"Gesso" Topic

Kewl. It posted 4 times with 4 identical posts. I shall try another day

And now it adds this post to each of the other topics

My interest is pigged, what about Gesso?

Every time. You hit submit it posts it even if it hasn't posted the first one.
I have experimented it often and know that's why it does it.
But what about Gesso?

I guess-o he no-know.

Priming with gesso is the way to go….

I've used Gesso for years, wouldn't use anything else.
Oh, and my interest was piqued, NOT pigged!

So let me try again. Conditions are not good for outside priming. Lots of people say Gesso is an excellent primer.

Tell me what I need to know.
Just paint it on?
I see posts that say it shrinks tight.
Does that mean it's thin?
Lots of tooth?

How does it actually STICK to metal or plastic??? THat is my real question. Seeing that gesso is usually just something like marble dust mixed with acrylic medium, my guess is no (does it pass the fingernail test?). I would think you would do just as well simply using white acrylic paint over the mini.

Damon.

It has plenty of tooth for painting with craft paints after it dries.

Does it pass the nail test? No, it does not. I seal my mini's with polyurethane stain, and my gesso primed mini's have lasted many a year since being sealed. I also bake my Minwax'ed mini's in a large slow cooker, at roughly 170 F, to fully cure them within 30 minutes.

There are many ways to skin a cat, as the old saying goes. Pick your poison, and go with it. Cheers!

My experience is with Liquitex brand acrylic gesso.

It is thick. With thick paint, normally one assumes you should thin it for painting models, but if you thin gesso, it will leave bare spots and you'll have to re-coat.

So for Liquitex acrylic gesso, paint it on without thinning. It shrinks as it dries to form a skin over the surface, revealing detail.

Painting on thick is counter-intuitive; this is why all the posts about that. Try on a test miniature first so you understand how to apply it.

Gesso has as much tooth as any primer.

It will touch dry pretty quickly as you would expect with acrylics. You can paint over it at that point but the gesso will be soft under the skin and may flake off if handled roughly. I wait overnight when I can. I would guess full cure is a couple days.

There's a lot of back and forth about whether acrylic gesso is a weaker primer compared to hobby paint primers. Remember the hobby paint primers are sold for all model materials (polystyrene plastics, white metal, resin) so they do not contain a formulation that etches onto one kind of surface. They are just acrylic paint. All acrylic paint adheres by shrinking to form a continuous skin over the surface.

The big advantages of gesso are you can buy it in quantity, and you can apply with a brush. Also, at least for Liquitex gesso, you know it is sold for artists so it will not deteriorate after a few years. FYI, you can apply gesso with an airbrush as well.

One rule I have with Liquitex primer is paint then 24 hours before colors

I use grey gesso.

I brush it on, straight out of the bottle, but I find I usually need two coats, because as previously mentioned, sometimes when it dries, it needs a second coat for proper coverage.

I also wait 24 hours after painting, before I start slapping on colours.

Eric

Liquitex Gesso user in 15mm and 6mm miniatures. Use straight out of the bottle, but it is thick, especially on small vehicles, or between parts with small gaps. A quick pass with the brush usually solves this. It shrinks on drying and is remarkably easy on details. I use grey and black, depending on the project, and wait a day before painting. Great stuff.

My art student niece years ago suggested gray to be a better choice, if I ever run out will try it.

A bottle of gesso can be used to prime thousands of minis (and with much less waste than spray primer), so keep that in mind if costs are a consideration… ;-)

Roger that, Zephyr1: I think I'm into my fourth or fifth year with a bottle of grey Liquitex Gesso. Many hundreds served, and no deterioration in quality of the stuff either.