We take a First Look at a new range of Surface Primer colors from Vallejo Acrylics.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

I talked to Alex Vallejo when they were first starting to think of these, and was asked my opinion on what colors they should make, nice to see them come to fruition and know that I had a small part (very, very, very small minuscule part) in their creation.

Can't wait for my supplier to get these in (they are on the way, and should be here sometime this month) so I can add them to the Black, Grey and White primers which have sold tremendously well!!

Thanks James for the exhaustive rewiew

I think that it could be an incredible useful product especially for who want apply the salt/hairspray techniques

I think I'll buy the 4bo green one and I'll use it on some of my russian stuff

I've just one doubt about the "colored" primer.
Primer coat as everyone knows, allows the acrylic paint grip but is also useful to highlight surface issues before painting (and that is one of the reason why the primers usually are gray or white).
Using a "colored primer" it means join in a single phase the primer coat step and the base coat step and that implies that surfaces have to be already flawless. In my humble opinion could be a problem not having the possibility to remove the flaws before painting

Regards

awesome, I love the monotone primers and now use them exclusively!

as far as showing errors, I would think they would still show up, you can simply sand/fix and re-spray the area with the same color primer. the paint is so thin with an airbrush it should work just fine.

Good to hear that they are in transit, Scott, I forgot to ask Alex when these were going to be available. Nice to hear that you had a part in the development too, and it shows that Vallejo is asking the modelers their opinions and suggestions.

Mauro, out of the ones I tried most had a semi-gloss type finish to them which makes it fairly easy to spot areas that may need correction. The Olive Drab was the only one that didn't have much shine and actually looked pretty good for a top coat. In fact, the black primer has replaced my semi-gloss black completely for car models.

Thaks for your reply and your explanation James
As Aron told, could I also assume that I can fix issues without any problem?
If yes I think i'm going to buy a "barrel" of it

Regards and thank you again

I wish! For me, if I know I'll need some correction on a difficult area (like lots of putty) I'll still use the tried and true silver paint to show all the flaws. Most of that gets removed with the correcting part so I don't mind 'glopping' it on

Well sometime I do almost the same using a very thin coat of gray acrylic paint or applying a very thin layer of thinned Mr Surfacer 1000

Well, thanks a lot James. I hope this product will be available soon in my hobby shop.

Regards

Hi James,

How well do they hold to the surface? I like Vallego paints but they don't tend to grip the plastic that well. even over a primer.

Al

Hi Al,

In short....EXCELLENT!

Once they cure the primers are very tough, I painted the samples in the review 3 days ago and I cannot scratch them off with my fingernail. Of course, especially for the first couple of hours, they are vulnerable to damage as with any 'wet' paint.

I've put my topcoats on once they are dry to the touch, and complete all the base and camo coats in one sitting with Vallejo Model Air. Then I'll let it sit until the next weekend to start the weathering. I also use the black primer for a semi-gloss for car chassis, interiors, rollbars, etc as a finish coat and it withstands a lot of handling.

I usually spray a mist coat first, let it set up for a couple of minutes and hit it with a heavier final coat. I've also tried these using a bristle brush to see how they leveled out and was pleased with the result.

I just primed my M2 Half track the other day with the OD green primer. I was very happy with the result. I normally prime with gray primers and wanted to give it a go with a dark color. The primer does dry quick which is what I like. But the best thing about these primers is that they don't stink as bad as an enamel primer.

Scratchmod

I was one of several that started working with Vallejo back in November on this paint line. Color selection and accurate color matching was very important and everyone worked very diligently on research and original examples. Accurate names and nomenclature were also assured so the modeler could choose the correct paint without doubt.
These paints are a primer/basecolor in one. They do contain the Vallejo primer formula for excellent adhesion to all materials, self - level, cover with a tight skin, and cure rock hard. The added advantage, of course, is that your base color is already done, saving time and effort and preserving maximum detail.
Vallejo Model Air colors can then be used for additional colors of the camo pattern.
I put all my samples through their paces several times and these paints are just a joy to work with and their performance, opacity and coverage are nearly flawless. This is a brilliant idea and an excellent product that I can highly recommend. I think they will do very well on the market and modelers will really like them.

These look really interesting, judging by comments, i think im going ot try some!
thanks for the review.

Do they have a U.S. web site?

The company website is here in English: http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/gb/index.html
If you mean to make a purchase, they do not sell direct but are carried by many online shops in the US. Sprue Brothers
and Colorado Miniatures are two shops I can highly recommend.

They have vendors in the U.S. and Canada and a great website linked below. Definitely check out the Downloads page and the Blog Model Paints, some good info there

Vallejo Website

Thank you,my next question was going to be where can I get them,but you took care of that also.Thanks againJ.T.

They should be arriving at my supplier any day hopefully, and I should have them soon there after!

James,
Thanks for the review. Very informative right up and it is good to see that wide range is available to include most base colors. Great new product with many uses for sure.

I've been using primers that match the the base color as close as possible, but that's been difficult with only neutral colors. This is much like tintable automotive primers and I'm definitely going to give them a try! Thanks for the review James

Excellent review James. Very interesting product. Will definitely try them. The black primer as well, for my cars.

Thanks James.