Krylon Black Primer

[Paintdawg]

I know many people put their faith in Krylon Black primer and I did for some time as well. But I just bought two cans of the stuff and both came out so watery it was like priming with a black wash. I shook the cans for 5 minutes, too.

 

Has this happened to anyone else? Is there some trick I'm unaware of?

 

Also, it's around 48-50 degrees while I'm doing this although I shake the cans inside and only go outside long enough to spray the primer and then bring the can and figure back inside. I would figure the temperature would hurt adhesion, not interfere with the paint coming out.

 

And another thing. Would regular black spray paint work or does it have to be primer?

 

Any advice would be appreciated as I don't want to have to go to GW and I don't want to hand-prime.

[pae]

The one time I tried Krylon black primer, it took 3 days for it to dry. That was the last time I used black primer of any type.

 

And to answer your other question, paint isn't primer. GW Chaos Black is not primer.

[kristof65]

I've had similar problems with Krylon paints and primers that have sat on my shelf for too long - it's concevieble that even a "new" can could have sat on your retailers shelf for too long.

 

I use the Armoury primers, others here swear by the Tamiya Fine White primer (check your local hobby shops) and the Duplicolor Sandable Primers (check your local auto parts stores).

 

You definiately want to use a primer, rather than a paint. Here is a link to a series of tests a mini painter has on his website that shows the true difference in adhesion of different primers versus plain paint.

 

Primer Test

[skya]

Primer is specifically designed to stick well to it's intended surface while also creating a surface with enough tooth that paint will stick to it. The occasional black primer I have used is Armory's and while it isnt nearly as nice a surface to paint over as my regular primers it does seem to dry just fine. I have had Duplicolor recommended to me by friends, though I have no personal experience with it.

[sethohman]

I have had bad luck in general with Krylon. The first can I got was fine, after that , nothing. I have returned a few cans, and my current grey is very thin, but still usable.

 

I will not be buying Krylon again. I will try the Duplicote after this is gone - it has gotten good reviews.

 

Mike

[vutpakdi]

Just a thought: how was the humidity?

 

I've not used the Krylon Black Primer, but the Krylon White Primer that I tried once was "okay". Not as fine as the Duplicolor White and required faster passes to avoid buildup, but it did just fine for Paint and Take minis.

 

I haven't tried Duplicolor Black, but I've been happy with the Duplicolor White (frequent use) and Duplicolor Gray (occasional use).

 

Ron

[Forlorn Hope]

K65 sounds like he knows a lot more about this than I do, but since I had the same result with Krylon black primer I have been using Krylon Black spraypaint, and it has worked fine for me. I am not all that good of a painter, but my stuff is certainly OK and I haven't noticed any differences. Just my .02.

[thrush65]

There are several members of "the black primer cult" who use Krylon Black spray paint for primer. That's why I included it in the primer test I did (kristof65 posted the link). It failed the adhesion test completely, all of it pulling off the metal.

Duplicolor Black works very well.

[Bruunwald]

We don't seem to get black Krylon primer around here, but the gray stuff dries lickity-split. The main complaint I have with gray Krylon primer is that certain skin tones (Reaper and Vallejo) need to dry for days on it before you can do a wash, or the paint comes right off. Otherwise, it works fine and dries fast.

 

I use flat black Krylon paint as an undercoat on some projects, after priming. It gives good coverage, but you want to let it sit overnight before you do anything to it. It takes paint fine over it, and even adheres to metal pretty well, but I'd feel safer with an actual primer.

 

The white Krylon primer is good when the can is new (must use sparingly and prime in thin coats), but if you let it sit too long (and by too long I mean not very long at all), it separates in the can and no amount of shaking can get it completely smooth again. Still, even after it goes bad it's good for painting bricks white in terrain models where you want a grainy, spotty overcoat, like for modern ruins.

 

Personally, my favorite stuff was gray Citadel, but we can't get it here anymore (can anyone for that matter?). The black Citadel is awful, awful, gummy stuff, and I try to avoid using it whenever possible, but sometimes I can't help it.

[kristof65]

K65 sounds like he knows a lot more about this than I do...

No, not really. I used Krylon paints a lot, until someone turned me onto the Armoury stuff years ago - not for adhesion purposes, but because it's a finer spray. Everything else I "know" I learned here and is a repeat of information others have posted previously - including the link I posted, which I think is the most objective analysis' of primers I've seen. Until I read that, I only had a gut feeling that the Armoury primer was better than Krylon.

 

Side note - I have a lot of old GW figures I painted in the early 90s that were primed with Krylon paints - they definitely have a problem with paint rubbing off - more so than the ones I did in the late 90s through now. At first I thought it was simply age, now I'm convinced it's the choice of primers.

 

That's why I included it in the primer test I did (kristof65 posted the link).

That's your webpage? Good work mate - very objective and informative. Thanks for doing that for the community.

[Heisler]

We don't seem to get black Krylon primer around here, but the gray stuff dries lickity-split. The main complaint I have with gray Krylon primer is that certain skin tones (Reaper and Vallejo) need to dry for days on it before you can do a wash, or the paint comes right off. Otherwise, it works fine and dries fast.

 

Actually I think this qualifies as a bad primer

[Doug Sundseth]

I use Krylon Black, White, Gray, and Red-Brown primers (mostly Gray) all the time, and haven't had any problems with bad surfaces, watery primer, or poor drying of paint.

 

As with any spray can, of course, you'll want to make sure you get all the paint out of the nozzle and internal tube after painting a batch of figures. You can do this by spraying upside-down until no more paint comes out when you are finished. (Probably unneeded advice, but there you go.)

[ixminis]

Chiming in late. I had a can o black Krylon that had that extra bit of propellant in it. It needed a MASSIVE amount of shaking to even it out (about 20 minutes). I figured it was propellant since it ate away at a "spent" plastic sprue.

 

This next info could be urban legend info, but a family member who works with "green" lithograph materials mentioned that Krylon black at one time was quite toxic and that you MUST MUST MUST have a chemical filter even if you've got good ventilation. I always use a filter when spray priming (better safe than sorry), and must've used it right as no hallucinations or headaches or increased bizarre behavior ensued....

[Forlorn Hope]

There are several members of "the black primer cult" who use Krylon Black spray paint for primer.

 

Now I want to change my username. Maybe we can all be in a usergroup "Black Primer Cult." Or...maybe I will rethink using it based on the results of the test. To tell the truth, I try to be so ginger with my minis that I don't know what is adhering and what is not.

[Bruunwald]

We don't seem to get black Krylon primer around here, but the gray stuff dries lickity-split. The main complaint I have with gray Krylon primer is that certain skin tones (Reaper and Vallejo) need to dry for days on it before you can do a wash, or the paint comes right off. Otherwise, it works fine and dries fast.

 

Actually I think this qualifies as a bad primer

 

 

LOL

 

I guess that would be true for most. The truth is I never seem to get any painting done the same day I start. It's always a week between when I primer and start base coats, and then another week before I get back to it. So to me, the time waiting combined with the cheapness and availability of the primer make it worth it.

 

But, yeah, I could see how it wouldn't be worth it to someone else. Then again, it isn't all skin tones that do it. Seems to be just the Golden tones from Reaper and the Medium Flesh (I think it's called?) from Vallejo. The old Ral Parthas I still use, and the Dark Flesh from GW, and a couple other Reaper tones seem okay. The reason I think it's the primer is those problem tones weren't a problem with Citadel or Armory primers.

 

So it's probably a more rare situation than I made it sound like.