Ultramarine

Ultramarine - a Vallejo colored primer

This item is not a covering modeling paint but a primer, that is a ground coat. Vallejo builds it on a polyurethane acrylic binder, which takes markedly better on plastic, resin, photo-etched parts and metal than an ordinary acrylic paint. The deep ultramarine tone also fills a second function: it makes a colored base right away, so that where a model is to be blue or dark it saves a whole coat of covering paint and the top coat can then be laid on more thinly.

Use

• The primer is ready for spraying with an airbrush straight from the bottle, and thinning is not needed. It is laid on in a thin continuous coat, not in one thick one, because the aim is to keep the engraved details, not to fill them.
• Do not thin it with water. Water weakens the polyurethane binder and the coat can then be peeled off with a fingernail; use a thinner meant for an airbrush from the same maker.
• It can be spread with a brush as well, only more slowly and with a greater risk of strokes; on small areas and repairs that does no harm.
• Degrease the surface and free it of dust before laying it on. Fingerprints are the most frequent reason why a primer later cracks or lifts.
• Before masking or sanding, let the coat really cure, because a coat that is dry to the touch does not yet have its full strength and tape will pull it away.
• Shake the bottle well before the work, because the pigment settles to the bottom.

Who the primer is for

For modelers and wargamers who want to join two steps into one: to prepare the surface and at the same time lay down a colored base in a blue tone. It comes into its own on figures and models where blue is to dominate, and also as a dark ground under brighter shades that cover badly on their own.

Work in a ventilated room, use a respirator when spraying and protect your eyes. The volume of the package, the shade and the curing time are given on the packaging, so please keep to the directions on it.