but I'll take the glowing skin and extra appendages. Plus I don't even have to airbrush it. I'll take this stuff to my modelling grave. Only place it's a lil weak is on photo etch.
I've not had nothing but trouble with my stynylrez, it sprays on and immediately pools in recesses leaving higher areas looking unprimed no matter how much I shake the bottle. It also peels terribly. It could be a bad batch but I'm hesitant to try more.
thanks for replying. I think it might be a bad bottle, even with the finest of coats it seem to have an unusual tendancy to want to form into separate tiny blobs, clinging to itself rather that the surface, and I make sure the surface is clean. The cote starts off looking ok then steadily gets worse.
PU Primers are mainly produced for outdoor use especially for RC models or so. Its a marketing problem for them to be introduced as if they are as good as to be used in other purposes.
Kinda late to the party but I'll ask anyway - do you have any issues cleaning airbrush from badger primer? I'm trying to like it but it clogs my 0.4mm sparmax airbrush wayyy too fast (after priming 2 or 3 warhammer miniatures), and is a real nightmate to clean. Any tips how to work with it?
@@barpfoto really? Bummer. I thought I was doing something wrong :( If I have to use lacquer thinner either way I guess I'll just use mr primer surfacer then ;) Thanks for your answer.
Model Master's acrylic primer is fantastic, I know Martin uses that and I soon picked it up. It's a great primer. Good info, but lacquer is too harmful to the environment and myself. So, sticking with acrylic. :)
Most airbrush professionals will tell you that if you have to shoot something at 30-40 PSI then your paint/primer is far too thick if your goal is a very smooth, display quality finish. IMO all these acrylic primers need to be thinned, some more than others. I don't think you should ever exceed 20 PSI. The thinner the primer is and the lower the PSI you use, the less likely you are to get tip dry or gum up the innards. If your goal is simply to work as fast as possible and get it in on in one coat then by all means just shoot it however you want and get it on there. For armor or something that's going to be heavily weathered it might not matter, but if you want a high quality finish, it starts with primer and thinning, lower pressure & 2-3 passes is better. If you've thinned out the primer and used 2-3 passes it should be on there with a satin finish and not need sanding at all.
Will, I noticed your comment on Aotake japanese primer and I remembered one article about it, it looks like a metallic paint but was actually a translucent blue-green coat on top of bare metal, pretty much like a candy color of today, I guess you can replicate the effect by using mix of clear blue-green on top of some metallizer like AK or Allclad. Aotake is still a mysterious stuff much superior to the Zinc Cromate, interesting reading: colesaircraft.blogspot.com/2014/01/japanese-wwii-aircraft-aotake-primer.html
Another quick question, I just got into modeling not too long ago so Im pretty much dont know anything and in your video you say that the vallejo is okay if you dont need to sand so my question is - in what situation do you need to sand primer or on the other hand, what situation should you NOT sand the primer? I mostly been building WW2 fighters, (I've built about 3 so far) Can you elaborate on that a bit? Thanks!!
I was told by the man that makes the primer for Bager do not thin the primer you don't need to i get it buy a gallon at a time i use it everyday i build fulltime its fast and easy to use and it does what I need it to do.
I hate Stynylrez primers. They dry too fast in my airbrush (Badger 150), making it a real pain in the ass to clean, plus they don't spray on well at all.
I don't like Vallejo's entire line if airbrush paints at all, I bought them and won't use them ever again because they're rubbery, hard to use, they tend to have splatters, nearly impossible to feather and modulate, don't sand, gum up the airbrush with constant tip dry, are difficult to clean put of the airbrush, and don't thin well even when using their thinner. I also have issues with stynylrez, it does thin well with alcohol and it levels off nice and is sandable, but it has horrible tip dry and gums up the airbrush and is difficult to clean out of the airbrush making me dread using it. I switched to Mr. Surfacer 1500 along with and Tamiyas acrylics both thinned with Mr Color Leveling Thinner. They are far far far superior. You just need good ventilation and a respirator and you're all set.
This is not an adequate test, because: 1. The conditions applied to the three brands are not exactly equal. The tape on Vallejo, but no tape on the lacquer, for example. 2. The materials were not tested exactly as formulated out of the manufacturer. Again, Vallejo was adulterated ad hoc. 3. Any test needs to be performed on properly prepared substrates, as if it were in real world kit painting. The substrate was messy. 4. The approach to sanding was the same for lacquer and acrylic. No wonder the acrylics failed the test. 5. The manufacturers' instructions regarding reducing (thinning), etc were not adhered to. In 25 years of painting (fine art oils, alkyds, acrylics and hobby enamels and acrylics), priming may be sanded on occasion, but mostly it should be simply gently flattened. Flattening (again, not sanding) is especially important on delicate substrates. It is far better to flatten the primer (IF necessary) with a non-scratch pad, similar to those used to wash chrome metal plated items, mounted on sponge. That really IS ALL an acrylic primer applied to delicate styrene, requires. However, flattening the acrylic primer is a matter of "IF" required, because if the manufacturers' guidance is adhered to, in terms of substrate prep, thinning, PSI level and airbrushing method, the primer will behave the way it was designed to behave. It is not the manufacturer's fault that the author cut corners.
cool story, but regardless of your appeal to your imaginary authority, you clearly don't know shit about how primers are supposed to work or basic paint prep.
@@barpfoto Oh of course... I know nothing about primers... You do! That explains why VALLEJO acrylic primers failed in your hands, despite the fact they produce excellent results in mine and in those of hundreds of thousands more modellers around the World. I especially liked your "nurse-from-hell technique" of ripping the tape off the VALLEJO primer. LOL... I tape all the time over it and it has NEVER resulted in film failure. Ever! You need to repeat the test, applying sound principles as you would in the real world. As it stands, your test is null and void.
@@barpfoto Here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oxw6HYNvkXY.html is an excellent video by the renowned Portuguese architect and professional modeller José Brito, on application of VALLEJO polyurethane acrylic primers.
@@barpfoto I know how testing doesn't work. Your approach illustrated precisely that. If you change the conditions and criteria from one product to another, you invalidate the result. If the products being tested are not in the same category, you also invalidate the result.
+will, Mr Surfacer primers shrinks less than Alclad's primers. Alclad primer for me works in a way that each subsequent layer got "fused"/mixed/shrink into the previous layers and total thickness is less. This is good when you need high shrink-age :) E.g. to save all surface details. But if you really need "microfiller" (as it states on the Alclad bottle) then I would choose Mr Surfacer. You use 500 for filling small gaps with the brush, right? ;)
Great vid! Baffled at people defending vallejo primer - Other products of theirs are so good, but the primer is dreadful! Even after 72 hours my models peel like a chicken!
Il faut laisser sécher 24 h . Ensuite ça tient très bien. C'est normal que ça ne tienne pas en moins d'une heure. Je ne suis pas convaincu par ce test.
I never ever use acrylic primer. I did discover clear primer for automobiles,the flexible primers designed for bumpers is the best stuff out there. Your video was just a confirmation that acrylic primer is junk. I don't like using lacquers because they are aggressive and strong smelling and as you stated bond to the plastic. I have actually witnessed lost detail due to the aggressive bonding. Lucky you living in desert area,no grass mold allergy symptoms for you. My first experience with acrylic primer was totally ruining the model,thanks to Purple power cleaner I was able to soak off the mess. $30 for primer is outrageous mister. I don't care if you get 3 bottles,that's crazy. It's primer,it gets covered with paint. Unless I am making money on my model building ( which I am not). I will stick to my clear automotive primer. I have never heard of anyone NOT using primer. How is the paint supposed to bond to the plastic. I have watched other of your video's and gained some knowledge. This one, I can probably safely say I disagree with you on the cost and the reason you are promoting a lacquer based primer over automotive type primers . I have been building models since I was 8 and am now 57 but I will admit one thing,you never stop learning. Everyone in the hobby has tips and tricks to share,so keep sharing. thankyou.
Why would you ever have to sand after priming? i would do sanding before priming. Anyway i hear a lot of other people not having any problems with Vallejo primer, watching too many video´s just confuses me even more, one say Vallejo all the way, one say ammo by mig, one say badger and so on and so on..🤔😒
Ask that question of any professional car painter. Sanding after priming is exactly how it's done when you want a really good finish. And, as I stated, in the video, one of the functions of a good primer is to reveal flaws that need additional work.
Stynylrez was the about the most awful primer I have ever tried. I will never go there again even in a pinch. Terrible quality stuff. When I could finally get a bottle I didn't have to return because it was filled with goopy, half catalyzed primer that wouldn't mix in for love or money it just scraped off with no problem like it never adhered to the plastic properly in the first place. When I went all in on Scale75's Scalecolor and Artist ranges I also went all in with their primers. Easily superior to anything else I've ever tried and the range of colors in the tinted primers are better than anything else as well.
