RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

HOW DO YOU PAINT YOURS?

I have done tanks with primer first and then the top coat and i have also done tanks with no primer and sprayed straight onto the unprepared surface and finished up with the same end result   I have also done this using both an airbrush and a aerosol can and still cannot tell the difference, I always use Tamiya paints because i like the flat finish they give, so the question is why do we use primer

I find that a coat of cheap red-oxide primer from the DIY store means that I need to apply less acrylic paint from the airbrush.
plus if the paint gets chipped, the the red oxide shows rather than the bare plastic - hopefully...  :-\

Mart

But does that work when spraying a light colour or do you have to put 2 coats on to cover the red oxide.

most of the time i like to use primer it gives a good solid base to work from and if you do a bit of scratch building or use etch brass or white metal it makes it easier for the paint to get a good grip and a primed coat shows up any flaws or unfinished sanding or marks on the model.

Agreed oz whenever i spray metals or woods i always use a grey primer. I used to spray a lot of diecast cars and always had to primer them, but again if i built a plastic kit i never used a primer.

If I am not mistaking, most of the German tanks were primered Red Oxide then base coated. Ex_Pat_Tanker  you are right. When mine get chipped or scratched you see the red primer. I just dirty it up a little and it looks right at home. Also paint sticks better to primer then base plastic. Now that I got a taste of airbrushing. No more rattle cans for this guy

you can also leave some of the primed parts unpainted to give a bit of variation to the overall scheme.

FireflyKeith wrote: But does that work when spraying a light colour or do you have to put 2 coats on to cover the red oxide.

I can't tell any difference between the Tiger I that had multipul coats of XF60 (bcause I didn't prime it, it took forever to cover the original factory paint job!) and the Panzer III that I primed first and then gave 2 very thin coats to.

basically the same method base/primer either grey or red oxide dependent on vehicle type
paint on a little maskol for chips and scratches then top coat prefer hand painting enamels as i never get on with acrylics only ever spray them and the best thing i did was invest in a semi descent airbrush

once top coat/s dry rub off the maskol with a pencil rubber to leave a nice scratch blemish

Brilliant!