Toughness of brush-on undercoat

[Kalidane]

Hi guys

So today I had my first RPG session with minis introduced to the mix.

Sadly the players minis were only at the undercoated stage.

I discovered after the game that one mini had lost the undercoat from pretty much every corner and raised surface that the fidgety player could get hold of.

I had been super-anal with mini prep and washed the metal minis after cleanup and before the undercoat went down so I'm surprised and disappointed at the damage.

Sadly the weather of late was too rubbish to get some dullcote on there (but of course today is ideal...) but I figured it would have been overkill to do that anyway.

So, the question is, is it unexpected to have primer come off so readily? I didn't see any rough usage of the mini (very little combat so not much actual use of the little guys).

I used Vallejo Model Air Gray Primer 71097 with no dilution, beyond the water on the brush.

If primer is so weak, I may as well just start with Reaper HD paints and speed up the painting process by a stage.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Well it is a PRIMER not a tough finish coat of paint with a couple of hits of varnish.

Using a mini unpainted but primed ain't a sin, but sometimes "fixing" the primer with 10 minutes of hairdrier is helpful.

 

[gohkm]

You may have just got a naff batch. I've the Vallejo Air Grey Primer, and have been using that for the past month and a half. No dramas at all, even with handling.

If you want a really hard primer, get some automobile primer - there's a brand here in Oz, I can't remember the name now, which I picked up from Supercheap Auto (or maybe it was Bunnings). That stuff was just hard-as - it survived 2 soaks in acetone, complete with scrubbing with one of those vibrating toothbrushes, and half an hour in an ultrasonic cleaner. I'll go to Bunnings tomorrow and see if I can find out what brand it is.

 

[shponglefan]

The Vallejo Model Air Gray Primer is NOT a primer. It's just regular acrylic paint, but the color of "grey primer" (see their FAQ, point 7.5). Vallejo messed up when they named that one.

And Vallejo's actual acrylic primers aren't much more durable than their regular paint anyway. If you want a good primer, use a lacquer-based one (i.e. Alclad, Tamiya, etc.).

 

[Zab]

It's true the vallejo primers are as durable as spray can primers but they are acrylic poly urethane so they are a good work around for indoor use and brush on application. If you need real durability try an enamel like painters touch)

 

[Kalidane]

Thanks guys

Original reply was eaten

Until I can get to my sprays I'll try Reapers Brush-on Primer and see how that goes.

Handily, I do have lots of dullcote with me so I'll get into the habit of end-of-session sprays when conditions permit.

Edit/update:
Woah. It took a cordless drill, introducing an agitator and back to the cordless drill followed by 10+minutes manual shaking to mix the Reaper Brush-on (pretty much only carrier/binder was coming out until the final process). Once mixed it did look, smell and 'feel' like primer though so I'll see how that performs on the table.

Using the newer Dullcote sans toluene was interesting. Very potent smelling stuff. Used it outdoors for about 15 seconds and I think I'll be very careful with this stuff in future. I don't get on well with something in there. Hopefully my cans of the old stuff are still viable - the nice sweet smell told you something was bound to be eating your brains or lungs but I never had a reaction to it.

 

[RuneBrush]

The Vallejo Model Air Gray Primer is NOT a primer. It's just regular acrylic paint, but the color of "grey primer" (see their FAQ, point 7.5). Vallejo messed up when they named that one.

And Vallejo's actual acrylic primers aren't much more durable than their regular paint anyway. If you want a good primer, use a lacquer-based one (i.e. Alclad, Tamiya, etc.).

71.601 is the "proper" grey primer, very pale grey and personally a much nicer colour to work from than white

 

[Zab]

Yeah runebrush is right, the rest are "coloured primers" but not actually surface primers. I believe the only real surface primers are the grey he mentioned and the black and white. They are still not that durable compared to enamels though. I foolishly bought black, white and a bottle of that grey. Then I realized I could mix the black and white to make grey. ~sigh~ Thank God I'm pretty:claply:

 

[Kalidane]

Yeah runebrush is right, the rest are "coloured primers" but not actually surface primers. I believe the only real surface primers are the grey he mentioned and the black and white. They are still not that durable compared to enamels though. I foolishly bought black, white and a bottle of that grey. Then I realized I could mix the black and white to make grey. ~sigh~ Thank God I'm pretty:claply:

Lol that is awesome!

I can see they have waterbased poliurethane primer, 70601 and 73601 in grey, depending on size. Are these the proper surface primers?

 

[Zab]

Yep, but they are still not that touch and they aren't sandable either. HOWEVER, they are self leveling so even if you don't have an AB to shoot them through you can apply them with a brush!