"Priming by Brush" Topic

What are the best techniques and materials for priming miniatures by brushing rather than spraying?

If it makes a difference, I mainly paint Baccus 6mm figures and uses different colour primers for different armies and troop types.

Regards

I use artist's acrylic Gesso. It is available in: white, black, and gray. You can find it in all art supply stores. In the USA, I buy it from my local Michael's store (they run '40% off any single item' coupons, nearly every week, so you can buy it at a deep discount if you are patient). It is easy to use, goes on somewhat thick, but it shrinks down to a tight skin over the surface, when dry.

It can be applied with any brush. No special techniques needed, just apply it over the entire figure, minus the underside of the base. Tiny, pin-hole sized, bare spots do occur, during the drying process, so you may need to touch up a spot, here and there, on occasion. Cheers!

Do you thin the Gesso? The bottle I picked up is really thick (like pancake batter) and so far I've only used it on a few figures and really thinned it down.

Vince

I prime all my figures with Humbrol enamel applied with a brush and have done for over 30 years.

Citadel "Foundation" colors are actually really nice, excellent adherence and coverage. I thin down with just a few drops of water on my brush.

NO all my research on Gesso here on TMP, Frothers and other sites say no. I had the same question on doing 1/72nd scale plastics a while back. Everyone told me not to thin but there were a few who used flow extender and such with good results. That said I have not used it on 6mm but on 15mm I am very happy with. It is the only way I will prime (brush and Gesso) on metal 25/28mm figures.

VR
James Mattes

No need to thin gesso. Goes on thick but all sculpted detail will be there when it dries.

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Armand

I prefer to spray prime. But sometimes (like in the Winter when it's very cold or snowy out) spray priming isn't pratical for me. Then I brush prime. For soft plastic figures (ESCI, Airfix, etc.) I use diluted PVA (white) glue. For metal figures I use Liquitex gesso. I've tried other gesso brands (like Golden) but Liquitex just seems to snuggle into details a bit better, and provides a smoother surface and a better tooth for paint. It doesn't have to be diluted, just brushed to cover the figure. Some guys write as though you can practically dump a bottle of gesso onto a figure and it will snuggle into details regardless. At least that's the impression I get, but that could be the imprecision of using phrases such as "just glop it on" and "don't worry about using too much." A good, liberal brushing of an amount that does obscure some details will, however, snuggle right down and conform to all details.

If you're really freaking out about whether it will snuggle into details you can dilute it a small, *small* amount, but again it's not necessary. I haven't used a flow extender or wetting agent with it, but that's an interesting idea. Just be aware that Liquitex Flow Aid (which I've used on paint) is pretty powerful so go slow in your experiments.

A couple other things -- use a decent quality brush. I don't mean something expensive like a W&N 7 sable, but I've found that soft, natural hair is avoids pinholes and ensures even coverage. Some craft brushes I got at Wal Mart work OK for me. Gesso will collect in areas of a figure such as the open angle formed by the join of a wrist and a rifle, or upper crotch, or the space between a swinging tassel and the item of clothing it's swinging from. It can dry into a slight "web" connecting these areas. Best way to keep that from happening is apply the gesso, monitor the drying progress, and blow on the figure when it looks like it's going to make a web. Be sure you blow with the figure held in front of a box or scrap paper, because it will scatter drops of gesso elsewhere.

Also, it's natural at least in my experience for the gesso to shrink back from some areas when it dries. I go over the figures again with a smaller brush and gesso after they dry once. It's not a real pain -- 30-40 figures may need 10-12 minutes' attention with a second brushing.

That having been said, from what you're painting I'd consider skipping gesso entirely. 6mm is awful small and I'd anticipate lots of blowing to keep the gesso from webbing between tiny bayonet/spear spikes and the figure. And priming really isn't necessary for anything other than a uniform even base ground for the color of your finished paint job, or as an aid to shadow or lining. I'd just clean the figures, spray or brush prime with an enamel basecoat (white Humbrol is favored by a lot of flats painters too), then paint. When they're dry, brush over them with a 70/30 mix of future and water to seal the paint job, and then dull coat to remove the shine from the future/water mix.

I use gesso and have had good results mixing up to 2 parts acrylic paint to 1 part gesso to prime in different colors. This is very useful for figures that are mostly a single color.

I've been using Liquitex grey gesso for a year and a half as spraying isn't an option for me for much of the year.

If I'm priming a small batch then I don't dilute it, but for larger batches of figures I will dilute it a little with water.

I find it helps to do frequent rinsing of the brush.

Gone over to black gesso for all of my figures; 28s, 15s and 10mms. Like Tamsin I add a touch of water from time to time during a large batch of priming & wash the brush often, but definitely doesnt need "formal" diluting, it doesnt cover properly or adhere as well if diluted, and the detail does stand clear once it's dried no matter how thick it looks as it goes on

I've switched to priming using Vallejo's brush-on Surface Primer. Previously, I posted my experiences with it. RL has interfered with my painting recently, but I like it so far. In summary:

Major advantages over spray primer:
– Very low VOC content, so you can use it indoors without stinking up the place/gassing yourself.
– Low set-up time: no need to fool with setting up a makeshift hood to catch overspray, outdoor spraying area, suspension wires, etc. Want to prime a single figure? No problem.
– Low waste: since there's no need to clean the spray nozzle after using a spray can, you'll never run into the situation where the spray can is out of propellant with product remaining inside.
– Low cost: I picked up 200 ml bottles of the primer in black and white for $15 USD US each from The War Store. That's about the same as the cost of a spray can of high-end primer, but I expect it to go a *lot* further.

Major advantages over artist's gesso:
– Lower viscosity: it has about the same viscosity as typical hobby acrylic paint, so it applies about the same way. There's no learning curve in technique.
– It can be airbrushed. This is a huge advantage if you're priming a whole bunch of figures at once. This makes this product potentially better than typical spray primer in all respects, if you're set up for airbrushing.
– The resulting surface texture is smoother. Artist's gesso contains a large amount of chalk, which can make the first layer of paint difficult to apply. The Surface Primer dries with a surface more like typical acrylic

Potential advantages I haven't had a chance to explore yet:
– It might be tintable. One of the huge timesavers when painting massed figures is using a primer that doubles as a base coat. Since the product comes in a bottle, it should be possible to mix whatever pigments you like into the primer to get just the basecoat color you like. I've got sampler set of water-dispersed pigments from Kama that I've been meaning to try with this, but haven't had a chance to experiment yet.

For 6mm I use normal White acrylic thinned with a small amount of water. I then wash with Windsor and Newton ink either nut or peat brown. This helps bring out the detail. Over this I paint with a thinned acrylic so that the White comes through on the high spots as a highlight. Gloss varnish and then a final thinned ink wash. Last step is a matt varnish.

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