Question about priming white...

[mattrock]

I have almost exclusively primed my minis in black (though oddly enough the only two I\'ve posted here were ones I did in white) mainly because when I prime black I end up with a nice smooth, even surface to paint on. When I prime white the surface with just the primer looks a little chalky. I\'m trying to figure out if this is desired or if I\'m doing it wrong. I don\'t do anything different between priming black or white other than the color, and when I\'ve put a couple layers of paint on the white it tends to even out a bit but primarly because of the way I paint I much prefer the smoother surface I get with black.

Any thoughts ???

 

[RobberBaron]

Most of the competition painters I\'ve talked to prime white because it gives the colors a brighter vibrancy, however sometimes it can take more layers of paint to build up a basecoat. Black primer is pretty much the standard for tabletop gaming since its usually easier to basecoat and depending on your style of painting, you\'re shading is already done with the black paint.

The inconsistency you\'re talking about has more to do with your application, because both colors should spray on the same. Are you using different primer manufacturers? different environment (usually humidity) and your spray technique/distance.

 

[Gussy]

I bought some painted minis from minidrake and they are primed white. The paint job looks really nice.

 

[Friar]

Not sure Matt lol I\'m probally one of the few that brushes on primer, and I brush on a coat of primer just getting it on the whole mini and not worrying about a solid coat (white primer btw) then I go back with a ruffly 2:1 paint water mix and put on a base coat white, black, or whatever. takes 2 coats of the base coat to get a solid smooth cover but white and black both turn out pretty much the same.

 

[QuietiManes]

Egads. Don\'t they have spray primer in Maryland soon Arizona? ??? Brush on sounds labour intensive.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by QuietiManes
Egads. Don\'t they have spray primer in Maryland soon Arizona? ??? Brush on sounds labour intensive.

It is, but sometimes it\'s far more effective than Spray.
Plus if it\'s hissing down with rain I\'m not priming anything with a spray.
Mixing Vallejo Foundation White with other colours has given me a high number of options for priming colours via a brush.

Mattrock, What primer make are you using? Because GW\'s Skull White primer has been notorious for Quality control (or the lack of it).
Last time I wanted to use GW Skull White Primer I had to shake the can like I was trying to make a Bull Elephant \"happy\" then sit it in a bowl of Hot/Warm water for close to 5 minutes and shake again to get a smooth primer coat.

 

[Celthulhu]

We\'ve had pretty good luck with the GW white primer, though god help me when there\'s dog or cat hair on a mini I\'ve just primed!
I always have to touch up my primer though, and lately I\'ve been using watered down gesso (what artists use to prep their canvasses and hardboard for painting). I\'m loving it so far, but I have to see how it holds up to constant handling.

 

[mattrock]

I\'ve tried GW spray white and someone suggested Krylon white primer so I tried that too. The Krylon gives MUCH better coverage, but both end up a bit chalky looking to me. Compared to the black anyway which seems to dry with an almost satin finish. The black I\'m using is GW.

 

[airhead]

Mattrock. The primer should give you a dead flat finish. This creates microscopic grooves for the next layer of paint to physically bite into.

*soapbox*
GW matt black paint is not primer. It is overpriced water based basecoat at best.
*/soapbox*

There are probably hundreds of threads here on primer.
OK= Krylon
Good = Duplicolor (also found a wally world - in the automotive section)
Best = Tamaya primer (half the paint at twice the price - save this stuff for your GD entry)

link to a decent primer test
test

 

[Friar]

Originally posted by QuietiManes
Egads. Don\'t they have spray primer in Maryland soon Arizona? ??? Brush on sounds labour intensive.

lol they do but winter it\'s too cold for me to bother and summer it\'s humid as a sumo wrestlers arse, spring in fall end up being half rained out so I can either fume up the house or wait for lil windows to prime minis or brush on whenever I feel like. Brushing on isn\'t a pain I slop on a thin coat of primer just to make sure the base coat has something to grip onto then base coat with some lightly thinned paint and it turns out how I want everytime. No clogged spray cans, no fuzzy minis. Tho I don\'t paint armies or any mass amount of minis and I could definatly see the value of spay if I had 7000 imperial guard or orks to paint in a hurry.