GutZilla Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Hi, quick question. I primed my lord of change with a friends airbrush and a thin coat of Vallejo polyurethane white primer. We let it cure for 2 hours, and then airbrushed the basecoat Color of the model, followed by a light coat of airbrushed Vallejo varnish. I noticed this morning that I was able to scrape the paint right off the model using my finger nail, so I hit it with a heavy brushed on coat of Vallejo Matt acrylic varnish. After letting it cure for the recommended ( on the bottle ) 4 hours, I was still able to easily remove paint with my finger nail. I just put on another coat of the varnish, but is there anything else I can use to protect the paints integrity? I’m not sure another coat of the Matt varnish is going to be enough, and I really don’t want to repaint the models since the airbrush paint job turned out so beautiful. I intend on playing (and transporting) the model frequently so I’d like it to be reasonably durable. Suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitGas Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 yeah, there is indeed something you can do - take that vallejo pu primer and throw it in the trash where it belongs. No matter what I did, it always scraped off easily - I've cleaned the model and so on and on and yet it did not stick properly. I've had much better result with the Stynylrez primer. But in my experience none of the airbrush primers is as sturdy as the ones from a spraycan. Hell, never cleaned a model before priming with a a spraycan and the paint stuck and was really durable. With AB(airbrush) primers I've never managed to 100% pull off the scratch-test although you need to scratch pretty hard for Stynylrez to come off. And I tried all kinds of things, from using it more wet to more dry... I believe that those that claim that AB primers are anywhere near as scratch-resistant as spraycan ones are simply lying. Just my two cents, sorry for the bad news. The good news is that it'll come off easily (and all of it) so you can start from (excuse the wording) scratch in a pristine state. These days I use Tamiya spraycan primer for a quick (not perfect) priming so that all the raised detail is strong and then go over that with black stynylrez for the deeper parts that wouldn't be scratched by handling. Then I blast it kinda from above with white ink through the AB for a really good preshading effect. Takes long if you do it for a single model but the process is okay if you do a whole unit at once. I'm still looking for the perfect primer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zilberfrid Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 To add to that, I haven't found a white primer worth anything. I use paint on primer if I see moldlines after priming, so I can just keep going, but they are much softer and less sticking than rattlecan primers. I currently use Mechanicus Grey from below, then grey seer from the sides and above, and paint the white on highlighted surfaces after that. I like that effect better than spraying it from above, and builds a good ground for contrast paints. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitGas Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Indeed, it's better to prime in a light grey and if you own an AB just use regular white paint (or ink - white ink is the bomb) usually. Although not all white primers are as bad as GW's (used) to be from what I've read online... I think I've read that it's better these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zilberfrid Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 6 minutes ago, MitGas said: Indeed, it's better to prime in a light grey and if you own an AB just use regular white paint (or ink - white ink is the bomb) usually. Although not all white primers are as bad as GW's (used) to be from what I've read online... I think I've read that it's better these days. One thing to note, is that while Wraithbone isn't white, it's not that bad of an undercoat. The most problematic colour to get to cover is yellow, and there is quite a bit of yellow tone in our world. If the sun is like ours (not a given, I know), yellow will also be more prevalent in the light coming from the top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammer49 Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 I have a feeling you may have not waited long enough before painting over it. Ive never had any problems with the white primer from Vallejo but I tend to prefer the grey or black one and then do Zenithal Priming. But sometimes the only problem with those primers and airbrushing is that they can be a pain to clean from airbrush so rattle can primers can be much quicker. If i use a rattle can white its a car primer as less ££ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GutZilla Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 Yah, I would’ve used my rattlecan Corax white which has never failed me if the weather permitted. Unfortunately the damage is done, lesson learned. The paint job itself, while not the most durable, is gorgeous and I’m really reluctant to strip it and start over, so I I’m really asking if there is anything I can do now to make it more durable. Maybe a different varnish, or something else entirely I don’t know about. I’ve hit it with 2 brush on coats of Vallejo Matt primer, I cured the first coat for 4 hours and I’m gonna let the second coat sit for 24 hours. I’ll check tonight and see if it’s a bit better. Can I just keep applying varnish over and over to make it more durable ( so long as it doesn’t get cloudy), or with bum primer will it always chip? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWilddog Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Most matt varnishes are not that durable. The most common practice for a good hard seal is to hit a model with a good gloss varnish (which is much more durable) then put a coat of matt varnish on over that to get rid of the shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GutZilla Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 17 minutes ago, TheWilddog said: Most matt varnishes are not that durable. The most common practice for a good hard seal is to hit a model with a good gloss varnish (which is much more durable) then put a coat of matt varnish on over that to get rid of the shine. Thanks, any suggestions for a strong gloss brush on varnish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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