"What do you use to prime your miniatures?" Topic

I've just started painting miniatures, most of what I've been painting are 2mm, I didn't use a primer on them. But I recently ordered some 10mm figures and I'd like them to have a decent paint job. What do you suggest as a primer? Is white paint ok to use as a primer?

Walmart Flat White or Flat Black in the $.99 USD cans is the absolute best primer to use.
Unlike "hobby primers" which can cost 10x as much, they never go grainy and spit schmutz all over your dear figures. FOOLS will defy me on this, but they are idiots.

Seriously, the main benefit is that the coverage is thin and weak. It will not obscure details, and with 6mm that is important.

Gesso, but I do primarily 28mm, so Gesso may be too thick. I'd suggest thinned white paint with a brush.

Tamiya light gray fine primer

Same as Winston. The Walmart stuff works better than most primers I've tried and, any that may be slightly better is not worth the extra cost

For such little guys, I'd suggest a white or gray spray primer, so they don't end up too dark, once you add paint on top of that.

Tamiya white or light grey for figures.

For terrain I will use the cheap stuff.

.99 flat black from Walmart or Dollar General.

White automotive primer from O'Reilly's auto parts stores. Haven't had a single issue in over 15 years.

I like Krylon camo flat sprays. Especially the dark brown and the olive drab.

For smaller figures e.g. 6mm & 10mm I use white gesso or grey primer spray paint. Due to the size of the minis I feel that colours need to be 'brighter' to make them stand out and in my experience black can reduce that brightness. Although, it may be dependent on the base colour

I find black even on 15s to make it hard to see details when painting.

Had some Parthians that came off of Ebay primed. Was interesting to see how the final colors differed from the figures primed in white.

Back to the OP, idem in me – Wal Mart white.

Dupli-Color white sandable auto primer.

White acid etch primer made specifically for 'tricky' metals that normal acid etch primer won't bite into. After cleaning I degrease the castings with cellulose thinners. This combination gives me the best results 've ever got in terms of surface adhesion and resistance.

Hundreds if not thousands use all sorts of paint to undercoat their unwashed models that haven't been degreased and don't report any problems so whether you need a specialist primer is open to debate. I've made my decision on what works best for me. YMMV.

Vallejo primer, comes in lots of different colours, it self levels and is really good.

Never used a specialist primer.

Just a big can of Matt black spray paint (or in some cases, white spray paint). Acrylic, enamel, whatever. GW Chaos Black and Skull White are readily obtainable, if not the cheapest.

Use the same stuff on everything from 2mm to 54mm, lead, hard plastic, soft plastic, resin, plaster…

I've used nearly all of the above over the past 20 years… If you want to spray, cheap rattle can flat black paint works fine for miniatures, puts on a thin coat, and it's…cheap. If you want to save some time, Army Painter has a nice range of colored primers matched to their acrylic paints. If you have an airbrush, go with MIG, AK Interactive or Vallejo primers. If you want to brush--instead of spray--go with one of the last three. I used gesso for years, and it makes a nice surface to paint on, but…IMHO, it's just too thick for miniatures, even 28mm.

White acrylic paint from Michael's etc. Don't use spray paint because I prefer brush on. Works for all the sizes I paint.

Reaper brush on primers or spray primer for larger figures like 15mm or above.

Cheap flat grey primer in a spray can

Ultra flat black spray paint, brand any.

DM

Humbrol spray primer

Wal-mart or Menards White.

Brush on gesso, when I started 35 years ago I used enamels and didn't use any. Their fine to this day.

Ultra-flat black Krylon spray primer.

GW's Super Expensive, "I Guess This Is Supposed To Be Primer But There's Nothing On the Can But Warnings In Every Language, Ever" White Spray Primer. I have to do SOMETHING to keep the Evil Empire afloat.

Even Tolkein elves know that life's too short for brush-on primer.

Vallejo brush on stuff (wish it were called "Frazzeta").

Same as nnascati.

I never prime as such.

I go straight onto a basecoat of standard acrylic paint.

One example here:

link

Aaargh -- the same stuff again. Primer is different from a base coat. primer is formulated to stick to the substrate, and provide something for paint to stick to. I use a black etch primer. I don't bother varnishing, because I don't have paint chipping off. My local paint store doesn't have speciality primers, but I would grab some if I could.

The difference between a good and bad primer is not the quality of the final paint job -- it is the durability of the paint job. How well will the figure hold up under use.

Finally, I have not had much luck with Army painter primers. But spraying black etch primer, and then using the army painter primer as a base coat has worked well.

White acrylic gesso works well for me on 10mm through to 30mm. It "shrinks" onto the figure and provides a good key for top coats.

The etch primer is the real wisdom here – I pasted Timmo UK's post under this and Nick Bowler is saying much the same

The point is many people use anything and it works so go cheap and if what you are using works, don't sweat it. The "wargame brand" sprays in general have a reputation for inconsistency as they make small batches compared to general commercial products.

To do it right you need an etch primer. In the US I have only found one inexpensive readily available solution and that is in automotive – the big brands each do one and they are probably the same, $4 USD-5 and a muddy green gray which might be perfect for some – I put some white on top (from top and angled to hit my highlights better

Etch primer is nasty stuff. Use an organic vapor mask ($30-40) and spray outside or use an efficient extractor.

The Vallejo surface primer is beautiful paint, it goes on great with an airbrush and gives a wonderful surface to paint on with a thin layer that preserves all the detail. I found that it frequently rubs off (metal, no issue with plastic). Vallejo suggested that the detergent used for washing sometimes reacts with the metal sometimes causing poor adhesion which would explain why most people have great results and I don't. Someone suggested using several very thin layers (i.e. misting on the first layer) solves the adhesion problem

I tried gesso and did not like it at all, occasional pits in the surface that were really hard to fill. Obscures detail

John

White acid etch primer made specifically for 'tricky' metals that normal acid etch primer won't bite into. After cleaning I degrease the castings with cellulose thinners. This combination gives me the best results 've ever got in terms of surface adhesion and resistance.

Hundreds if not thousands use all sorts of paint to undercoat their unwashed models that haven't been degreased and don't report any problems so whether you need a specialist primer is open to debate. I've made my decision on what works best for me. YMMV.

It seems nothing is perfect. I was really big on walmart black matt paint($1 a can) but then it started irritating my sinuses and the smell almost never goes away.

I use Vallejo white primer and Reaper black primer. They are both very good.

Sometimes I paint ceramcoat black straight on the figure.

I have found almost everything on this post works good for some people and others not. Nothing is perfect for everyone.