Why should I primer my wood walls on model railroad structure?
I was getting into a new Bar Mills kit today and I love reading their directions that they package in the boxes. When you read them, it seems like they’re right there with you, explaining exactly how to assemble their models.
Now we’re not a huge fan of instructions because it bothers us to make a building exactly like the manufacturer suggested, but Bar Mills does a great job on their kits and they are one of the best wood laser-cut structure kits you get for the value. Really good stuff!
Okay, okay… Back to the primer (sorry about the free plug for Bar Mills, we just love their kits)
I spent a little time poking around to see what some of the different manufacturers suggested for their craftsman wood laser kits and there were mixed suggestions.
Some suggested to add primer, others stated that no primer was necessary at all. Our general take on the topic is…
Add a thin coat of primer to your walls and exterior detail parts. I would also suggest you add a thin coat of gray primer to (almost) all of your structures and detail parts. This applies to wood and plastic models.
We just find that it brings out the details more, making it easier to paint and it also allows the paint to adhere better, requiring less paint, especially if you use acrylics like we do.
What kind of primer should you use on wood laser-cut models?
We use the HomeShades Gray Primer from WalMart for both our wood and plastic models. It’s a nice lightweight primer and best of all… It’s cheap.
Here’s a link to it: Gray WalMart Primer
Our local WalMart has it for about $2 a can and when compared to bigger brands of spray paint, it does the same thing.
So if you’re looking for a good, basic gray primer for your model railroad kits, good old WalMart brand primer is the way we suggest to go!
