A Rose By Any Other Name

I’ve recently been trying to locate a primer other than an automotive primer to see if there would be a difference in the way it applies the primer.   Doing a bit of research on the forums I came across a few references to a product called Plasti-kote.

This seems to be a product oriented to crafts and therefore might be more suitable for priming models.  So searching I awent.

As so often seems to be the case here in Canada, I found nothing.   None of the usual suspects carried Plasti-kote when I called them.

Now I found this difficult to believe.  Highly toxic chemicals that don’t have the same availability; plausible.  Duplicolor being the only possible option for spray can primer in Canada; not very plausible.

The objective then became to locate the distributor list for Plasti-kote in Canada.  Starting with the obvious I went to Plasti-kote.ca.  Nothing.  Tried Plasti-kote.com.  Success!  And there was a link to Canada….which takes you to the USA site.  Is American geography really that bad?

After examining the website a bit more I discovered that Plasti-kote is owned by a company called Valspar, and that in Canada the distributor is:

Plasti-Kote INC.
7655 Tranmere Drive
Mississauga, Ontario L5S 1L4 Canada
(905) 671-8333 Phone
(905) 671-0254 Fax
Contact: Gus Amodeo, General Manager
E-mail: sales@plastikote.ca

Excellent!  Surely this was progress!

Another quick search of the forum indicated that Micheal’s sold Plasti-kote and I have a Micheal’s near me.

Once arriving I confidently asked a sales person for Plasti-kote.  Blank stare.  For the love of God….

I was reffered to the aisle that contains models, Testors products and spray cans.  From a company called Valspar.   Faint bells start ringing…

Picking up one of the cans of primer I notice that the face of the can has a Valspar sticker that covers the whole front of the can but not the back.

Valspar Front - Lame Attempt at Hiding True Identity

This sticker is essentially rebranding the can.  Suspicious I read the back I find a reference to Plasti-kote.

Valspar - Plasti-kote in Disguise

Hellujah! Not that I needed more confirmation but you’ll note that the company address is the same as above.
So in Canada, and perhaps else where Valspar products are Plasti-kote.

More Airbrushing Tutorials

My researching of spray booths brought me to this web site that has a number of useful tutorials.  http://gamerabaenre.com/toolsandtechs.htm

So far these are some of the best I’ve come across.

Airbrush Possibilites

While browsing the StarshipModeller forums I came across a reference to an airbrush tutorial. (http://fichtenfoo.net/blog/airbrush-tutorial-flash/)

Take a look around the site too.   Some very nice work.

Priming 101

Priming a model makes the painting easier and the quality of the work better.  It also helps cover up small imperfections that are in the plastic or induced by to ham fisted filing (cough).

This post seems to be clear enough on the basics. (http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/viewtopic.php?t=67944&sid=a0e32e1d7f8ecc03c1ff1f64af144d45)

I could only find DupliColor so I bought a can of Filler Primer in gray.  I didn’t find a white which I think I would have prefered.   I’m glad I’ve decided to vicimize the Firebird with all of these paints and techniques.  I don’t think I’d be as open minded with the Enterprise model!