New Tamiya primer color RED OXIDE:
(New to me anyway!)

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Good for both Armor Modelers and Model Railroaders alike!

My only use so far has not been for Armor but for my Model Railroading work.

I tried my best to adjust the image to give an accurate report on the color shade - of course computer monitors may vary widely.

F.Y.I. - In judging the apparent color seen here please know that these cars were smooth molded plastic that had already been factory painted in a dark flat reddish color.

As we have come to expect from Tamiya paints this primer color offers excellent opacity and coverage just as you would expect. It developes a very fine "toothed" surface that is extremely flat (lusterless) when dry. Other paints should adhere well to this base coating. I would expect it to do a good job as a base coat for any molded color plastic you might be working with. **



** Personal observation: I happily would use this primer color when trying to achieve some of the "unpainted and primer only" effects seen on many late war German model tanks. I would also use it as one of the three basic German camo paste colors.

However when it comes to actually using it as a primer coat under a finished paint coat I would always worry about this strong red shade affecting the final paint color and I would also worry about the possibility of the color "bleeding through". For myself even though this appears to be a great product, I would stick to the Tamiya light gray primer (Tamiya Fine Gray Surface Primer L) as the best overall for use as an actual primer coat when doing general painting.


As an aside: - I have had very bad results with Tamiya white primer. I feel the white color must contain WAY too much pigment relative to the amount of carrier (fluid) in the paint. Maybe I just got a bad batch or something but I have had severe problems with the white primer sagging, running and even bubbling on the model surface. Also, in no way does the white primer have anywhere near the opacity or coverage of the other colors, nor is it as "forgiving" as either the gray or the red oxide primer colors if you happen to lay it on a little too heavy.

/tongue in cheek mode/
Google red oxide primer, you get a million different shades.
So how do we know Tamiya got it right?
It has always struck me as strange that a primer would be specified with such a specific colour (RAL)
/Tongue in cheek mode off/

Been out for a few years, love it for my German afv builds where appropriate.

It’s not new new, but it works well and seems to me to be the right shade.
Dan

Sudesh, when it comes to "standard" German paint shades (primer or paint) there was actually not much of a "precise" standard.

This statement will bring the flamers rushing to burn my at the stake but . . .

When we removed the floor plates out of an original Sd.Kfz. 251 at the Patton Museum for restoration it was clear that the various myriad sub-contractors providing the components, (gas tanks, valves, pumps, etc.) while doing their best, where quite varied when it came to their mixing of the "standard" German paint colors.

The museum curator, Charles Lemons, has written several short pieces on this topic. Due to supply problems, variations in the consistency of raw materials due to the war effort and mixing errors, the shades of the "standard colors" varied quite a bit.

Add to that the variations caused by field expediencies where the camo paint pastes were sometimes thinned with water, gas or oil and you end up with extremely wide latitudes across the board as to actual German STANDARD paint shades.


That's my two cents worth on the subject . . . but these two pennies do come with a bit of direct experience attached.



Original 250 engine - note color shade variations of valve cover vs. engine block & manifold as well as the clutch housing vs. the clutch access cover plate. - my photo.

____________________________________________


Below; note color variations between brake cylinder and various frame components. Paint on brake cylinder definitely has more of a white element (less yellow) in the mix used by the sub-contractor providing this part. - my photo.


Almost all German vehicles were given a final overall exterior coat of paint before leaving the factory, in part to cover up these supply chain induced variations in paint color. But still, vehicles coming from different factories might suffer the same variations in the standard paint shade color when compared, side by side, one to the other.

Do we think the unit commanders cared about paint shades when marching into conflict?

I feel that as modelers we can take comfort in that the many shades of paint we might produce in our models only echoes the many and varied shades of paint that probably existed on the real thing.



. . . . now let the flaming begin!

I think that's pretty typical of Tamiya's white primer. I use it for priming metal or resin figures and it tends to run into recesses and filling details, and draining off raised detail...even after extensive shaking and agitation. Tamiya gray primer is much better.

Yes, the Tamiya gray primer is WAY better.

After the second effort with the white primer I chucked it in the trash - I will never risk using it with another of my models.


"Don't mince words Jim, what do you really mean?" - Dr. Leonard McCoy