Primer Preference

[mytimeprez]

As the title suggests, what is your preferred primer for your miniatures? I just came back to the hobby after years away and need new primer. Looking for suggestions. Thanks in advance. 

[WrathOfTheLion]

I've rather liked the Citadel primers I use, notably Grey Seer and Chaos Black are my favorite. They go on well, and are usually quite durable. I was using airbrush primers for a while, but they're usually pretty weak. I might try that again, doing a second coat and seeing how strong it is. I do the rattle can, and then go over it with the air paints if I've got a color I need it to be.

[Cleon]

I've used a variety of primers, but I've phased out pretty much all of them except chaos black, (the only other I use is the warm white for things that are mostly contrast). To my mind the army painter ones are too heavy and most other whites I've tried are too dusty.

[andes]

Stynylrez shot through the airbrush is my current fav. I've heard good things about Monument Hobby's Pro Acryl primer, might give that a go next time.

[Guest]

Are we talking rattle cans or Airbrush?

 

These are what I use... (UK based) I do use some other GW rattle cans too.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Brother Captain Arkley

[Karhedron]

I use a variety of Primers. For light models where I want a bright finish I use Corax white spray and for dark models I use Abaddon Black spray.

 

For mid-tone models that are blue, grey or green, I use Halfords grey car primer. For red models I use Halfords red oxide primer. Getting a primer that is as close as possible to your base colour will save time, effort and paint in the long run.

 

I use Army Painter red for my Blood Angels because it is the closest I have been able to find to GW's old Blood Angel red but I am not a huge fan of it. It has a slight gloss finish and does not provide a good surface for other paints. This means that any paints applied over the top of it tend to rub off, even with gentle handling. I always have a tough time getting my Blood Angels finished and varnished before any of the details start to rub off. If I were starting again, I would avoid Army Painter I think.

[Brother Christopher]

I have experience with Army Painter and Vallejo rattle can primers. I never had any problems with AP but I somewhat prefer Vallejo - maybe it's the design of the nozzle, but I feel I have more control with it and the flow of the primer and coverage appears to be... smoother. With black primers, AP's black appeared to be deeper and perhaps more satin than Vallejo, but once you apply a layer of paint, the difference disappears altogether.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Personally, I like Vallejo's polyurethane "surface primer" range - I use the black and grey (really an off-white), via an airbrush. Having said that, they introduced the "Mecha Colour" range which is supposed to be a bit tougher after I purchased mine, so I'd probably go with those if I were buying them now (I do have the ivory primer from that range, and it is nice).

 

I've never used it, but Badger Stynylrez gets a lot of love ...

 

++EDIT: I've not had any issues when applying the black Vallejo primer with a paintbrush, but the grey and ivory ones are definitely best applied with an airbrush, in my experience.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Firedrake Cordova

[Stolid Fox]

I use Stynylrez and Vallejo as my main ones. I also have the Monument ProAcryl primers which are great except very thin which can make them a fragile until layered up with some paint.

 

pictured below in black. I have a few other tones as well but black is usually my starting prime and I layer the other on if appropriate. 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Stolid Fox

[Bung]

Badger Stynylrez or MIG One Shot Primer through an airbrush are pretty good.

Both are basically the same (rebrand) but depending onyour region one or the other is easier to aquire.

 

And If nothing else sticks to the model Mr Hobby Surfacer 1500.

Most expensive but simply the best.

[Madao]

Rattle can - now I use Army Painter ones. I find GW ones (tried chaos black and mephiston red) to spray with higher pressure, so it is easier to clog the details with too much paint. About Vallejo ones - no problem at all with black/grey ones, but the metallic one, for some reason, was very hard to paint on - the paint pooled and didn't wanted to stick to the surface, what makes using the PRIMER pointless (maybe I have used this primer wrong, but this is my observation).

 

Airbrush - Vallejo surface primers work very well for me, I have tested black, grey and tan (all with some white surface primer added to make zenithal) - no issues with them, even without thinning them down (but still few drops of thinner and flow improver to not clog the nozzle - they are building quite gummy ooze on the needle tip).

 

[Imren]

What primer to use depends a little on how detail-minded you are in your hobbying. I used spray cans from the 90's when I started hobbing up until 2011 when I started using airbrush. And since 2011 I only use airbrush for priming for the superior control of application (much thinner and smoother layers than spray can), and also the better efficiency in terms of waste (much much less overspray). You alos eliminate the risk of grainyness from spray can applications, and also airbrush can be used at your desk indoor at any weather conditions.

 

I have tried them all, and the one I get best results from in terms of adherence, abrasion resistance and smoothness is AK's pirmer and microfiller AK757 (black) shot out of an airbrush slightly thinned with AK Xtreme thinner & cleaner.

 

https://ak-interactive.com/product/black-primer-and-microfiller/

https://ak-interactive.com/product/xtreme-cleaner/

 

Some may complain that regular acryilic thinners such as Vallejo, Stynylrez and the rest don't adhere and don't take abrasion well. And I agree if you don't let them cure for 12-24 hrs after application. Also make sure your model is washed clean with dishwashing detergent to get rid of all skin oils from assembly as last step before priming. If used correctly most of these products are good enough but just some goes a step further in terms of quality (smoothness, adherence and abrasion resistance).

[NovemberIX]

A more value priced option that's somewhat also more generally available in the US is Duplicolor Automotive Sandable primers. I've used them for years with occasional forays into Rust-Oleum primers. Duplicolor will usually go on well and dry thin with fairly good abrasion resistance. The white might take a coat or three to get a solid white, the black and red usually go on in one. Detail loss is usually minimal unless you really blast a model. Rust-Oleum on the other hand covers very well, but you gotta be super careful not to drown the model.

[WrathOfTheLion]

3 hours ago, Imren said:

What primer to use depends a little on how detail-minded you are in your hobbying. I used spray cans from the 90's when I started hobbing up until 2011 when I started using airbrush. And since 2011 I only use airbrush for priming for the superior control of application (much thinner and smoother layers than spray can), and also the better efficiency in terms of waste (much much less overspray). You alos eliminate the risk of grainyness from spray can applications, and also airbrush can be used at your desk indoor at any weather conditions.

 

I have tried them all, and the one I get best results from in terms of adherence, abrasion resistance and smoothness is AK's pirmer and microfiller AK757 (black) shot out of an airbrush slightly thinned with AK Xtreme thinner & cleaner.

 

https://ak-interactive.com/product/black-primer-and-microfiller/

https://ak-interactive.com/product/xtreme-cleaner/

 

Some may complain that regular acryilic thinners such as Vallejo, Stynylrez and the rest don't adhere and don't take abrasion well. And I agree if you don't let them cure for 12-24 hrs after application. Also make sure your model is washed clean with dishwashing detergent to get rid of all skin oils from assembly as last step before priming. If used correctly most of these products are good enough but just some goes a step further in terms of quality (smoothness, adherence and abrasion resistance).

My experience with the Vallejo ones was that they were just more delicate than I'd've liked. It was fine, but I preferred the strength I'd get from Chaos black spray. I'm thinking I'll try out a few other brands, both pro acryl and ak interactive I'll probably try next.

[sarabando]

vallejo mecha are my go to and ive been having good luck with MIG too. 

[Halandaar]

Army Painter spray cans have not really ever worked for me; two of the colour ones I used (specifically Crystal Blue and Alien Purple) gave a really waxy, almost gloss finish, and their Matt White came through so grainy it basically ruined an entire batch of models.

 

On the other hand, my experience with GW cans is generally positive (aside from the prices!) and Chaos Black remains my go-to for most things, although once I can get enough space carved out to use my airbrush regularly it's likely I'll move over to priming with that so I'm not at the mercy of the weather when I want to paint stuff.

 

One company I'll point out is Colour Forge; they're a new-ish company who as far as I can tell only sell in the UK at the moment, but they have a pretty big range of spray colours all of which are direct matches to various Citadel paints. So if you used to rely on now-discontinued GW sprays like Averland Sunset or Caliban Green, you can get equivalents from them (and bigger cans/lower prices too)

 

 

[Karhedron]

12 minutes ago, Halandaar said:

Army Painter spray cans have not really ever worked for me; two of the colour ones I used (specifically Crystal Blue and Alien Purple) gave a really waxy, almost gloss finish

 

That was exactly the problem I had. The colour and coverage are good but trying to get anything to go over the top of it was a nightmare.

[phandaal]

Tamiya Light Grey Fine Surface Primer, or Scale75 Grey Spray Primer. Both preserve an incredible amount of detail.

 

For Deathwing, it is Citadel Wraith Bone just for the color.

[Magos Takatus]

6 hours ago, phandaal said:

Tamiya Light Grey Fine Surface Primer, or Scale75 Grey Spray Primer. Both preserve an incredible amount of detail.

 

For Deathwing, it is Citadel Wraith Bone just for the color.

I had preoblems with my Vallejo black, after a while the paint started to produce small clumps  which would clog the paint bottle and inevitably the airbrush. It eventually got decommissioned for undercoating bases by hand brush.

 

I've since moved over to Scale 75 primers. I own the Black, Bone Charm and Grey paints and so far I've had no issues. I think them a little so I usually give it a second pass to make sure the paint is resilient. The Bone Charm is a bit wishy-washy when painted by hand but it applies well by airbrush. I haven't tried the grey yet, that's probably going to be used for  zenithal undercoats.

 

I haven't tried many other brands, the Stynylrez works fine but apart from that I don't have anything to compare it to. I just know I've not had problems with Scale 75  so far.

[Ramell]

I use Vallejo RAL 8012 Rotbraun out of an airbrush. 

I've meant to try out Scale75's Hull Red, since I use a number of their other paints, but I haven't gotten around to it.

[Evil Eye]

For airbrush I find Mr. Surfacer is my go-to brand. It's a lacquer based paint and needs thinning with their own thinners, but Mr. Surfacer + Mr. Leveling Thinner is almost foolproof.