Priming problem

[Ratcals]

I need help with my priming. For some reason the paint won’t soak into the primer. Instead it just seems to sit on top of it. I’ve used white, black and grey primer. I’ve used GW’s primer and the stuff you buy at Wally World. I’ve even tried brush on, but for some reason the paint just seems to sit on top of it until it dries. I’ve let it dry for anywhere from ten minutes to ten weeks (no kidding) before painting base coats and I still get the same thing. I bought the Miniature Mentor videos and see how nicely the primer soaks the paint up. That does not happen for me. I’m almost to the point of giving up on painting. I don’t do much anyway but that’s because of this priming problem.

I could really use some advice on what I might be doing wrong.

 

[KatieG]

Paint usually sits on top of primer. It\'s not supposed to soak into it. Primer just sticks to metal and helps the paint adhere to the model, it\'s not meant to soak up paint. I can only guess that the video you saw used a different type of primer (I think it might be gesso, but I don\'t know, I\'ve never used it). I think you\'ll find most of us here use regular old primer that paint doesn\'t soak into, and get perfectly good results.

As a note, a good basecoat should take 2-3 layers of thinned paint, don\'t worry if it doesn\'t cover the primer in one coat.

 

[Ratcals]

Thanks, I\'m all good with it taking several coats to cover. I dilute 2:1 and it seems to take about 5-6 coats to cover. No magic wash or added chemicals just plain old distilled water and I only use that because of hard water.

Maybe it was just my perception but it did look like the paint was soaking in. I\'ll try again.

 

[KatieG]

You should be diluting more like 1:1, 2:1 is unnecessarily dilute. Why take 6 coats when you can do it in 2 or 3? The paint just needs to be dilute enough to go on smoothly without leaving brushmarks. Too thin and paint will pool in the crevices, leading to an uneven basecoat.

ETA: Well, there are some paints you might need to thin 2:1 or more, but I kind of assumed you\'d be using miniature type paints, GW, Reaper, P3 or something similar.

 

[airhead]

How are you diluting your paints?

Dropper bottle of distilled water? add one drop of dish soap to the dropper bottle.

 

[Ratcals]

I\'m using a dropper bottle with distilled water and my paints are VGC. I thought additives like soap and the like were to break the surface tension so the paint spread better? I don\'t think that\'s my problem.

I just did some painting using the 1:1 dilution and it does seem to be better.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by KatieG
You should be diluting more like 1:1, 2:1 is unnecessarily dilute. Why take 6 coats when you can do it in 2 or 3?

Huh? 2:1 unnessesarily dilute. ???
2:1 is my starting point for dilution. Basically the thinner the coats the better the control you get, and if like me you can\'t get the hang of blending, then thinner coats allow smoother layering.

 

[KatieG]

Too dilute for a basecoat... at least in my opinion. I don\'t want to spend 5 to 6 layers just to get a smooth basecoat to work from, and get streaking because my paint is too thin. Highlights and shadows are a different story.