Tamiya sure does confuse me with their products, are not all primers liquid? I think I think I thin it out with tamiya laquer thinner, at least that is what tamiya web site reccomends as if that thinner is easy to come by so I am going to use laquer thinner from the hardware store...is that a good idea? someone told me on previous post that I should not use laquer or enamel primer if using acrylic tamiya paint yet tamiya surface primer is laquer? I have been using floquil enamel primer.

Hi Dave
I keep it simple and decant white acrylic primer for cars [the 1/1 sort]. I normaly use white so that I can apply shading and is often much cheaper than the hobby based primers. It's easy to clean from my airbrush using acrylic thinners.
tim

where can I find it? auto body supply? hobby paints are expensive no doubt.

lacquer primer is generally ok for acrylic enamel paints (though not so great for straight up acrylics like valleho paints - there is a difference!)

oil based paints do not make good primers for any type of acrylics.

Tamiya's "Liquid Surface Primer" is formulated to work with their "Lacquer" thinner, which I suspect has a high proportion of alcohol and is less aggressive to styrene compared to "hardware store" lacquer thinner. You can certainly use hardware store lacquer thinner to clean it up.

Something which is not immediately apparent is that you can also use denatured (ethyl) alcohol. I use it all the time, and can apply LSP and when dry, smooth it out using a paper towel moistened with Metthylated spirits, which I believe is the same as denatured alcohol in the US. I also clean my brushes with it after using LSP and it cleans them out with no problems.

However, you can't use Isopropyl alcohol (which is the primary constituent of Tamiya acrylic thinner..)

Hi Dave
Acrylic primer for cars is bought in most car accessory stores. It should tell you on the can if it's acrylic, but if you are not sure just ask. I have sprayed it onto models directly, but it is much better decanting and used through a airbrush for a better finish.
tim

thanks everyone that clears up the problem