Bones: The First Coat is the Difference

[Bane Of Humanity]

why has no one made a primer dip?....reaper get on that!

[Wren]

I think the performance of aerosol products is heavily influenced by climate and weather conditions. This would explain why what works for one person on one day at one time of year, might not for the same person on a different day, or for a different person who lives in a different climate. 

 

The most reliable option is to use a brush-on product, or just paint directly on the figure, either with a brush or using an airbrush to deliver an initial coat of paint.

 

I'm not sure if paint sloughing off could be a primer problem, though. The usual problem is the primer not curing and feeling sticky to the touch.

 

What product did you use the clean the figures? Maybe you have a cleaner that also has lotions or oils in it, which would be nice for skin but not as good for cleaning figures. Did you scrub the figures a bit, or just swish them around in soapy water? 
 

[bandit86]

Used Dawn dishsoap and a toothbrush they dryed for a long time before priming. I will try leting the primer dry for a long time.

[Grimreaper71]

I live in the central valley in California where the summers hit over 100 degrees a lot and I used a spray primer made for plastics and it dried normal and I never had one issue with it.

[Bottesini]

Some spray primers that I have worked with seem to be more influenced by the weather than others. Here is south Louisiana it is almost always 100% + humidity . I know of quite a few people that do not use GW primers when the humidity is on the high side. Army painters spray seems to not care about the weather at all. Spray technique can also play a big role in your results. I tend to be rather close (less than 12 inches) and use short spurts. If it is not a base coat color I do not even worry about complete coverage.

[Wren]

bandit86 - is there a reason you're set on spray priming your Bones? It isn't necessary to do to improve the sturdiness of the paint job, promise. If it's that you prefer to paint over black or another colour instead of white, as many people do, you can use any colour paint you want as a 'brush on primer', or through an airbrush.

 

You could also test a spray paint as opposed to a spray primer. Army Painter sprays seem to be the ones that more people have success with, but I don't know that any spray product has a 100% success rate. 

[DethStruck]

I recently tried Liquitex Professional Spray Paint - Neutral Grey 5 and it took a little while to cure and it scratches off rather easily. So I wouldn't recommend using it for a base coat on Bones.

[Pingo]

Liquitex spray paint is notorious for clogging up in the nozzle.

 

Not actually relevant to Bones base coats, per se, but a strike against it as an art supply.

[Fanelia]

So I recently got my first bones figure, I thought I'd try and get used to the material before Bones 3 arrives next year. I know generally people don't prime bones as it doesn't need it, or use the reaper brown liner to prime with. I was going to use some of the brown liner for an initial coat, but apparently getting hold of any reaper paints here in the UK is a massive pain, I eventually found 1 online distributor in the whole country that sells them, the alternative of importing them is really pricey.

So I decided I'd have a test with my old faithful Wilko own brand Primer Spray (This stuff: http://www.wilko.com/wilko-enamel-spray-400ml-primer-grey/invt/0413846 - super cheap). Taped the mini in a plastic bag and primed his base. It took first time, and dried instantly, non of the tackiness I was watching out for, nor did it chip of when I scratched at it and flexed the mini. So I un-bagged and primed the whole model.
Here's a photo of the text under the base for reference (You might notice a patch in the middle where it's a bit thicker, that bit got 2 coats due to my initial testing - sorry for workbench photo!)

 

 

So for anyone in the UK wanting to prime/ first coat bones and struggling to get a hold of some liner, I can recommend this stuff as an alternative.

Edited September 19, 2015 by Fanelia

[knarthex]

Has anyone used Reaper Brush on Primer through an airbrush on Bones? I like using a spray primer, and the grey liner works quite well when thinned I found out when doing my DDS2 Tower, but when I start on Nathavar, I will want to use a white primer....

 

Also, has anyone tried Scale 75 pimer on Bones? Either brushed on, or through an airbrush?

 

Thanks!

 

George

[Wren]

I shot MSP primer through my airbrush once, and it was annoying enough to clean up that I have chosen not to do that again. If it were something I wanted to do often I'd probably buy a cheapie airbrush from Harbor Freight to use for that purpose. I'm pretty confident other people have used Reaper primer through an airbrush. You could try checking on just that issue in the painting tips thread, we seem to have several regular airbrush users who might not check here for airbrush questions. There are also people who use Scale 75 products who browse that section. (I don't have any of the Scale 75 stuff as yet to have tested that, sorry.)

 

I have airbrushed Reaper paint directly onto Bones, and the paint was thinned with both a bit of water and airbrush thinner. It did not repel, and seemed pretty sturdy despite the thinning. (That didn't end up being a playing piece, though, so it got handled but not man-handled.) That figure is in the Reaper collection, but its picture doesn't seem to have ended up in the gallery for me to link to.

 

By deduction, I'm pretty sure that you're good to use Reaper primer through an airbrush on Bones. Though you'll probably get a similar result to just use white or whatever colour you wish MSP paint. The problem parts of most spray primer seem to be the enamel chemicals and/or the propellants, not that it's delivered through the air. It would probably be a good idea to test on a smaller Bones figure first to be sure, though!

[Guildenstern]

I have used vallejo surface primer grey and black on minis - not on bones yet though. I mean, through the airbrush, without much or any thinning. I have an Iwata Neo which is not a really small airbrush needle for fine airbrushing which may make the difference (I got it to prime mostly and maybe basecoat, so it works great).

[knarthex]

I just tried Scale 75 White primer on the base of the Bones Barden Barrelstrap from DDS2.

 

The un thinned worked fine, Thinned 50% with a mix of matte medium, Flow improver and water beaded up at the edges, but did dry and cover to a degree...

No tackyness at all when dry.

 

Thinned on the top part of base, un thinned at bottom...

 

 

Due to compressor noise, a little late to run the airbrush now. But I will post here when I do test it.

 

George

[knarthex]

Okay,

 

Just tried the Scale 75 primer thinned 50% with the Scale Acrylic Thinner.

 

NO GOOD!

 

It beaded up in tiny little droplets all over the mini like a case of chicken pox.

 

I did not (yet) try changing the ratio of primer to thinner, as 50% is my norm.

 

Just to be on the safe side, as a control, I grabbed an un primed metal base and sprayed it. I wanted to be sure that there was not something unknown happening.

The mix primed the metal with no problems.

 

I sprayed at 10 psi thru my Grex Genesis XS airbrush (.3mm Nozzle)

 

George

 

Edit---> so at least for the moment, Scale 75 white primer works un thinned with no issues.

Edited January 12, 2016 by knarthex

[Glitterwolf]

Question:

 

The Rigid Bones material, Like the Dumpster and Containers.. are they treated the same way in respect of the first coat?

 

Can I start painting these rightaway too or do I need a primer.