I'm trying to look for a different primer to use so I won't have to spend 6 bucks on a tiny can of Model Master stuff I have used before. I've seen Krylon and Rustoleum primers at Walmart and i'm wondering which would be better to use. The Rustoleum Primers I looked at are the "American Accents" and the gray auto primer (i'm looking for specifically a gray primer).
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I use a lot of Rustoleum gray auto primer. Note that there are different formulas, including one with extra thick fillers added, so watch the label so you get just the plain stuff for model work (i.e. if it's anything but the ordinary primer it will tell you).
Rob Spangler
The ones that indicate they are "sandable" often are less desireable, but not always. I've used the Rustoleum Automobile Primer (2081 Light Gray) to good effect and it does indicate it's sandable. Lately I've been using Krylon ColorMaster Gray Primer and it puts down a very fine coat.
I like to keep several shades of the red/brown primer around. I use it in place of tuscan red, boxcar red, and other basic freight car colors.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Plain old home-center primers (like the Aforementioned Rust-o-luem - including the Rustoluem "Painter's Touch 2x" sprays) can be pretty forgiving to apply, and go on relatively smoothly in my experience.Basically, if the resulting primed finish looks rough or lumpy, chances are good it's your surface prep, not the primer itself, and you need to do some patching and sanding...In one case, two coats of Rustoluem Painter's Touch 2x White Primer left a really great smooth white finish on a storage tank model, which my previously attempts to coat in Testors white left a lot to be desired (had to strip the "model" paint twice, said the heck with it, tried the primer, didn't look back). Haven't found any Yellow primer, that would be handy...
I use both Krylon and Rustoleum primers. I would recommend sticking with those brands. The "bargain" brands like Valspar, in my experience, tend to clog up in the can after one or two uses. It may be fine for deck furniture, but for models where you only use a bit at a time, cleaning clogged spray heads is very annoying.
I have a number of cans of "rust" primer, in different shades from different manufacturers. I love these paints for brick walls. I have a lot of brick structures on my layout, and being able to have subtly different colors of brick is very appealing to me.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I use the larger cans of Tamiya primer gray. Tamiya spray paint cans come with a very fine-spraying nozzle, so the results are as good as you can get with an airbrush. In fact I use Tamiya spray can paint whenever possible because they work so well and are so easy to use.
The good people at Bar Mills recomend the cheap aerosol one can get from Wal-mart for priming and sealing wooden walls. This is after you brace them to keep them from warping. I think it may be called Color Place. It is fairly inexpensive.
It was not said what is being primed. That could make a difference. And red-oxide primers do give a decent brick color.
Modeling a railroad hypothetically set in time.
Drew4950 It was not said what is being primed. That could make a difference. And red-oxide primers do give a decent brick color.
I'm looking for a general purpose primer I can use for spraying on multiple models such as an undec piece of rollingstock or on walls of a building kit. I brush-paint my models. I'll have to keep the oxide red primers in mind for future brick buildings...
I prefer a gray primer for when i'm painting something that's going to be white. It isn't very fun putting a white coat of paint on white primer like I once did, since you could easily loose track of where you were painting at last. I know I sure did.
I use Krylon and Rustoleum auto primers. The stick to anything, dry dead flat, accept anything as a top coat, and will cover anything (like a styrene building made from a For Sale sign). Light gray auto primer is good for covered hoppers, and weathered wood. The dark gray auto primer is good for steam locomotives, undercarriages, and tarred canvas roofs on older passenger cars. The red auto primer is a good box car red and an equally good brick red.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Walmart "colormate" basic gray primer is cheap, durable and has provided me with an excellent base for over 30 car projects, as well as a primer for structures (styrene). It also is easily removed (alcohol bath) if necessary. Get two cans and save another trip!
Cedarwoodron
Anyone know of a brown primer that looks like brick color, just about out of the one I use (K-Mart) and they no longer make this color!