Monday, May 3, 2010

Super Secret Project Part II: Priming Metal

I primed the model last night using black gesso. I'm a big fan of gesso as a primer, partly because you don't have to be very careful about putting it on and because you don't have to mess around with a spray can. I hadn't tried gesso on a metal model before, so I was interested in seeing how it turned out.

My initial impressions were that it worked pretty much the same as it does for plastic. There were a few pinpricks that had been missed, and some of the harsh edges didn't get enough of a coat. But overall, it was pretty good.

I decided not to touch up the missing spots and just jump straight into painting. While I was doing the bast coat for an area, I noticed that a spot of gesso about the size of a poppy seed had come away with my brush. It was small enough not to cause any problems, so I kept going.

As I've worked on the model today, I've noticed that in places the primer has rubbed away from my handling. It's not happening everywhere - generally the gesso seems to be girpping the metal very well. I'm hoping that covering the weak spots with paint and then sealer will stop it from happening.

My current theory is that there was some spots of release agent or something on the metal. I didn't even think to wash the parts before I started working with them, so now maybe I'm paying for it.

No comments:

Post a Comment