Brush-on White Primer?

[Sete]

Hi guys. I'm trying to improve my painting skills, and I want to tackle yellows and whites.

I don't like to use spray cans so I want to avoid corax white spray. Is there a white primer alternative I can use?

[deathspectersgt7]

Army painter white is a good spray primer.

[Sete]

But I want to avoid spray :D

[Warpmiss]

I just purchased a can of Corax White last Friday to test skin-tones and washes as I had seen on several tutorials. I was afraid I would mess up because I was warned several times that its more likely to leave clots of white or not cover the miniature very well but I am actually very happy with the results so far. 

 

I'd love to hear what other options we have for white primers that don't come in spray format, though, so I'll be keeping an eye for future responses to this topic. ;)

[Axineton]

Vallejo do a white primer in paint form. I was gonna get it but opted for grey in the end. It’s about £10 for 200ml

[Major_Gilbear]

I used to hand-prime with a brush-on primer, but I never got the same quality result as I do from an automotive spray primer - not as smooth, not as durable, not as even (and not as fast, but I do have to wait for good spraying weather, so... balances out a bit).

 

That said, there plenty of options for brush-on primers. Vallejo was already mentioned, and I've heard some people use Artist's Gesso mixed with a little white PVA to help it stick really well to plastic. Other products you might want to look into are Reaper's primer, and Mr Metal Primer from Gunze Sangyo.

 

When you apply a brush-on primer, you want it to be thin and smooth, and you need to apply it like you're painting the model. If you scrub at the model with your brush, you'll get bubbles and it'll spoil your finish. Similarly, you want to keep the primer applied in a thin coat as you go, and this may or may not leave you a nice even colour to basecoat over - so you may need an extra layer of basecoat later on to get a good even colour to work from.

[Arkhanist]

There aren't really any brush-on specific primers (that are any good) I can think of these days; most people use spray cans, and for the rest of us there are primers that do double duty as airbrushable or using the old hairy stick.

 

I'm a fairly recent convert to Badger Stynylrez primers. You want 4 things from an ideal primer.

 

1) adheres well to the model surface

2) provide a 'grippy' surface for further paint to adhere to

3) good coverage with a small pigment size, so you don't accidentally put on too much and drown details or get a sandpaper finish.

4) 'shrink-to-fit' so it will sink into details and not fill them

 

Vallejo polyurethane primers which can be airbrushed or painted on I found failed at 1 several times, even when given extended cure time. Older citadel spray primers failed on 3 & 4 quite often, but i can't say I've tried them recently. Car body acrylic primer sprays do very well on all points, weather permitting and are quicker to apply - but we're not doing sprays

 

Stynylrez is the best primer I've found so far for airbrushing in particular, but it works almost as well when applying with a brush. It won't be as thin a coat as when sprayed, but then that's true of all acrylics. It will self-level and shrink more than you'd think, but you'll still want to apply it fairly thinly and evenly - easier to touch up an area than take it off an area you put too much on. It does touch dry pretty quickly, but it's best to leave it for an hour or two to properly harden before you put normal paint on top.

 

Stynylrez comes in a variety of colours - including white. 

 

edit: Reaper brush-on primer is another primer that does double duty as an airbrush or brush primer that has a good reputation. Reaper isn't easy to get hold of where i am though, so I haven't tested it personally.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Arkhanist

[Tallarn Commander]

As Gilbear and FR33Dom noted, one option is Vallejo's bottle of brush-on white primer.

 

I love using this stuff during the rainy months (which is a long time because I live near Seattle). I've found 2 thin coats work better than 1 coat (whereas my white spray primer gives sufficient coverage with 1 coat). It takes about 5 minutes worth of labor to fully prime up, say, a squad of 10 Renegade militia. One bottle will set you back about $8 US dollars and it will last for years.

[Axineton]

As Gilbear and FR33Dom noted, one option is Vallejo's bottle of brush-on white primer.

I love using this stuff during the rainy months (which is a long time because I live near Seattle). I've found 2 thin coats work better than 1 coat (whereas my white spray primer gives sufficient coverage with 1 coat). It takes about 5 minutes worth of labor to fully prime up, say, a squad of 10 Renegade militia. One bottle will set you back about $8 US dollars and it will last for years.

Gotta agree with the two coats mate. One just isn’t enough I found.

[NovemberIX]

Duplicolor White sandable primer is great, you can be a little heavy handed and it still drys thin and strong, Rustoleum makes a good product too, but their cans tend to spray pretty hard so they need a more deft touch.

 

Edit: just noticed you prefer a paint on primer, I’ve had fair results from Vallejo, but nowhere near as good as the previously listed spray cans.

Edited February 5, 2018 by NovemberIX

[Demus Ragnok]

I had reasonable success with white gesso.

[Grotsmasha]

Corax White Spray is a vast improvement over the Skull White Spray, and I've yet to have an issue with Corax. Skull destroyed so many of models.....

[Stoic Raptor]

one option is Vallejo's bottle of brush-on white primer.

I've found 2 thin coats work better than 1 coat (whereas my white spray primer gives sufficient coverage with 1 coat).

 

For best results, I've found that allowing 48 hours for the primer coat to cure dramatically improves its wear resistance and adhesion.  Try it some time - prime a model and leave it for say, 12 hours.  Then try to rub or scrape off an edge.  It might come off easily.  Come back after 48 hours and you'll find it's far less likely to rub or scrape off.

 

Once it's cured, then you can apply paint.

[Thoridon]

We use the range of Vallejo surface primers to brush on when the weather isn't ideal for spraying (or when you want to prime a model with different colours in different places). Can't say there have been any issues. Currently using the following:

 

Black

White

Grey

German Red Brown

Earth Green

 

The Black has been excellent, great coverage. White and Grey have been a bit thinner but in most cases it's still given enough coverage to use normal paint on top. Red Brown has been perfect for priming my Blood Angels and the Green someone else uses a lot for things like Death Guard and Tyranids.

 

I personally haven't had any problem at all with paint scratching off but I do often prime things in big batches and then have days or weeks before I get round to the normal painting. That said, I've primed some models in an evening with these and started painting the next morning with no issues if I've been rushing to meet a deadline.

 

A thumbs up for Vallejo Surface Primers for me.

 

Just be aware of one thing with Vallejo: they do a white paint in their Game Colour range which translated into English is named "White Primer" but from what I can gather it's just the normal game colour pigment and it's one of the normal whites they offer. It needs to be the actual Surface Primer White for the priming properties.

 

Edit: This range: http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/surface-primer/family/22

Edited February 7, 2018 by Thoridon

[sarabando]

i love Vallejo brush on primer which i slather on and it still dries thin, as others have said it really does need 48 to harden and two thin coats is a brilliant way of applying it, i have the white which imo doesnt give as uniform a finish as black but it worked fine. Badger Stynylrez fans are rabid in their defense of the product but ive not had a chance to use it.

 

I know you want to avoid spray but try brush on black then a zenith highlight with a blast of white spray from above.

[Arkhanist]

I wouldn't say I'm rabid about Stynylrez - I used vallejo primer as my primary primer for a fair length of time and I still think it's good overall. It covers well, it shrinks well and doesn't obscure detail, particularly if you do 2 thin coats. Most of the time a 48 hour cure time will indeed toughen it up sufficiently that it won't scratch off easily - but I have had cases where it still came off too easily even after a week, and it does not sand well.

 

Most often this has happened where I've prepped and primed the mini but saw some flash I missed, or cat hair got stuck to it out the air. (I have 3 long hair cats). I waited a few days, tried to scrape or micromesh off the problem, and great sheets of primer would come off - and fixing it with new coats or by brush could leave ridges, that you then couldn't sand down without the same problem. I've also had some issues with sticky out bits, such as tips of staves and things.

 

Stynylrez is a fairly new product, but I did try it out (after a previous thread recommending it where I'd suggested vallejo), and it sticks much better - you can sand/scrape it after an hour and the rest stays put. It just cures harder, much faster than vallejo. It also leaves a lovely finish. I put it up there with car body primer for strength and coverage, and airbrushing avoids risking filling detail you get with spraycans (and of course, I don't need to worry about the weather, a definite plus in soggy england).

 

I still have and use some vallejo primer; for test models it's great, as you can then strip it back to bare plastic easier with biostrip. I also use it for craft stuff - it bonds very nicely to wood, for example.

 

If you've already got vallejo primer and you're happy with it, carry on using it by all means! If you need a new bottle or you've had issues with vallejo, consider stynylrez - I've seen a number of youtube reviewers go in sceptical and come out with grudging respect, and having taken the leap myself, I agree. Vallejo primer is a good product, is easily found and has been around for years. I've just found stynylrez to be a bit better for my use and it costs about the same, (£5.50 for 60ml) so I'm a happy convert.

Edited February 7, 2018 by Arkhanist

[micahwc]

Vallejo and Badger are both good, I prefer Badger over Vallejo but I use both in different colors. One option if you want the color of the GW spray primer, is to spray it into a container and hand brush it on.

[sarabando]

wasnt calling you out ark :D lots of Badger fans on FB seem to be calling out newer painters for even mentioning Vallejo these days.

[Sete]

Cheers guys you have been very helpful!

Since everyone has so good results with spray I might aswell make a few tests. Might buy some Vallejo pot just to see how it goes. Once again thanks :)

[Major_Gilbear]

Since everyone has so good results with spray I might aswell make a few tests.

 

Automotive primer spray specifically - it's got loads of solvent which makes it more forgiving of outdoor spraying (as it's formulated for touch-up work outside on cars).

 

The high solvent content also means it's touch-dry quicker, but takes longer to cure fully (I usually allow 24h). Do this outside (ideally) as the fumes are rather strong! ;)

[Evil Eye]

Mr. Hobby do a really nice brush-on primer (I think it's done in white?), Mr. Surfacer 1200. It's available in pots, intended for airbrushing but it will work by hand too. Just be aware that it is lacquer based.

[Claws and Effect]

I've found that Krylon Flat Black Paint + Primer looks nearly identical to Chaos Black when dry, and costs 75% less.

 

I have not tried their white yet, but I would not be surprised of it compared well to Corax White.

 

I like Citadel sprays, but I had to find a cheaper option.

[Stoic Raptor]

I'm still wondering why they say "prime with Chaos Black spray, and then paint it all in Abbadon Black because it looks different if you make a mistake".

Umm, why doesn't Citadel just make Abbadon Black spray instead?  How long has it been?  They've clearly got the capacity to make new sprays - we've seen several spray colors come out in the last several years.