"Anyone Tried to Make Their Own Homemade Primer?" Topic

Just curious if anyone has or if it's even possible, money and time wise? If so what do you do? Thanks.

Take regular paint, whatever your primer color reference. Add a bit of white glue.

For my water based acrylics I use a mix of 10% white glue, 90% water. I already have it premixed in separate bottle. When I feel that any paint is too dry in the bottle, instead of just adding water I add that mix. Precise mix is not important, but no more than 25% should be white glue. Less is more.

I use gesso. A $5 USD pot is now about half empty and is about 3 years old. So for less than $1 USD/year, I'll stick with buying it.

First, what is the purpose of primer? If you know the answer to that question (and indeed it can vary from person to person) then this will open up a range of ideas for you…

Personally the primary purpose of primer (for ME) is that it creates a tough bond with the underlying material. Thus "primer" for plastics could be as simple a thing as enamel model spraypaint. As the solvent is slightly "hot" (chemically bonds with the underlying surface FREX), that is totally suitable for plastics. May not work as well for metals, which might require a different solvent (as no known solvents -- at least none WE can use -- will chemically bond with the metal).

A secondary purpose is to provide a background shade for the subsequent colors. Thus I primed some plastic models I wanted in red with Testors Flat Red enamel spraypaint…then airbrushed acrylics over this.

Damon.

I have added PVA to masonry paint (One with the fine sand grit) to prime scenery.
You can leave it a bit lumpy in certain areas and add static grass too.

Why?!? Gesso is not that expensive. Get a 40 or 50% Michaels coupon.

It would be interesting to compile some methods for making your own paints/primers and brushes all the tools we take for granted. It would be a lot of work but with that knowledge you could continue your hobby even after the zombie apocalypse.

If I may be allowed a dissenting opinion.

@ Garand. Good points but you missed one of the most important requirements of a primer. A primer must also provide a "toothy" textured surface for the paint to adhere to.

@ Ivan and Mark. Here is my problem with gesso. It is not as good a primer as a dedicated enamal and fusel oil based primer, such as Krylon. First off, modern day gesso is not real gesso, not in the classical sense. It is a liquid polymer acrylic with suspended calcium carbonate (chalk) particles. The drying acrylic forms a hard crust on the object, and the chalk provides the tooth.

My bottle of Liquitex Gesso says it is for "canvas, hardboard, wood and other non-oily porous surfaces." There is no way one should expect that acrylic will adhere to a non porous surface like plastic and metal as well as an oil based primer. Otherwise, we'd be gessoing our automobiles.

I know you have both been using gesso for years. I'll assume that the majority of your figures have been 15mm or smaller. Smaller figures have more nooks and crannies for the acrylic crust to hang on to. Conversely, the larger the smooth surface of the figure you need to paint, the more likely this type of adhesion will fail.

Here s an experiment you can try. Prime a 28mm size plastic horse (eg, from the Perry's ACW range) with white Krylon, and brush white Gesso on a second plastic horse. Wait 24 hours. Then rub the surface with your finger. You'll see that one of the materials has bonded to the plastic much better.

You can make your own Gesso by getting future floor polish, adding titanium pigment, and calcium carbonate powder from a health food store. I have no idea on the ratios needed and, as Mark and Ivan correctly stated, gesso is pretty cheap.