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Best approach for priming guard


Carraigf

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So Vel'Cona tipped me off on Vallejo's big bottles of primer and it got me thinking - as most of us have a mix of infantry and some tanks, if not flyers and artillery - what does everyone use for priming models - is it different tools for different jobs or is the a single approach that works well for both?

 

I've always used citadel sprays - but I've seen lots of tutorials that promote airbrushing - for both tanks and infantry - while the cost is high to buy in the results can be pretty stellar.

 

That said bottled primer - while time consuming - looks to be a very cheap option - and all you need to change is the size of your brush.

 

What's your thoughts guardsmen?

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I use GW's White Spray, as it helps with making colours warmer and more vibrant. If you're doing a darker colour scheme, black is a better start, and more forgiving if you miss recesses during the paintjob.

 

Tried Army Painter, and while they're cheaper, you really notice it.

I thought you lost, Brother Carraigf! Although I have been away from base for a bit myself... Anyway, good to see you happy.png!

I use GW's Chaos Black for just about everything. The only reason I use their Skull White (or Corax White it seems) is for my Heresy Era Death Guard.

I use black primer for everything. I tried using GW's colored sprays, but they just didn't come out right, so it's black from this point on. GW's black is pretty good, it's a more matte finish that seems to take paint much better than the army painter, but leaves much to be desired in the way of price, GW is real proud of their censored.gif, and I have to say that I find that annoying.

I have tried flat black spray paint, and it's not ever really worked out the way primer has. I've not had an issue with the army painter, so I'll get that when I can, but I'll get GW black when I need to.

My whole army is painted in shades of grey. All the models get primed black on the sprue using Home Depot 99¢ Flat Black spray paint. After assembly, they get a coat of Tamiyo German Grey spray paint. I then paint the high lights, skin areas, different shades of brown for any leather pieces, and Nulin Oil wash on everything. They come out looking great..

I use an airbrush and vallejo white primer.  I got the $90 ebay special airbrush... it has worked great so far.

 

I live in the south, lately the humidity is awful and I couldn't get a good coat on my models with spray cans.


Before the airbrush, I was using army painter dragon red spray.

Skull White spray for infantry, Chaos Black for armour. Black is the best usually, but white is better for lighter tones.

 

I'm not sure if I need the white for my troops, as it was for their original scheme which has long been replaced but best not mess with it as it works ok! The trick is to remember that you're priming the model for paint layers, not necessarily painting it that particular colour - especially with white sprays which can be a bit inferior. Always shake the can like you mean it :P

I'd warn you to stay away from GW's white primer (at least if you're in the US) as it's been consistently poop. It tends to turn to snow, unless you're priming on the dryest day of winter, you know the kind of day that you walk outside and your eyes and lips and nose just dry up, and breathing makes you thirsty. That seems to be the only time I have seen GW's white primer work. 

 

But I've been living in the Southeast United States so your mileage may vary...

Anything under the blue spectrum I use black.

Anything under the yellow spectrum I use white.

Anything under red can go either way depending on what your looking for as a finished product.

 

Ultimately it depends completely on what your doing with it and of course preferences but that's my general rule of thumb.

 

Personally when I first started I hand primed, this is the fastest method to get painting but I always found it obscured a lot of detail, that was a personal issue though as I just wasn't very good.

I switched to spray primers (GW and AP) and found a much more even coating but you want to wait a minimum 4 hours for setting and probably closer to 6-8 for curing and it must be done outdoors, though I havn't had any issues with humidity or temperature (I live in the prairies and it goes +40- -40 every year).

Now I use my air brush and do whatever damn color I want. This is the cheapest method (eventually) and has the bonuses of drying quickly and I can do it indoors (though I have to be wary of overspray... my poor coffee table looks like a million ants climbed onto it and puked and left)

I'm in sunny Dundee here in Scotland so our humidity tends to be more of the horizontal slashing rain variety but do struggle with gw spray hence the ask.

 

Cheers for the feedback all, may experiment with the AP spray and the vallejo next time I'm online getting my hobby fix, thinking an airbrush would be a nice to have but for now I'll be spending my cash on more toys instead of tools.

 

Thanks again all

When I painted some Catachans years ago I think I used white for the Troops and black for the Basilisk - but then I was very, very young. If I were to paint anything new today, I'd probably use Halfords' grey as it gives the right level of shading to begin with and Halfords offer a good spray that is cheaper than GW's.

I prime my troops in white, since their uniforms under the flak armor is white. I just carefully paint the details & give them a wash, and it's a good chunk of time I've saved. If the bulk of your model is going to be painted a certain color, I suggest priming it in that color, and going from there.

That said, I just try to get my stuff table ready, and I don't worry too much about little imperfections. After all, who's going to notice a bit of black belt bleeding into a white uniform, when there's 200 models on the table? biggrin.png

As Carraigf said above, my latest kick is to hand brush Vallejo's bottled primer with a large brush and a bit of water.  I get surprisingly consistent results and from what I understand it's safe to use indoors.  It even has a nice menthol scent!

 

For spray primer, I've been through quite a few.  I've tried Army Painter, Armoury, Citadel, and Testors.  For my money, the best spray on primer is actually the P3 brand; it's not ridiculously priced, and it gives an absolutely immaculate finish as long as the weather is reasonably cooperative.  That said, now that I've discovered Vallejo's products in general I'm starting to slowly morph my supplies to their product.

I wish Vallejo were easier to come by this side of the pond. I also wish a company did a spray close enough to my "Tarosian Sunset" colour I use to just blast my army with. xD

 

Try Tamiya. They have a wide range of colours.

 

Maybe TS-3 Dark Yellow

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