Leather Brown

Leather Brown — a colored Vallejo primer

The essential point first, because it is easily confused: this item is a primer, that is a base coat on a polyurethane acrylic binder. It is not a bottled covering paint and it is not a weathering product either, even though a shade of the same name is found in other ranges and from other manufacturers as well. The difference lies in the binder and in the function: a primer is laid down as the first layer on bare material, it holds on plastic, resin, photo-etched parts and metal alike, and it gives the top coats a surface to grip.

Use

• It is applied with an airbrush straight from the container, without thinning. The ideal is a thin continuous layer; a heavy application fills the engraved lines and fine details, which you will then never get back.
• Never use water to thin it — that would attack the polyurethane binder. Use the airbrush thinner from the same manufacturer.
• It can be applied with a brush too, which suits repairs and small areas above all; on large continuous areas the brush leaves noticeable strokes.
• The brown leather tone is rewarding as a base under leather and wooden parts, under earth camouflages and under dark brown shades that cover poorly on their own.
• Degrease the surface before applying it. Remains of mold release agent on resin parts and fingerprints are the most common reason a primer does not hold.
• Let the layer cure fully before masking, not merely dry to the touch.

Who the primer is for

For modelers and wargamers who build on colored bases and want to save one layer of covering paint where the model is meant to be brown or earthy. It also serves well as a neutral dark base that evens out a surface of mixed color made up of plastic, resin and photo-etched metal.

Spray in a ventilated room with a respirator and eye protection. The volume of the package is given on the label; if you need an exact match with a particular coat, compare the shade against the manufacturer's color chart.