"Priming resin vehicles" Topic

I have a mix of ww2 soviet stuff from JTFM and Bolt Action (pre and post warlord). last night I primed them all with black gesso.

They had all been washed in a simple green solution before this.

When I primed the JTFM stuff the gesso did not sit right, instead it kept floating and needed to be pushed around a lot until it settled.

The resin seems different to the bolt action stuff, which took the gesso fine.

This is not a complaint, both brands are fab models and I could not be happier with them, just wondering if I am missing a trick somewhere.

Once spray painted wit htheir base colour they all look fine btw, and the spray did not seem to have floated in the same way….

I prime all my resin stuff with white flat spray paint. Works really well.

I don't yet have any JTFM stuff. I've been priming resin with the krylon paints that claim to be especially suited for painting plastics and it seems to be fine.

I prime all my models, resin, metal or plastic with Humbrol matt white enamel. Works fine.

Did you wash the resin first? Sometimes they use a release agent that doesn't take paint well!

Always wash my resin items in hand hot soapy water, dry thoroughly then spray with flat black VHT paint (car paint for things that get hot.)

JTFM Has a Hints and Tips section on their website that addresses this issue with their resin.

link

They suggest using a plastic primer or an enamel first (after washing thoroughly of course) before using your favorite primer.

I've had the same observation with JTFM and BA resin vehicles. I have found that the best primer to use with fussy resin is lacquer based – testors makes it in a spray can & some automotive spray primers will also have lacquer base. Try your auto parts store.

Modern acrylic gesso is water soluble and like water soluble acrylic paints it will sometimes not take to resin surfaces. Even if it does there is a danger of delamination later on.

My advice it to prepare all resin models with a white spray primer undercoat and allow it to dry thoroughly.

I use Testor's Primer on mine and it works well.

I've never washed a model in my life and have never had paint-lifting problems. I use a 50/50 Humbrol enamel/turps mix to prime my models and it works like a dream.

thanks guys, I did not spot the JTFM faq's. Sooo water based is a no no, home it stays in place as i have now painted over it. Will spray prime from now on, think I have some grey primer somewhere already.

I have also had trouble with resin. I had some JR Miniatures 15mm resin rail fences. I washed them with Pine Sol and water, let them dry, and spayed them with Karolin flat black solvent based primer then sprayed them with Army Painter (enamel?) brown and black-washed and dry-brushed. First game I sued them when one of them got tipped over on to the terrain mat some of the paint flaked off.
I stripped the paint off (25% came of with a stiff nail brush) and have re-primed with flexible Auto Primer. Perhaps I should also be roughing the surface (which is shiny) with very fine sandpaper.

Anyone else had this problem?

That can happen if there was some moisture present that didn't fully dry between coats, which can make the paint 'brittle' (there's probably a better term!). And sometimes the primer just doesn't take on the surface.

When priming with gesso, it helps to mix it 1:1 with Glass and Tile medium from Folk Art. It helps the gesso to be less flexible and give it more tooth.