Priming mini\'s in the Great White North.

ZaPhOd

Super Moderator
Um, easy

Dude I have been painting in Alberta where it has been down to -35 Celcius lately but here is a little secret a ton of folks don\'t seem to think about....

Brush on primer.

WoW :eek:

I use black, the same as I paint with, and thin it a bit and do several thin layers so as not to obscure detail. Who needs to spray crap?
 
Black and not Primer?

So you use Black paint and not Primer? ??? I am a little too lazy to put several coats of brush on primer on my mini\'s. And my airbrush is not up and running for any liquid latex primer if it exists. So I guess I will paint them in the garage and then open the gargae door to let out the stink. :moon:
 
ya, know what you mean - all the primer\'s, sealants I\'ve used (Testor\'s , Armory) say something like don\'t use under 70 degrees (f) which means quite literally I shouldn\'t have primed for the last 3 months here in New York!
BAH! while it wasn\'t even close to 70 last week I did prime about 30-40 figs when it was 40-50 with no negative consequences. But that doesn\'t stop me from worrying that they\'ll dry glossy or like a shellac - such that the paint won\'t stick to it. Anyone know why they recommend that?

But also I bring them inside immediatly where it\'s considerably warmer. Maybe had I left them out there they would dry slow and thus funnily. Sometimes I do take a hair dryer to them to speed things along.

But, anytime I\'ve screwed up a prime job is because I didn\'t shake the primer enough - can\'t over state that . . .

But my understanding about primer is that it is specially formulated to stick - and stick very well. So I personally don\'t recommend a black paint undercoat -

Zaphod- any negative effects? do your figs see a lot of handling?
 

vincegamer

Active member
I have been using an old bottle of GW smelly primer, which I hear they won\'t be making any more. It works okay but takes longer than spraying.
I only use it if I have a particular mini I want in a hurry, like the CMON contest mini. My other solution is just to prime a ton of minis when the weather is nice so I have enough to get me through the winter.:)
 

sin3br

New member
I usually spray prime my minis in the garage, it\'s warm so the paint doesn\'t leave a rough finish on flat areas and I don\'t have to worry about the fumes.
I live in Finland so most of my priming is done indoors
 

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
Staff member
Bolton, where I live is only 15 miles from Manchester which as everyone will tell you is the rainiest place in the world. (Well it feels that way anyhow!)

Fortunatley we don\'t have the arctic winters that Zaphod has been experiencing. (My Brother-in-law lives in Edmonton and has reported -38 in the city)

We in the UK suffer from Damp and Wet clinging cold which can seriously B****r up your priming.
I\'ve just primed up two USHABTI for my local GW store and found that the rain had hit surface of the models and the wet primer when transfering between house & Garage. One bucket of paintstripper coming up this weekend!

I\'ve never liked brush on primer, it always seems to be an uneven process. (shrugs) Mind you on a windy day so\'s spray primer even in my garage.

If I recall right the temperature advice is due to the pressure of the propellant, needing to be a certain PSI to work properly. Too cold and it\'s \'pants\'.
 

supervike

Super Moderator
I too use the brush...

I have never had good luck with spray on primer, regardless of the weather.

So, I have taken up the brush. Although, I do use \'spray on matte sealer\' in my garage with no ill effects.

I think I will try the spray on primer once again, now that it is finally warming up here (at least it is above freezing!)
 

ZaPhOd

Super Moderator
Brush on

Well, consider this: All of th ereal old minis I have on my site saw EXTENSIVE handling, and the damage accrued usually from being knocked over, or carelessly pushed off of the battle mat. Of course, back then, I just painted them without thinning too much too.
Now, most of my stuff sits on a display, but any handling doesn\'t seem to do any damage. After all, I tend to protect them afterwards with a shot of gloss sealer, then several layers of dull cote. For that? Yes, it sucks in the cold, but I do it in the garage and bring the minis inside as soon as possible.
 
K

kkoene

Guest
spray in doors

I invested in a small desk top ventilator. You can find them at Micromark.com A little costly but I like it. It makes a lot of noise but it gets rid of the fumes. I just can\'t prime at night when the kids are sleeping.
 

madartiste

New member
I\'m up in Rhode Island. It gets cold, but hasn\'t been TOO bad. On the other hand, its often really windy which makes it tough. I got lucky and my apartment building has a room in the back where the water heater and other junk is. It has pretty good ventilation (old building for one thing). I just lay down some news paper and spray away. :)
 
braindead

I thik i know why i am braindead. I prime indoors in unventaleted basement. Not the brightest thing to do i know. I ususly prime and seal the last thing of the night then i get the heck out of there. I wish i could use my garage to prime but there is always a car. who would have thought to use a garage for a car!
 

ambrose132

New member
spray booth?

If any of u are hangy its REALLY easy to build a spray booth- old oven hoods are cheapest ways- chunk of dryer hose and a wood/metal box.. Ill be making 1 soon as i have a buttload of tanks to paint for my IG army and i am not doing camo by hand!
 
J

Jeff_Hofmann

Guest
I\'ve used lots of methods. I try and do priming while the weather is warm, but sometimes that just doesn\'t work....especially on commisions

When possible I prime them indoors and then leave the building. This works great if you do it just before you leave for work. I assume the place is safe after 6-12 hours.

I\'ve also made a \"portable spray box\" by installing shelves in a cardboard box and attaching rubber bands to the shelves. Hook the minis to the rubber bands, spray and then move inside to dry off.
 

charley1968

New member
I prime indoors if i only got 2-5 figures to prime. I\'ve known people working with nitro-cellulose based paints for ages and while it is sensible not to prime indoors, do i doubt that it would kill instantly or even eventually. Prime indoors while everyone else is outdoors and open the windows( get the minis to a warm place first..)
 
W

War Paint

Guest
Originally posted by Dragonsreach
Bolton, where I live is only 15 miles from Manchester which as everyone will tell you is the rainiest place in the world. (Well it feels that way anyhow!)

Fortunatley we don\'t have the arctic winters that Zaphod has been experiencing. (My Brother-in-law lives in Edmonton and has reported -38 in the city)

We in the UK suffer from Damp and Wet clinging cold which can seriously B****r up your priming.
I\'ve just primed up two USHABTI for my local GW store and found that the rain had hit surface of the models and the wet primer when transfering between house & Garage. One bucket of paintstripper coming up this weekend!

I\'ve never liked brush on primer, it always seems to be an uneven process. (shrugs) Mind you on a windy day so\'s spray primer even in my garage.

If I recall right the temperature advice is due to the pressure of the propellant, needing to be a certain PSI to work properly. Too cold and it\'s \'pants\'.

Ouch that\'s harsh. But don\'t start the rainiest place in UK debate at the moment. Especially as I don\'t have any power in my garage as flat above.

I generally spend the solid weeks of rain (Plenty at the moment) cleaning and basing and when I eventually see some dry day (They did exist once!) I rush out plonk 100 or so mini\'s on old upside down mushroom trays and spray like crazy. lol

Always keep at least 2 matt black car primers in the house ready
 
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