not another primer question (ALCLAD)

[STYRENE-SURFER]

So I purchased three bottles of this stuff,(white gray black) and tested it out on some scrap styrene. 

tried three diferrent airbrush needle sizes ( 0.5 to 0.2 ) at various P.S.I. and got nothing but "Pebble Beach".

Then I tried something I had read somewhere about thinning Mr. Surfacer 1000 w/Mr.Color Thinner.

 IT WENT DOWN LIKE SILK!

Is Alclad primer just a Hodad thing or can anyone shed some light this way.

Now before any of you Bail, I did do allot of googling before posting.

Could it just be the their Lacquer is to hot?

I know, I already answered my own question.  

Arrrrg.

 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

So I purchased three bottles of this stuff,(white gray black) and tested it out on some scrap styrene. 

tried three diferrent airbrush needle sizes ( 0.5 to 0.2 ) at various P.S.I. and got nothing but "Pebble Beach".

Then I tried something I had read somewhere about thinning Mr. Surfacer 1000 w/Mr.Color Thinner.

 IT WENT DOWN LIKE SILK!

Is Alclad primer just a Hodad thing or can anyone shed some light this way.

Now before any of you Bail, I did do allot of googling before posting.

Could it just be the their Lacquer is to hot?

I know, I already answered my own question.  

Arrrrg.

"Pebble Beach" is from shooting under-reduced product, or too dry from too far away.

Thinning it fixed the problem, right?

"Too hot" means the solvents attack the plastic and craze it. Different problem entirely. 

[STYRENE-SURFER]

I actually did try thinning the Alclad and I got the same result.

So no, not fixed.

Too hot , yes I think it is crazing.  Why would this be a problem for a primer meant for styrene?
 

Ace, Do you have any luck with these Alclad primers? 

Can you add any helpful info??

I don't know if you even read my entire post because I clearly said I followed up

with a test of (Mr.Surfacer 1000 thinned w/Mr.color thiner) and it worked fine.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sorry, I guess I misunderstood your post somewhat. I'm getting tired, slow comprehension. 

Are you sure it's crazing? Under magnification, crazing looks like alligator skin. "Pebble Beach" implies (to me, anyway) dry-spray (material too thick, or sprayed from too far away).

What did you thin the Alclad primer with?

People working in every modeling genre are using Alclad black gloss base on styrene and like it (there was an issue some time back about slow drying, but it's been fixed).

I know some modelers use gloss black Krylon, decanted and airbrushed, and some use black lacquer primer, sanded and polished under chrome Alclad.

Sorry I can't be more help, but that's all I know at the moment.

EDIT: Here's a discussion about Alclad primers...  favorite primer under alclad

 http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=36336

 

Edited January 18, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Ya. It"s strange because this stuff is pre thinned for air brushing. 

I could be working in a difficult painting area, very dry. 

However,while spraying the Alclad primer I could not get a nice even cote.

It did not seem to want to level out at all.

I wonder if some kind of retarder could help here.

Like I said the Mr. Surfacer 1000 and Mr. Color Thinner worked wonderfully.

[peteski]

What air pressure are you using and how far from the model's surface are you spraying? Since you are willing to play (practice on plastic spoons), lower the air pressure, increase the paint flow and move the airbrush closer to the surface.

[Harry Joy]

I have tried both Alclad primers. I'm a fan of their other products, but not the primers. Never could find the magic combination to get them to lay down smooth. For about the same price, I get predictable performance from Tamiya Fine, so I'm sticking with that.

If you are spraying Alclad primer to prep for Alclad paints, you don't have to. Any primer will do. I've even painted lots of Alclad without primer.

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Did some more experimenting.

Used lower Air pressures 10-8, with my medium needle .3 .

I still could not get a smooth coat, it looks as if it is drying before it has a chance to level out.

I then tried to spray it on something that wasn't plastic to prove it wasn't crazing.

Sprayed it on a piece of glass and it still had the orange peal look.

Turned up the pressure to 22 and put it on heavy enough to smooth out.

Success ? NO!!!!

Spraying it this way would just obliterate any detail on a model.

I have three of the large size bottles of this stuff but no use fore them now.

Arrrrg.

[STYRENE-SURFER]

I have searched the inter web and cannot find many instances of the successful use of these Alclad primers.

I have only one idea to attempt before they get the bin. 

Some kind of lacquer retardant. 

Any ideas of what to try?