In order to get the best performance from water based acrylic paints a primer is needed to guarantee the paint bonds to styrene. But this is a pain in the butt and I’m lazy. Ugh, I need a primer coat, then colour? Bummer, dude! Ok, it works for exterior surfaces as one needs to check seams, but for cockpit interiors it seems like an unnecessary extra step. So my long term modeling dream was an acrylic primer in interior colours…aka USAAF and USN Interior Greens, British Interior Grey Green, etc. But no, we got primer in grey, white, and black. Ok, sometimes tan and pink, but that isn’t much help!
Enter Mission Models Clear Primer. The first question I heard was “Why a clear primer? How can you see the seams you missed?” Ah, but think outside the box. What if clear primer was compatible with the other Mission Models acrylics? What if you could tint the clear primer to get any colour you wanted? Oh, yes, yes you can…and now we finally have interior colours in a primer.
As a test, I combined 50% Mission Clear Primer (MMS-007) with 50% RAF Interior Green (MMP-079). A rather thick mixture resulted, which was cut 50% primer with 50% Mission Models Thinner/Reducer (MMA-002). Shot at 12-15% PSI out of a Harder & Steenbeck Ultra airbrush, the paint leveled perfectly and dried to a nice semi-gloss finish. (And I get to skip another step, no need for a clear gloss before washes are applied.)
Rumor has it, you can mix the clear primer with the Mission metallics and make the metallics even more robust, but I haven’t tried it yet. (Next time.)
I hate hyperbole, but Mission Models Clear Primer might just be a game changer. Not only can you mix any primer colour you want and skip painting two different colours, but it appears to make the Mission Models colours even more durable. So they’ll never equal the durability of lacquers, but the health benefits of less toxic paint and no nasty smells might just convince me.
