"Spray Primers in the UK" Topic

Need advice on a descent low price primer in the UK. I see B&Q sell Diall (B&Qs own brand I think) 400Ml for £4.92 GBP and I saw Halfords own the other day at £7.99 GBP for 500Ml.

Has anybody any experience with these or recommendations for other easily available brands?

Thanks
Andy

Halfords primers are great. I've used the white, grey, black and their cammo sprays. All go on well and have worked after a few months unused unlike some other brands I've tried. Highly recommended.

agree with BulldogD, I'd recommend Halfords Primers used most of them with very good results, the car primers are the ones I use the most

If you are not wedded to needing a spray can delivery, I can recommend Vallejo primers. They are thin (because they are designed for an airbrush), but because of this the figure just seems to suck the paint into all the nooks and crannies, while keeping sharp definition.

Since the primer is thin, sometimes you need to go in a second time to just catch those parts that look 'missed'.

You can get black, grey and white. There are different sized bottles to match a budget or need.

I use the satin black and white from Wilko.

Wilko is cheaper.

I've used Hanford for years, along with their gloss lacquer as a varnish prior to ink washes, with great results.

I use Plasticote grey, I'd use Wilko but haven't a shop nearby and the ones I see from time to time on my travels rarely have any grey primer.

Halfords was OK but I had problems with the nozzle blocking so went back to Plasticote.

our local car shop has some for £3.50 GBP normal grey primer

I always used plasticity with varying degrees of success but am now finding it hard to get hold of.

Thanks guys. think I'll swing by our nearest Wilkos then.

Would have perhaps used a normal car spares place but we don't really have any left round here these days.used

Personally, I wouldn't touch Plasticote with a barge pole. I've only ever had dreadful results.

My preferred choice would be Halfords grey and white.

G.

I have used plasticote black and grey with no problems and army painter sprays these are finer sprays and dry quicker.

I always find the nozzles get blocked and end up throwing way half a can. It is possible to get a similar, solvent based, primer for use in an airbrush? I've tried the Vallejo water based ones, and they don't form such a hardwearing surface. Any suggestions?

The Halfords sprays are good, I've used black, grey and tan.

One belated mention for a specialist use – if you ever use Shapeways "White Strong and Flexible" 3D prints (sintered nylon – their cheapest and strongest material, but the roughest finish) then Halfords "filler primer" is the business. It's a vile mustard yellow primer intended for masking scratches etc, and brilliant on the rougher Shapeways material – spray on a thin coat, then give it ten minutes or so to partially but not completely dry, and spray it with another thin coat. Be careful not to overdo it, as the stuff's horrendous to deal with if you blast on a thick coat, but used with restraint it smooths out the surface texture to a rather pleasing degree, for much less effort than alternative methods.

Perhaps I should have said that this is for 1/72 aircraft kits, a dakota as the first recipient). For my figures I use gesso but on such large surfaces I'm thinking a spray would be easier and give a much better finish. And I haven't got a couple of hundred notes to drop on an airbrush set up.

I've used Halfords red, white and grey primers – all work well. I tend to use the Vallejo surface primers for most things these days, either airbrushed or painted on. Mainly because I can't really get away with using spray primer in my flat (I have to take my figures into work if I'm using a spray primer).

I use Halfords. I've never had a problem with blocking up, even with cans a year or more old. Perhaps this is because I follow instructions and at the end of a session I upend the can and give a quick spray to clear the nozzle.

Having used Citadel spray for years I switched to Army Painter for my last can and was disappointed with the results: I found the finish very grainy, which affects the texture of the finished figure even with a couple of layers of paint on top, and rubs off easily. That's the white; I haven't tried any other spray colours (I have no problem with their brush-on washes and paints, though). After disappointing early results I tried a few different approaches to spraying with no improvement.

I might try Halfords, but, for all that I don't really want to give GW any money at the moment, I might go back to Citadel just because I know it does a good job, and for "just" a couple of quid more than other sprays on the market I do get a fair guarantee of effectiveness.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the essence of a good primer, and the difference between that and a simple undercoat. I've handled figures sprayed with GW Chaos Black and it literally does rub off – something the Halfords sprays (genuine primers) don't. The point of a primer is to cover the surface with a rough layer that provides something for the subsequent paint layers to "key" onto. A simple spray paint won't do that and any handling will usually result in paint not holding – especially acrylics in my experience.

I use Halfords – grey for most, red oxide for British and other red-coated figures. Humbrol used to make some very nice enamel sprays – a black that came out semi-gloss, and a white that was very dull and with a second coat gave a perfect finish for stuff like Austrian uniforms, where you didn't want any kind of brightness and which allowed you to use "pure" white for belts etc.

Halfords! And yes, upend the can and spray to clear the nozzle after use, as per instructions. I've never had one clog up.