Anyone used Kobra spray paint?

[Axineton]

If so is it any good as a primer? Looks to be graffiti specific spray https://kobrapaint.co.uk/ but really cheap would come in handy when I’m not priming with my airbrush if they’re any good. 

 

 

[Fajita Fan]

Is that cheaper than Rustoleoum or Krylon primers? Don’t know if you can get those in Her Majesty’s hardware stores but we can get Rustoleoum for $4US at Walmart and it’s my go-to.

[Axineton]

Is that cheaper than Rustoleoum or Krylon primers? Don’t know if you can get those in Her Majesty’s hardware stores but we can get Rustoleoum for $4US at Walmart and it’s my go-to.

yeah we can get rustoleoum and this kobra is cheaper than that. Every time I type in krylon on Amazon it gives me a brand called plasti-kote of which it’s cheaper than that too. I did pick up some Matt black plastic-kote funnily enough at the weekend. I also ordered some kobra paint from amazon but it was damaged in transIt so I’m still waiting on it. And funnily enough it’s more expensive on amazon than this kobra website. 

 

Edit: So I thought I’d see how much it was with shipping and it comes to £10:15 because Royal Mail won’t deliver flammable items so they need an ADR aware courier to deliver so that bumps up the price. 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Axineton

[Spottswoode]

 

Is that cheaper than Rustoleoum or Krylon primers? Don’t know if you can get those in Her Majesty’s hardware stores but we can get Rustoleoum for $4US at Walmart and it’s my go-to.

yeah we can get rustoleoum and this kobra is cheaper than that. Every time I type in krylon on Amazon it gives me a brand called plasti-kote of which it’s cheaper than that too. I did pick up some Matt black plastic-kote funnily enough at the weekend. I also ordered some kobra paint from amazon but it was damaged in transIt so I’m still waiting on it. And funnily enough it’s more expensive on amazon than this kobra website. 

 

Edit: So I thought I’d see how much it was with shipping and it comes to £10:15 because Royal Mail won’t deliver flammable items so they need an ADR aware courier to deliver so that bumps up the price. 

 

 

(This might be a bit late if you've already bought the Kobra, but I thought I'd say something anyway)

 

Kobra is okay. Better than some of the alternative cheaper spray paints, but not the best you can buy. The important thing to bear in mind is making sure you get the low pressure cans (listed as Kobra LP) as they will allow you much more control over the rate at which the paint comes out - varying how hard you press down on the cap will vary the spray, so a light touch will give you a lot more control and prevent you from absolutely drowning your mini in paint. If you get the high pressure cans you don't get that subtlety and you'll find yourself losing all your model's details and wasting paint at the same time.

 

The other big factor is caps. Cans typically come with a medium cap which will work, but the best option would probably be a soft cap, which will give you a much wider but softer mist of paint than a standard cap. Avoid fat caps at all costs, they will douse your figure in a thick layer of paint and use up most of the can before you know it.

 

As for Krylon, Rustoelum and Plasti-Kote, Krylon is only really available in the UK as an import, and tends to be bought by people wanting to recreate the NYC graffiti glory days of the 70s / 80s. You'll pay a couple of quid more per can than you would for anything else, and the results are pretty bad. Plasti-Kote and Rustoleum (while cheaper) are much the same, and I'd avoid them all costs as an primer, undercoat or zenithal highlight - they are almost always high pressure, their caps are awkward and impossible to swap out for something else, and the pigment in them is terrible. If you use the black for example, unless you do a couple of coats of it (and thereby lose any fine detail on your model) you'll see a green tinge to the edges of the paint.

 

My preferred brands are either Molotow Premium (https://www.graff-city.com/spray-cans-c128/spray-paint-cans-c76/molotow-spray-paint-c91) or MTN 94 (https://www.graff-city.com/spray-cans-c128/spray-paint-cans-c76/mtn-spray-paint-c89) although both of those brands do water-based spray paints too that you can water down and use as a normal paint for fine detail stuff. Montana Gold is also pretty good (https://www.graff-city.com/spray-cans-c128/spray-paint-cans-c76/montana-spray-paint-c90) but I like the colour range of Molotow and MTN more. They've all got excellent ranges though, they all produce a big range of caps, and most importantly even their light colours like yellow will cover well.

 

(PS - Kobra sell through Graff-City, so the links I've included are for them too. They're pretty good, and not too bad with regards to delivery prices. Just don't buy anything from a traditional art or hobby shop if you can help it, they tend to inflate the prices quite a bit).

[Axineton]

Cheers for the info mate. I think it was the high pressure one I picked up. But no problem I can always use it for something else non hobby related if I have too. 

[Spottswoode]

It's not bad paint, it's just unsuitable for priming miniatures.

 

But by all means give it a go, if only in the interests of science. You might be able to get something workable out of it, just be sure to use an old model you don't mind potentially ruining. 

[Axineton]

I can actually test it out on the mortal realms magazine stuff as that’s why I picked up a few copies of issue 1 for science and improving my painting. 

[Fajita Fan]

I use Rustoleoum aluminum for metallics and flat black with just one coat on plastic minis. :shrug: Their white has the same struggles as other brands but at least it’s cheap.

[Axineton]

Right, for science purposes I tested out the kobra and plasti-kote on 3 stormcast eternals. I know they’re not 40k minis but I didn’t want to use it on them till I’m sure this stuff is any good. I gave all three minis a good spraying in my warehouse with the heaters on so it was nice and warm in there. I’m quite happy with the results but I’m sure a paint spray expert can see what’s what. There’s obviously bits missed where the paint never got to but it’s very minimal. 
 

what do you guys think? Blue is the kobra and black is the plasti-kote. 
 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Axineton

[ranulf the revenant]

 

...

 

(This might be a bit late if you've already bought the Kobra, but I thought I'd say something anyway)

 

(...)

 

The other big factor is caps. Cans typically come with a medium cap which will work, but the best option would probably be a soft cap, which will give you a much wider but softer mist of paint than a standard cap. Avoid fat caps at all costs, they will douse your figure in a thick layer of paint and use up most of the can before you know it.

 

(...)

 

My preferred brands are either Molotow Premium (https://www.graff-city.com/spray-cans-c128/spray-paint-cans-c76/molotow-spray-paint-c91) or MTN 94 (https://www.graff-city.com/spray-cans-c128/spray-paint-cans-c76/mtn-spray-paint-c89) although both of those brands do water-based spray paints too that you can water down and use as a normal paint for fine detail stuff. Montana Gold is also pretty good (https://www.graff-city.com/spray-cans-c128/spray-paint-cans-c76/montana-spray-paint-c90) but I like the colour range of Molotow and MTN more. They've all got excellent ranges though, they all produce a big range of caps, and most importantly even their light colours like yellow will cover well.

 

(PS - Kobra sell through Graff-City, so the links I've included are for them too. They're pretty good, and not too bad with regards to delivery prices. Just don't buy anything from a traditional art or hobby shop if you can help it, they tend to inflate the prices quite a bit).

 

That's helpful information . As for Molotow, I  looked for them and there are two variants available at the store closest to me. One line is called "Urban fine arts", the other one is called "one4all". Which one would you recommend?

Edited February 28, 2020 by ranulf the revenant

[Arkhanist]

FWIW, Halfords plastic primer is a widely used choice for UK gamers, particularly the grey, not least as they're widely available without needing to pay oodles for shipping. The camo colours are not primers, but also handy for bulk basecoating. You can use the standard acrylic primer too if they're out of the plastic one, there's not much difference.

 

I've found the grey gives a better result than GW, and significantly better than army painter and plasti-kote, and still use it when I need to prime a bunch of stuff at once. Admittedly, I've never tried Molotow, but then I also have an airbrush and use that for smaller priming jobs as it's far more convenient given UK weather.

[Spottswoode]

Axineton - those Kobra ones don't look too bad actually. Not too smooth, but better than the Plasti-Kote. How did you find them compared to priming with an airbrush?

 

Ranulf - I've never tried those two actually, I always used the Premium range (the ones that say Belton in big letters above Molotow). From a quick glance though I'd say the Urban Fine Art ones might be better, given they're variable pressure, and you can spray some straight into the can cover cap or onto a palette and use a brush to paint any places you might have missed. It also looks like there's a wider range of colours available (48 vs 26) which is handy, as you might be able to use it as an undercoat and base layer in one. The benefit of ALL4ONE is that they do an associated marker range, so if you felt the need you could get some markers in the same colours or lighter for touch ups or highlights, which is something I've seen scale-modellers and prop-makers do. 

 

Arkhanist - yep, Halfords car primer is great as an undercoat, although weirdly it's more expensive than even the high end ranges like Molotow or MTN.

[Axineton]

Axineton - those Kobra ones don't look too bad actually. Not too smooth, but better than the Plasti-Kote. How did you find them compared to priming with an airbrush?

 

 

The only problem I had was the cure time. Compared to stynylrez airbrush primer they took an age to dry completely. The Kobra spray took around 45 mins before it could be handled properly and I tried scraping one with a fingernail and it stuck and never scraped off. The plasti-kote took around 24hrs to completely dry and again tried scraping with my fingernail and no scratch at all. I think I’ll stick with the airbrush but at the moment batch priming is out of the question with it so I may end up spraying with a can but I’ll probably go for a different black than plast-kote. 

[Axineton]

So I picked up this from Halfords (a shop for everything to do with cars etc) and I think I’ve used this spray before and it’s pretty good. It’s about £7.99 for 500ml 

 

 

And here’s a Hellblaster sprayed with it:

 

 

very smooth. I may start using this spray from now on when I have to spray without the airbrush.