TheDungeonDelver Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I have basically quit using the rattlecan to prime. It's a hassle, I have to do it outside, which means if the mood to paint takes me late at night I can't prime-n-go, I'm stuck waiting for the morning. But I do have some minis still sprayprimed, and plenty of folks swear by it (I fondly remember my The Armory gray primer :( never gave me problems :( all gone now :( ) anyway...enough mopeing... If you spray prime and it's too hot, too cold, too dry or too humid or there's too much wind, you can wind up with orange peel. This is an effect whereby the primer goes on and leaves a crumby powder residue behind. If that weren't bad enough, this powder is impossible to paint. Touching a brush with paint on it is like watching a vampire go to town on a victim - the crusty primer "drinks" the water from the paint, leaving a thin film (like, thinner than you want by far) and the watery solution runs "underneath" the primer and it looks like the miniature has ink running all over it. The only fix for this is of course to strip the miniature and try again. Problematically if you're a spray-primer by habit, you may have the exact same thing happen again and if you have no foundation white to work with you're just stuck. So what to do? Don't strip the mini. What you want to always have in your paint kit is a brass brush. You can get them at auto parts stores, they're about as long as a toothbrush and have ultra-fine brass wire bristles. Take your afflicted miniature and, going with the direction of major details, gently brush the miniature down. Don't just scrub back and forth, just gently brush the miniature for a good bit. If you're doing it right you'll wind up with a talcum-like dusting on your hands. Pause periodically to blow your miniature off. If it has a lot of craggy surface detail (scales, buckles, etc.) consider using a can of air like you'd blow your computer insides clean with. Do this inside so an errant breeze doesn't just put the powder back on your mini! Once you're done, take a large brush (like one you'd use for drybrushing) and dust the mini down, taking care to work in any deep relief details. What you'll have is a miniature that is still primed, but all of the orange peel is scrubbed off. The remaining layer of primer will behave itself and you can get your painting on without having to start again. Having rescued your miniatures from the crumblies, you can now throw your rattlecans in the trash and brush on primer the way God intended :D - I kid; I still use the can for large miniatures as trying to brush-prime a huge dragon or demon is a major pain. Hope someone found this useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Hmmmm interesting. I have only had this happen to me once, when I didn't shake my can of primer for long enough before using it, but it is definitely a method I will have to look into. Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDungeonDelver Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Hmmmm interesting. I have only had this happen to me once, when I didn't shake my can of primer for long enough before using it, but it is definitely a method I will have to look into. Thanks for the tip! Here in central Florida the humidity can do screwy things to spray primer which is why I finally switched over to brush on. That and my "philosophy" about primer (that you only need a very thin coat), coupled with the fact that even my nice spray jobs still wound up putting too much into the details and obscuring them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzeolas Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 I have always strayed away from brush priming. But I am always looking for reasons to try something new. Any advice for me on brush priming that can help me keep my miniatures details strong? Like, should I thin the brush on, for example. Or, always mix it with this product or that. You get the idea. lol Thanks, -Fitz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDungeonDelver Posted March 15, 2012 Author Share Posted March 15, 2012 I have always strayed away from brush priming. But I am always looking for reasons to try something new. Any advice for me on brush priming that can help me keep my miniatures details strong? Like, should I thin the brush on, for example. Or, always mix it with this product or that. You get the idea. lol Thanks, -Fitz Thin 1:3 with reaper flow improver (or just plain old water, although I would use 1:4 if you're going with water:primer) and just slop it on :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzeolas Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Groovy. Thanks TDD. I will give it a try on my next non BONES mini. Spray priming has been irritating me due to our humidity right now. Plus, my wife is prego, and she is going crazy over the smell of it on my clothes for some reason. Never used to notice it. Now she has to leave the room till I change my shirt! Crazy! -Fitz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beno Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 I have also stopped using spray primer after too many dodgy cans, poor adhesion and their cost. I do all of mine either by hand (same 3:1 with flow improver and or water and build up 3-4 thin layers) on minis with lots of awkward angles and lots of really fine detail (like masses of braided, layered hair for instance). Mostly, however, I lay it down with an airbrush - which is magnificent. Its quick, very thin coating and, importantly, I can actually control how and where the primer hits the surface, compared to a spray can. I can work it into finer details without clogging them up, and reach safely into areas where a spray can would plaster overlying bits like an arm, for instance, with great clods of paint. Its simply awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDungeonDelver Posted March 16, 2012 Author Share Posted March 16, 2012 Groovy. Thanks TDD. I will give it a try on my next non BONES mini. Spray priming has been irritating me due to our humidity right now. Plus, my wife is prego, and she is going crazy over the smell of it on my clothes for some reason. Never used to notice it. Now she has to leave the room till I change my shirt! Crazy! -Fitz Yeah PLEASE don't spraypaint near your pregnant wife! :D I think you'll like the effect you get with the brush-on primer. Reaper DOES make black primer as well as white so you can mix the two and get grey, just remember how much of each you mixed and add your flow improver accordingly. Remember, you WANT the primer to go on in a thin coat - it is OK if you still see a metal tone through the primer (not actually that the primer has run off of the metal surface, mind). Also, remember to brass-brush your minis first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDungeonDelver Posted March 16, 2012 Author Share Posted March 16, 2012 I have also stopped using spray primer after too many dodgy cans, poor adhesion and their cost. I do all of mine either by hand (same 3:1 with flow improver and or water and build up 3-4 thin layers) on minis with lots of awkward angles and lots of really fine detail (like masses of braided, layered hair for instance). Mostly, however, I lay it down with an airbrush - which is magnificent. Its quick, very thin coating and, importantly, I can actually control how and where the primer hits the surface, compared to a spray can. I can work it into finer details without clogging them up, and reach safely into areas where a spray can would plaster overlying bits like an arm, for instance, with great clods of paint. Its simply awesome Depending on how far down the rabbit hole I go with painting this time around I may do a gravity fed airbrush - we'll have to see tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzeolas Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I look forward to the day that I can afford an airbrush! Let's hope I don't end up sucking at painting with it and then regret purchasing it. -Fitz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDungeonDelver Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 I look forward to the day that I can afford an airbrush! Let's hope I don't end up sucking at painting with it and then regret purchasing it. -Fitz Best bet is to just paint like crazy, define for yourself what constitutes "like crazy" and then go from there. If "like crazy" is 16 hours a day knocking out 2-3 tabletop/display quality minis then yeah you might consider the airbrush. If however you're like me and knock out one tabletop quality mini a week and maybe two or three army quality a day, maybe hold off on the airbrush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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