What to watch out for when buying primer?

[Harbringer of Doom]

Hi everyone!

I want to start an Ultramarines army and give them a blue primed basecoat. I already know of the Army Painter Navy Blue spray, but it\'s quite expensive as I have to pay €10 + €6,50 shipping costs.

Therefor, I want to look in my local DIY shop, but what I\'ve heard some primers melt the plastic? That\'s the last thing I would want

So which stuff does burn plastic and what are the other things I should watch out for?

 

[Dragonsreach]

If you are in the UK Look at Halfords they have several Plastic Primers. Black White & Red I\'ve seen, but there is also a couple of grey one of which I understand is aimed for Mettallic topcoats.

 

[Harbringer of Doom]

Sounds good, although I\'m not in the UK I\'m in the Netherlands!!

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Harbringer of Doom
Therefor, I want to look in my local DIY shop, but what I\'ve heard some primers melt the plastic? That\'s the last thing I would want

Even cellulose primers can often be used on plastic if they\'re applied carefully.

But anyway the simplest thing to do is just look for an acrylic-based primer and lots of automotive primers are these days. Problem is I don\'t think you\'ll find a primer in blue - grey, white and \'red\' (earthy red colour) are the only colours usually and sometimes you\'ll only see grey.

Einion

 

[droogie77]

I found this on ebay, hope it helps.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/The-Army-Painter-COLOUR-PRIMER-NAVY-BLUE-SPRAY-nib_W0QQitemZ390010492839QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Toys_Wargames_RL?hash=item390010492839&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

 

[droogie77]

sorry, I just read that they wont send it outside the U.K.:no:

 

[PegaZus]

Then just buy it on this continent (assuming you\'re US):

http://www.thewarstore.com/product39114.html

Now, they want $14.95 plus $5.95 shipping, more than $20. I\'d say to just forgo the blue paint and just get some gray automotive primer. Try out what you get on some sprue first, but I haven\'t had any problems with any spray yet. Base coat it in blue and go from there.

 

[Harbringer of Doom]

The problem is: I paint extremely slow, a blue primed coat is a must have for me.

Please remember I live in the Netherlands, so it may be cheap when you are in the US, but even more expensive for me!

Can someone tell me which \'ingredients\' melt plastic so I can avoid those?

 

[PegaZus]

Originally posted by Harbringer of Doom
The problem is: I paint extremely slow, a blue primed coat is a must have for me.

Please remember I live in the Netherlands, so it may be cheap when you are in the US, but even more expensive for me!

Can someone tell me which \'ingredients\' melt plastic so I can avoid those?

Can\'t help you with the last one, but, maybe you should think about this little experiment I did last month. However, instead of using silver spray paint, you could use a flat blue spray as a base coat. I don\'t believe anything you could buy off the shelf at a local DIY store would be enough to melt the plastic. You might even find something that we\'ve had here, spray paint especially FOR plastic. Mostly for those cheap plastic patio chairs. Anyway, sorry I couldn\'t be more helpful. I even searched for what sprays might melt plastic and came up empty.

 

[Harbringer of Doom]

I\'ll go look in my DIY shop tomorrow. I hope to find some good, non glossy blue spray paint!!

I\'ll post my results tomorrow!

 

[Bigdennis52]

you could probabily get away with blue flat spraypaint, just put a light coat on.

 

[airhead]

Originally posted by Harbringer of Doom
The problem is: I paint extremely slow, a blue primed coat is a must have for me.

Can someone tell me which \'ingredients\' melt plastic so I can avoid those?

Tough question. It depends on what type of plastic. It also depends on the concentration of the solvent in the spray paint.

Toluene
Tolual
Xylene

Those will probably do your plastic in. Look in the local DIY automotive stores for some spray primers.. Generally, you are going to find grey, white, black or red. Follow that with a light coat of your favorite blue to base coat. Glossy or flat really doesn\'t matter as you should hit them with some matt varnish when you are done anyway.

Remember to go light with both the primer and the base coat. Two or three light coats will be much better than one heavy coat. A light coat does not fill in the details and lets the solvents air out quicker.

Test on a piece of the sprue before you assault your minis.

 

[Bigdennis52]

keep in mind some reactions take longer than others, give yourself a good 30-45 minutes before moving forward after hitting the sprue with some paint also feel free to lay a thick layer on the sprue... if there is going to be a reaction you might as well speed up the process lol

 

[mickc22]

Plasticote do a plastic primer, if you can get over there

 

[Harbringer of Doom]

Don\'t we all hate it: real life? I hardly have any free time as I have a very important test week coming up so I\'m learning for that and then there\'s my job which fills up the remains of any free time...

When I have some free time I\'ll go look for a primer!

 

[Malchiar]

you could always get a cheap airbrush like a badger or the gw one.
you can generally get around 100 models done per GW sized paint pot if you used foundation paints to basecoat them.
for example you could basecoat them with a smooth coat of necron abyss and then go over it with thin layers of ultramarines blue.

athough it can cost more to begin with, the paint is so much cheaper than spray cans.

hope this helps!

 

[ScottRadom]

Maybe check some of the hobby model/train shops. Here in Canada testors makes ranges of spray paint in most of their model master color ranges, and blue would probably be included in that. I\'ve seen all sorts of other colors of paint for RC cars etc in those stores as well. Give \'em a shot, or internet it up for some local choices.

I also agree a cheap airbrush is great, if you can swing the initial expense.

 

[QuietiManes]

Why not just use a \"primer\" of any colour THEN spray a \"base coat\" of blue afterwards? Don\'t know how much I\'d trust the primer label of anything other than a white, grey, black or red.

As everyone else said, spray some sprue if you\'re worried about melting and you can also spray a small coin with tiny details to check for how thick the paint is going to dry. Compare the painted to an unpainted after it\'s dry to make sure the details don\'t get covered up. You can even use the coin to test out colour combinations and such afterwards, if you\'re so inclined.