vicdartford Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 Hi, newbie here, after many years I have got back into it again, I have built a 1/72 Spit and a harrier, with no issues.I decided to do a Hawker Hunter 1/48 and noticed the bluish plastic that I presume is the new formula, I can see by eye that it appears to have very light smudges on it, I am struggling to describe it clearly but they look like shiny finger prints even though I have not touched the parts, I decided to do what is recommended and give them a wash in warm soapy water, and rinse thoroughly, I did the wings and spent ages on them with no luck removing them so decided that this must be how they are made now, my nightmare started when I used a Tamiya surface primer outdoors (as I have successfully done before) the smudges on the first light coat clearly did not like being primed, with the plastic resiting the primer and after a few coats these places became a bit grimy and there is light bits of what appears to be fluff, on my next wing I repeated the cleaning process and using a degreaser on them to make sure... still the same issue.I have had to give them a few coats after rubbing them down with a soft cloth to try and smooth them out and then recoat, not ideal as the panel line on the kit are quite shallow to start with.Any help or advice would be most welcomed :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth ONeill Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Does anyone know if a silicone oil might be misused as a release agent in the moulding plant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicdartford Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 I thought I might post a few pics just so everyone can see what I am talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Does anyone know if a silicone oil might be misused as a release agent in the moulding plant? It's possible although my understanding is that a PTFE dry release agent is common these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 I thought I might post a few pics just so everyone can see what I am talking about. I would try cleaning the affected areas with isopropyl alcohol, although to my eye it looks like a contaminant within the plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian_rutland Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 You could try an enamel primer. That may help. Acrylics hate silicones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicdartford Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 Thank you all so much for your posts, very much appreciated.I thought it might be a bad batch of primer so I switched to another brand and tried using 99.9% isopropyl alcohol but unfortunately with the same results, I have attached the latest effort and brought out the contrast in the image as its hard to see clearly using a phone camera, on the bare plastic kit part it looks like a shiny fingerprint smudge and the other like small splodges, this is defo "IN" the plastic and the result is that once primed the shiny defect almost repels the primer leaving a rough patch, what a pity as I was really looking forward to this build, I even went all out and got some PE and resin parts for it that cost more than the kit, if I had not installed these already I would have abandoned this kit to the bin :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2B Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Have you tried Airfix Customer Services? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 I don't see what the problem is. Do these marks repel paint? Won't a coat of primer, followed by normal painting cover these marks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roy_fitzsimmonds Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Ratch - read the original post as well as the guys next one...He's tried all that.I'd try C/S as it's possible he has a bad kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicdartford Posted July 26, 2021 Author Share Posted July 26, 2021 Hi Ratch.. this HAS been primed, all images above are primed using two different primers and cleaning processes, see my original posts above, that's the problem, it repels the primer in large areas of about 2 inches squared, not completely but makes the surface look slightly rough with ridges once primed, if I look at it under magnification if looks like ridged finger prints, and next to it a lovely primed smooth surface, almost like there is an oil finger print contaminating it, but this is impregnated in the original kit parts, strange and annoying and highly frustrating as my paint job over the top will be effected by all of this, I have spent £70 on kit, PE and resin not to mention around two weeks of time so far and I am dreading staring to airbrush my camo on it, hopefully this will not all end up in the bin with me migrating to Japanese kits and not bothering with Airfix again, quite a pity as I am semi retired with time and cash on my hands and I would rather support our UK companies :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 I would use returns and repairs to get replacement parts. Go to the top of the page 'support and advice' and then 'returns and repairs'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess D Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 Hi Vic Dartford, could you please send me an email at jess.dummett@airfix.com with your issue, an address and contact number and I will do my best to get this sorted ASAP for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicdartford Posted August 2, 2021 Author Share Posted August 2, 2021 Hi Jess, check your spam, sent you a couple of emails last week.Many thanks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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