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Why is the Mr Hobby surfacer the best primer ever for tank models

Why Mr. Mahogany Surfacer 1000 primer is the world’s best for tank and armored vehicle models.

The primer for the Meng kit is laid. In the process of placing it, a thought came to me that I think would be worth sharing, especially with beginner modelers. These, very often, ask in discussion groups – what primer for tank models in green camouflage, sand, NATO, or this or that. And in order not to get into the paranoia of buying several different products, which, by the way, do not cost little and go in bulk, they would ideally like to recommend the most universal and best possible. And such, in my opinion, is “Mr. Hobby: Mr. Mahogany Surfacer 1000”. Why? I present 3 arguments.

Argument 1. Overall very high product quality*.

The star at the end of the sentence is not insignificant. By themselves, the products in the “Surfacer” range are very thick. This is somewhat due to their genesis and Mr. Hobby’s idea of the product being something between a finished primer and a liquid putty. Of course, the 500 grit leads the way here, but we can also use “Thousand” as a filler for small scratches, applying it with a brush in case it doesn’t pay to do it with a thick putty. So it needs a thinner, and the asterisk mentioned above at the beginning refers to the fact that this thinner should be Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. It is he who really makes Surfacer a truly luxurious product to use and brings out its best qualities as a primer. The packaging alone puts us in the mood for a premium product: thick glass and serious styling promise an equally respectable product. Anyway, we release our Oil Washes the same way. As a manufacturer, I know this is not just a stylistic or image treatment. The glass does an excellent job of protecting a product based on heavy organic thinners from evaporation. The wide cap makes it easy to mix and scoop the primer. Don’t let the photo I posted in the banner fool you. My primer fell from a height of two meters on a tiled floor. The jar didn’t shatter, but the cap broke, and the product was saved.

But to the point, how to paint with it. I think that to get the best results, you need to dilute it very heavily with the Leveling Thinner. I give the standard 1-part paint and 4 or 5 thinner. The way this product is mistake-proof is its strongest argument, so….

Argument 2. Quality of the coating with ease of application

I always apply the heavily thinned primer at low pressure, around 1 to 1.2 Bar. For best results, I use it with a mist and try not to paint a strong, saturated coat. Then the primer gives a velvety matte, almost satin, even though leveling thinner likes to shine the paint. Of course, sometimes people get confused, look over, and, in fact, most often, probably succumb to their impatience. And if you happen to hold the airbrush at one point, you’re gonna make a really wet spot. Mr. Hobby Surfacer will calmly evaporate the thinner, leaving the surface as smooth as a baby’s bottom. This is also due to the high dilution, so I recommend diluting too much rather than too little. However, regardless of our experience, the product lays down really velvety, and as long as you have a basic understanding of setting pressure and keeping the right distance, this primer will forgive a lot more mistakes than any acrylic modeling primers. A streak appears, and a blob forms? In such a situation, spray a little to “blur it” some more. It evaporates and is done. It is known that in a big macro, you will notice that the details become a few percent more foggy than in cleanly laid areas. But it’s smooth, there’s no orange peel, and most likely, as long as you don’t put out, no one will notice.

Speaking of detail sharpness, see how, in the example of my FT, this primer gives a crisp and thin coating. And know that I applied a dozen ultra-thin coats to each of these surfaces. As I mentioned, I spray foggers. Basically, I don’t encounter the dusting or roughness of the coating. How thin the film is and how fine the pigment in Surfacer is can be seen by exposing any scratches or micro pits from the glue. Even the graininess of the structure of the plastic itself seems unchanged. Of course, in the case of some models, such as civilian cars, this may be a drawback. There, it is rather necessary to lay down the primer thickly and sand it to a shine. Here, however, at least I assume that tank models should, as in real life, have their scars. A groove here, a scratch there, only adds to the authenticity. Those who have looked at museum exhibits of real machines with awareness and attention surely know what I mean.

Meng FT 17 base glued mr surfacer 1000 mahagony
Meng FT 17 base glued mr surfacer 1000 mahagony
Meng FT 17 base glued mr surfacer 1000 mahagony
Meng FT 17 base glued mr surfacer 1000 mahagony

See how well preserved any scratches formed after sanding (here, I did them on purpose to increase adhesion under mud pastes).

Argument 3: Mahogany-brown color

That’s right. Here, some people will probably immediately put up: But what do you mean, black is number 1 for armor! I can explain already. I will agree that black primer is the safest, most reliable primer for the average Kowalski modeler. But Mahagony is the most versatile and can save us a lot of time with typical armor camouflages based on greens, sand colors, browns, khaki, and basically any military colors. The exception, for me, is panzer grau and all grays; these will play much better with black, especially in modulation and postshading.

First of all, primo! Chocolate dark brown is vividly taken out of artistic painting techniques, where it is basically everywhere in nature. It is for the colors mentioned above, a much more appropriate color for shading and modulation than black, extremely extenuating greens, and sandy tones. On Mahogany, we can paint the already proper camouflage transparently, leaving shadows in selected areas, skipping one of the steps in “modulation kits,” where usually “browned versions” of the base color are given as “shading.”

Second primo! The ready base for chipping. Yes, this color is perfect for chipping. Don’t believe it? Take any color from a mainstream manufacturer called “Chipping,” for example, Ammo, and compare it with this base. Similar right? On a large surface, it may seem too “chocolatey,” but this color in such fine scratches as we do on 1:35 scale models really looks great as chipping. The recipe is simple. We give a “Chipping medium” product to the primer, and after it dries, we paint camouflage. Then water activation, scratching… The rest you will soon see on the video of the FT painting stage because this is the technique I will demonstrate.

Third primo! The ready base for painting the tracks of the tank. As I said in the first primo! Here, this, exactly THIS color looks fantastic already as a base in itself for painting tracks that have already done some work in their lifetime in the terrain. Here, we don’t really need to paint the tracks with an additional “tracks” type color anymore. In fact, it’s already enough to play with oils and colors for rust, dust, and dirt and wipe some graphite. That’s also on the next video, so don’t forget to subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already done so. YouTube will notify you of new uploads – do it with a bell! 😉

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