Vallejo Surface Primer, Acrylic Black Primer for Airbrush, Fast-Drying, High Adhesion for Miniatures and Models, 200 ml

After encountering problems in the past with Vallejo acrylic primers I am pleased to to say that this product is a great improvement and well worth trying. I used it straight from the bottle with my Harder & Sternbeck Revolution airbrush and it gave a perfect finish and didn’t clog. I didn’t need to use thinners and there were no funny smells or application issues. Coverage was good and the colour good enough to serve as a base coat, with no need for a finishing coat. It is good value, easy to use and highly recommended.

This Vallejo Dunkelgrau (German Panzer Grey) primer is a total staple if you’re into military modeling or tabletop gaming. Despite being listed as a "spray" in some descriptions, it’s actually a liquid polyurethane-acrylic primer that comes in a 200ml bottle with a dropper cap, specifically designed to be run through an airbrush. The RAL7021 shade is that iconic, nearly-black dark grey that’s perfect for German WWII armor or as a "scale black" for pre-shading, as it doesn't look as flat or harsh as a pure jet black. The finish is excellent because it's self-leveling, so it settles into all those tiny rivets and panel lines without clogging the detail. You can pretty much use it straight from the bottle at around 15–20 PSI, but if your airbrush is on the smaller side, a couple of drops of flow improver helps it glide through without drying on the tip. It dries to a tough, matte finish fairly quickly, but I’d definitely give it a full 24 hours to cure before you start masking or weathering over it, just to make sure that bond is rock-solid.

ideas great use appearance great colour great leakage looks great

I bought this Vallejo Mecha Color Black Primer in December 2024 and have been using it regularly since. It’s a very good quality primer that doesn’t require thinning — works straight from the bottle through the airbrush without clogging or splattering. The white colour is vibrant, and it adheres to miniatures really well, creating a solid base for painting. It dries quickly and provides a smooth, even coat with great coverage. Overall, a reliable and efficient primer that delivers professional-looking results. Highly recommended for anyone working with miniatures or models.

Big bottle, but still needs thinning to go through an airbrush. One extended flows beautifully and gives a good even.

After mediocre results from a cheaper brand I did what I should have done in the first place and bought Vallejo. Better coverage and drying time by far. Best results were achieved by spraying.

We all have our preferences and biases and my modelling paint one is Vallejo. Now, I'm perfectly aware that some people really don't like it but I can't quite work out why. My experience has always been good and I see no reason to change. This to my mind is a great product. Not only that in this size it's really good value for money and my last bottle lasted me three years of building. Not bad for something under a tenner. You can brush or spray this product. I always spray and found it to give me very good self levelling results that make an ideal surface for the next layers of paint. The adhesion is good on all the usual materials - plastic, wood and etched brass. I have read some people say this is sprayable from the bottle but that's mistaken. A small amount of Vallejo thinners mixed to single cream consistency gives the best results and helps keep my airbrush unclogged. The one thing I will add is that due to it's size you may well like me take a few years to get through this especially if you use other colours of primer as well. If this is the case then the very bottom may well become a bit clumpy in which case decanting it via a sieve and then putting it back into a clean bottle will help you get the last few dregs. Overall I can't fault this model primer.

This product is a surface primer, very popular with modelling/miniwargaming/28mm scale models - such as used in Warhammer/Warhammer 40,000/etc., After Games Workshop discontinued their own hand primer (Imperial Primer) without any word of warning I was briefly forced to use rattle cans (I don't yet use/own an airbrush so am not in a position to use that method). Although GW's Chaos Black spray does have some useful applications when priming (such as when you need to prime large objects such as buildings, gaming tiles, large models with a lot of flat surface area, etc.,) I found it to be largely inadequate for priming minis, as coverage can often be inconsistent (complex minis will often be left with un-primed patches as the spray can't often get to recesses if they are obscured by other parts). This inevitably led me to try other available hand primers and Vallejo products are very popular, so I thought I would give it a try. Boy, what a difference.. So these are my thoughts: This primer may be used in two ways essentially: 1. In an airbrush - add a little Vallejo Flow Improver followed by several drops of primer and you're good to go. 2. By hand, using a small model brush; this is how I use it. It doesn't require any thinning/watering down and is good to use straight out of the bottle (and the bottle is topped by a nozzle which makes dispensing a few drops clean & easy). There are two main points to mention that make this such an excellent primer: 1. Self-levelling - Although I'm as careful as I can be, you don't have to be really neat; the primer will level itself out, producing a really smooth & consistent finish, even if you're a little messy when applying. 2. Shrinkage - The primer shrinks as it cures. This means that if you apply a little thicker than what you intended it doesn't matter - the primer will shrink/reduce down so you don't end up with clogged detail. When you combine this feature with the fact it's self-levelling, you end up with a really smooth, durable & consistent finish with model details still crisp & clear without being clogged. How I use for best results: 2 thin coats, 12 hours apart! Vallejo's recommendation is to 'leave to cure for 12 hours'. So, I apply one *very* thin coat and leave to cure for 12 hours. Then, I apply a 2nd very thin coat, and leave for another 12 hours. The result is an extremely durable primed surface, ready to take your base colours. All the details are sharp still. Note: as this product is airbrush-ready, it's more watery than base colours, hence why my personal preference is to use 2 thin coats.

Super krycie, przy nakładaniu pędzlem trzeba uważać na bąbelki powietrza.

Love the product. It's good for resin surface those who are looking for primer to paint resin model, this is the go to product 👍🏽

Excellent, je l'utilise pour mes impressions 3D, facile et propre.

I was sceptical about brush on primer, but this stuff is great! It’s very thin, but covers really well. It’s super fast to apply, and there is no risk of over spray as with an aerosol primer,( or harmful fumes either). The thinness is great for brushing on as well as it’s super easy to get the paint/primer exactly where you need it. The amount of primer you get is nuts compared to an aerosol can. I’ll probably not have to buy primer for quite some time. If you’re thinking about applying primer like this, this product works really well!

Great paint, but next time I will just go to the Volks store in Yokohama. :(