One can for the awkward stuff. Resin, photo-etch, bare metal and glossy plastics all share a problem: paint doesn't want to stay on them. Resin sheds it in flakes, etched brass lets it lift under tape, and slick plastic surrenders it to the first thumbprint. Mr. Primer bonds to all of them and gives your colour coat something it can genuinely grip.

It's transparent and goes on thin, which is the point — it changes nothing about how the model looks. No tinting, no filling, no softened engraving on a photo-etch fret or a finely cast resin bust. It just makes paint stick. On a mixed-media build, that means one can over the whole assembly instead of masking styrene off from brass off from resin, and then priming or painting as normal on top. At 170ml, there's enough in it to treat a lot of parts.

• Bonds paint to resin, photo-etch, metal and difficult plastics
• Transparent and thin — no tinting, no loss of surface detail
• One primer for mixed-media builds; no masking between materials
• Stops flaking, chipping and tape-lift on paint-resistant surfaces
• 170ml — the large can, with plenty for a full garage kit or several builds

How to use it: Degrease first, and take it seriously on resin — mould release agent is the single biggest cause of paint failure on resin kits, and no primer on earth beats it. Warm soapy water and an old toothbrush, or an isopropyl wipe, then dry fully and handle by the edges. Apply one light coat, let it flash off, then continue as normal: straight to colour, or a surfacer over the top if you want a filling, sandable base.

Which one do I need? This is an adhesion primer, not a base coat — it's clear, it doesn't fill, and it isn't meant to be sanded. If you need a surface that fills scratches and seams, use a surfacer such as White Surfacer 1000 (B-511) over it. If you're working purely on bare metal parts, Metal Primer R (B-504) is the dedicated 100ml option — but B-512 covers metal too, alongside everything else, so it's the better buy if your bench sees more than one material.

Specifications

Brand: Mr. Hobby (GSI Creos / Gunze Sangyo)
Item No.: B-512
Type: Clear primer / adhesion promoter, aerosol
Colour: Clear
Volume: 170ml
Suitable for: Plastic, resin, photo-etch, metal
Fills / sands: No — adhesion layer only
Use in: Well-ventilated area; wear a respirator