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Prepping Brass PE for Paint


nmertes

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Continuing work on the Tamiya P-51D which will wind up being an F-6D.  I'm having trouble getting enamel to stick to some of the Eduard brass PE pieces.  Do any of you have a suggestion on how to get paint to stick to it?  Enamel just wipes off even after drying for several hours.

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I have been painting this stuff for years and you have to do three things. 1- clean it with acetone or lacquer thinner.  Most brass has a coating to keep it from oxidizing.  Second- scuff it lightly with a fine grit sanding stick.  This will give the surface "key" so the paint will stick.  3- prime it with a good brand of primer.  My favorite is Tamiya white.  This will give you a flat finish that your paint will stick to.  Just a heads up, I use this process for painting with lacquer.  You should be able to put an enamel paint on Tamiya primer because it is lacquer but you may run into paint incompatibility issues.  If that is the case, use a enamel primer of the same brand as your color paint. If you change to lacquer for you color coats,  then either rattle can Tamiya lacquer or their new jarred LP paints would be a good choice. 

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As far as primer is concerned, try Dupli-Color Gray Primer in a rattle can.  It's an acrylic lacquer and is available from auto supply stores like Advance, NAPA and O'Reilly's.

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Thanks Pete & Richard.  I have acetone & will clean the pieces tonight.  Tomorrow evening I will hit them with Tamiya white primer.

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I can't tell you anything about acrylics...water and alcohol based...except for acrylic lacquers.  However, I would think that as long as you prime with an acrylic lacquer such as DupliColor Grey Primer, you shouldn't have a problem.  As for cleaning with acetone before priming, there's no reason not to. Might help, can't hurt.

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  • 2 months later...

I usually clean it with acetone or lacquer thinner, as noted above and then let it sit overnight in vinegar, which micro-etches the surface...or so I've been told, giving it some tooth (key).

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