Priming in cold weather?

[Dontdrinkthepaintwater]

As the title suggests, I live in Montana and it's been absolutely freezing here as of late, sometimes single digits or -0 so I was curious if using spray primer to prime minis outside will have any issues with the primer sticking or? If this has been covered elsewhere my apologies, I couldn't remember finding anything regarding this issue

 

[Webmonkey]

It shouldn't. But keep both the spray can, and the object to be sprayed in the house and warm. The 10 seconds that you are outside spraying shouldn't matter much. Though, if the air is really dry, it may cause "frosting" of the primer. (small particles that dry in the air before they touch the model, then get glued in other wetter particles). Shoot a quick test piece first to see how well it's laying down or not.

 

[Dontdrinkthepaintwater]

Awesome, thanks for the reply

 

[mjs101]

Minnesota - about as cold, not as windy.

I step outside, spray quick enamel primer, and go inside and allow the figures to cure indoors in a closed room, so it doesn't stick up the house. I've done it for years w/o problem.

 

[Dontdrinkthepaintwater]

Sounds good I can stick them in the bathroom with the fan on...that should help. Thanks for the reply

 

[Dontdrinkthepaintwater]

So I made an attempt to prime a model tonight and it didn't pan out so great.....I used citadel chaos black and was outside for not even a minute and it was like the primer didn't want to stick to certain places of the model....
View attachment 54313

You can see the silver through the black on the bottom under her tail......Thoughts? It's about 17 degrees out right now...

 

[Webmonkey]

Doesn't matter,. You don't have to prime every square inch of the model. Also, there could be a contaminate on the model. (Mould release agent or whatever) did you clean the model first?

 

[Dontdrinkthepaintwater]

Oh phew! I'm such a perfectionist about some things that I really panicked when I saw that lol. I just haven't had that happen before so wasn't sure what happened. I did clean the model, I actually stripped all of the old paint/primer off of her (a week or so ago) and wanted to prime her with black instead as the paint job I want to try would look better with black undercoat I think. Thank you for your reply

 

[Dragonsreach]

I did clean the model, I actually stripped all of the old paint/primer off of her (a week or so ago) and wanted to prime her with black instead as the paint job I want to try would look better with black undercoat I think. Thank you for your reply

Its possible that the cleaning has left a very fine residue of cleaning agent on the raised section, or that the section surface is too smooth after cleaning to now hold paint.

Also Chaos Black isn't a primer, it's just an acrylic pant in a can. IMHO you would be better served by an automotive primer, or invest in an airbrush and use Vallejo Airbrush Primer, something I'd never used until recently. The results are superb and have made me a convert.

 

[supervike]

My solution to cold weather primer (I live in Iowa) is simply use a brush on primer, and stay inside where it's warm and dry!

I'm finding that brushing on gives me better coverage on the mini, and unless you a primering a ton of minis at a time, it doesn't add that much time to the process.

Some folks really like Black Gesso (you can get at any arts & crafts store).

The cool thing about Gesso is that it shrinks as it dries, keeping all that lovely detail intact.

Here's a video of literally watching paint dry to illustrate:

I'm not a big fan of painting over black, so I was planning on getting a grey gesso, as I've heard white gesso doesn't quite do the trick (not enough pigment).

But, since this was easily available, and I heard good things about it, I purchased this thru Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K3KGSQ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's actually designed for an Airbrush, but I understand it works great as a brush on primer too. It also has a 'self leveling' feature (meaning it also shrinks up a bit). It should arrive tomorrow and I'll report my results.

But, if you do insist on spray painting, I'd
suggest Krylon primer. I do like the grey there as well, but the white and black are solid too (i've used all three)

 

[eyeayen]

If you have an airbrush Vallejo do a primer that's water based and decent in White, Grey or Black. It smells like emulsion paint, goes through the airbrush well and you can do it indoors without it smelling too bad.

 

[Dontdrinkthepaintwater]

No luck finding black gesso at 2 places local here...I will check one more spot this weekend and if I cant find it there I will order it online. I don't have an airbrush handy and I don't really have a place to use one at the moment anyway =/ Thanks for the responses!

 

[Webmonkey]

Duplicolor Sandable Primer,... comes in white, black, and grey. Lays down fantastically on models. Can be acquired at most auto parts store.