I'm sure that one of the hardest things to do is paint white, whether it be gloss, satin or matt.  There are many primers / base coats available, but are they any good?  To find out, I dug through my cupboard and came up with the following:-

• Vallejo 28010 White Primer for Metal and Plastic
• Tamiya Fine Surface Primer (L) for Plastic & Metal (White)
• Mr Hobby Mr Base White 1000

There are many other variations out there, and I hope to add to the list in due course.

To provide a good example, I sprayed the undercarriage doors for a batch of 1/72nd F-16's I'm building.  Each sprue was sprayed with a separate can (note that all of the above were used direct from the spray can as I tend to use this method for priming...)

I sprayed 3 coats of primer/base, and finished off with a coat of Tamiya Gloss White (TS-26 Pure White in their spray can range).  The results are quite interesting.  Apologies for the quality of the photos - some are a little out of focus...

STAGE	VALLEJO	TAMIYA	MR HOBBY
1st coat of primer/base
2nd coat of primer/base
3rd coat of primer/base
Top coat of gloss white

 

So... final thoughts then... Well, I wasn't at all impressed with the Vallejo.  It ran if applied thickly enough to cover, didn't really cover well and obscured a lot of detail.  I don't think there's a lot to choose between the Tamiya and the Mr Base White, but taking into account the fact that the Tamiya is around £4 and the Mr Base White £6, my conclusion would be to go with Tamiya.

Article by Chris St Clair