Eclectic Wave | 06 May 2020 11:17 a.m. PST |
I don't paint anymore,as I have been aging, and my eye sight and fine hand coordination has gotten too bad to even do a decent job. SO I buy off ebay a lot. I keep finding miniatures that are very well painted, but have paint coming off, because the miniatures were never primed before painting. I really don't understand way anyone would not prime their miniatures. When I have sent off miniatures to be painted, I prime them myself first. Yet I keep finding people who don't. Are their reasons for not priming miniatures? The only one I can think of is that priming can cause a loss of detail, if the primer is put on too heavy, but that's it. Is this Laziness? Lack of knowledge about primers? I was wonder what the TMP people thoughts are on this. |
jdpintex | 06 May 2020 11:31 a.m. PST |
Got no clue. Other than my very first miniature, I've been priming for a very long time. Now I've mucked around with the type of primer (spray/gesso), but I look at it as a required thing to do, just like getting rid of flash and pin marks. |
ColCampbell | 06 May 2020 11:38 a.m. PST |
I've always undercoated my miniatures, now using gray gesso. And that's after a thorough "deflashing." Jim |
Sgt Slag | 06 May 2020 11:49 a.m. PST |
I used to paint the soft, plastic Army Men figures. Almost nothing will stick to that type of plastic! I also left the parts that would end up the color of the plastic, alone, unpainted… I only painted the bits that needed painting. I applied polyurethane-stain (solvent-based), aka, The Dip, after I painted them. The urethane over the acrylic paints, will last anywhere from 10 years, to 22+ (still counting…)! Not to digress any further into this particular ditch, but I would suggest painting on a coat of clear urethane over your e-Bay miniatures, to preserve their paint. You can also buy yourself a bottle of Pledge Floor Gloss Original (27 oz. for $6.18 USD), at Wal-Mart, and paint that over your e-Bay mini's. It will form a durable coat of acrylic over the top of the paint -- likely not as durable as urethane, but easier to deal with (water cleanup). Pledge Floor Gloss Original is designed to be walked upon, when dry, so it is very durable. Both urethane, and Pledge Floor Gloss Original, will result in a high gloss finish. Apply a clear matte coat, afterwards. Cheers! |
McKinstry | 06 May 2020 2:01 p.m. PST |
I threw some business to a friend painting some mass type troops and was stunned to find they had not been primed and he actually argued that it wasn't necessary. Each to his own but friend or not, I did not use him again. I find primer is important to retaining the paint but even if it isn't, it couldn't hurt. |
Nick Bowler | 06 May 2020 2:41 p.m. PST |
I repeatedly see a lack of understanding about primers. People confuse a primer and a base coat all of the time. |
MajorB | 06 May 2020 2:44 p.m. PST |
I have always undercoated figures using Humbrol enamel, usually white. I don't know if it makes any difference to the durability of the paint applied over the top but it does help the colours since most acrylic paint is in fact translucent rather than opaque. |
Extra Crispy | 06 May 2020 3:43 p.m. PST |
I have run in to this before. Happened with a painting service and I got the same response. Never used them again. Also happened that I ordered painted minis which were just tossed in a bag all together to rub shoulders and heads in the mail. Got my money back but never used them again. |
Syrinx0 | 06 May 2020 5:34 p.m. PST |
I didn't undercoat when I first painted with Humbrol in grammar school but by the time I was in high school I was using a primer for everything. Can't imagine doing that as a "painting service'. |
Dynaman8789 | 06 May 2020 6:33 p.m. PST |
Only prime resin since paint seems to hate it. Never had a need otherwise. Don't see why anyone would waste the time. |
Perris0707 | 06 May 2020 8:43 p.m. PST |
The thing that bugs me is when people paint up miniatures without cleaning the flash off. |
Nick Bowler | 06 May 2020 11:37 p.m. PST |
@ Dynaman8789 -- get some good primer and try it on a batch of metal figures. The impact is on durability and paint chipping. You will see the paint is far more resilient. So much so that I dont bother to vernish. Also, using a spray primer, it doesnt take much time at all. |
Eclectic Wave | 07 May 2020 7:28 a.m. PST |
Syrinx0, that's pretty much my story, never used it when I was a teen, but the time I hit 20, I wouldn't paint anything with out it, and a mat varnish at the end. Although I did find a neat trick in which I would take a bit of gloss varnish and "paint" it on sword edges and gems. |
Dynaman8789 | 07 May 2020 4:22 p.m. PST |
I've not had any paint chip or flake off. So no point to "seeing" a difference using primer. |
Syrinx0 | 07 May 2020 6:39 p.m. PST |
I use different color primers depending on my overall paint scheme. I guess to me it's the base color for my figure and adds depth. I rarely only use one layer of paint on the figure, so I suppose if you layer enough of your normal paint on the bare metal it will have the same effect. Using an airbrush priming a unit is pretty fast and if the figures have a simple paint scheme, I often add the next overall color with the airbrush as soon as I finish priming. What really bugs me is when I paint miniatures and missed cleaning some of the flash off until I am on the third color transition when suddenly it's right there. |
Must Contain Minis | 07 May 2020 9:08 p.m. PST |
I also use Gesso. I tend to use the white stuff, but want to try black. Not priming a mini is a very foreign concept to me (unless you are painting Reaper Bones). The bones models don't seem to need it. |