Hi evreryone,
I'm finishing my TF Spitfire and I bought Pactra Primer/Sealer to use before painting. ( http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVT72 )
It's really thick, and it's written to add water to thin it.
I don't really know how to use it. Can I use an airbrush, or should I use just a brush ? What percentage of water should I use to thin it.
If you have any advice, your're welcome.
Thanks.

It says that it can be brushed or sprayed

If you are going to spray it must be thinned to where it will go through your gun

They recommend "thin with acrylic thinner PACR5800" for spraying

sanding sealer is typically sanded down to where parts of the original finish is exposed

sorry if I am a bit confused but having built a Top Flight spitfire what are you painting with that product, the link is for thinner not paint and Pactra paint is not fuel proof unless clear coated, and really its recomended for lexan car bodies.

is your plane covered in plastic film or glassed?, using fiberglass cloth, and a resin, either water based polyurathane or a epoxy based material like Z-poxy is the typical glassing method before painting.
if its covered in plastic film then cut the camo scheme out of the film and clear coat it with lustre-coat for a dulled down finish.

a more apropriate material would be a fuel proof paint like www.warbirdcolors.com paints if you wanted to paint your plane, here is the link to the RAF color palette http://www.warbirdcolors.com/raf_home.asp its water based and has authentic colors for the era.

your also going to need alot more than 1oz of material to paint that plane, I used about 1 1/2 spray cans of auto primer to cover mine,so your looking at 2-3oz per coat of base colors for coverage.

Hi,
I probably made a mistake: the link should have been for Pactra Primer/Sealer (http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJFT0&P=7), not for Pactra thinner.
I glassed my plane and used Z-Poxy.
I bought that product to fill the weave before painting. For the colors scheme, I bought Pactra R/C Airplane Acrylic Sky Type S, Pactra R/C Airplane Acrylic RAF Dark Green and Pactra R/C Airplane Acrylic RAF Dark Earth. (by the way, thanks for the link).
I thought that the primer wasn't so thick. I tried tu use my airbrush but even if I mixed it with a lot of water, it's not fluid enough. (It makes some kind of lumps). I probably shouldn't have bought that primer/sealer, but now I've have many cans of it. (the volume/can is 3.5oz, not 1oz).
So may be brush it is the best way. What amount of water should I use or what consistency should I have (without water it's like peanut butter).
Thanks.

if its just for filling the weave then I would think just brushing it on with a large brush would work, or one of those little cheapy foam roller kits the little 4" kind with the tray,if your dead set on using the product.

your going to sand most of the material off anyway to get a smooth finish, for spraying it should flow like water through the gun when any material thats used for filling and is thinned out enough to flow through a gun,will take several coats to build up enough of the primer to fill the weave, call towerhobbies and ask there teck. to see what percentage of thinner they recomend,and what would be the best type for spraying that particular product, or for any application tips they may have and if the paint you have is recomended for the application your using it for.

alot people including me, use the auto primer in a spray can from De-rust-o its a high build primer that drys fast and sands smoothly and it comes in grey.
I also use the warbird colors primer I shoot through my airbrush which is fuel proof.

you might want to rethink using non fuel proof paint, it needs to have a clear coat to protect it from any fuel that gets on it and if fuel gets under it the paint will end up making a mess, if you bought it from tower they will take it back besides WBC paints there is also Nelsons paints as well.

another suggestion would be to search in the, kit building section, for painting planes, as well as the warbirds section there are a ton of ideas for paint and tecniques

Hi,
I'm going to follow your advice.
Thank you very much for your help Bigtim. [sm=biggrin.gif]