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I used to use Armory Primer but recently have been searching for an alternative. I have also used Krylon in the past as well. Recently, my FLGS guy recommended The Army Painter. I balked at the exorbitant price (almost twice as much as a can of Armory or Krylon). He gave me a common sense sales pitch (which he is not usually one to do as I rarely have a problem putting money down in his store). I bought one can just to try it. I won't whole heartily endorse it but I was impressed. Here is some notes on my experiences with primers...

Armory Primer - Nice even coat, decent nozzle not prone to clogs. However, spraying with this primer seems to throw more paint into the air then on my minis. Everything in the immediate area gets covered (including my lungs) in a fine gray, black or white dust.

Krylon Interior/Exterior Ultra Matte Black - Sometimes inconsistent coverage possibly caused by a nozzle prone to leaking (or overflow as the case may be). Still puts a lot of paint in the air but not nearly as bad as Armory.

The Army Painter - (granted, have only used one can). Fantastic even coat. Very good at finding the crevasses and filling them (which eliminates over-spraying). Great nozzle that covers well but doesn't seem to put a lot of extra paint in the air (my lungs and garage are clean). Nozzle also did not overflow at all. Large can didn't seem to last as long as Krylon despite more focused nozzle. Price as already mentioned.

With all of this said, I recommend The Army Painter primer on hero or marque minis but I'll stick with Krylon for my mobs of boys.

Does anyone have any other brands they would recommend? Any contradictory experiences? Please post your experiences and/or comments here?

Tamiya Grey Primer, great coverage for painting. But i use it only on "heroes".

Call me crazy, but NOW wrought iron flat black spray paint by Sherwin-Williams (also their all purpose grey, if your into that sort of thing). This stuff rings in at around $2.60 a can. Goes on thin and smooth, one coat puts on exactly what you need, no pooling, no chalk. Best in my mind, it leaves no shine, and dries in a matter of seconds. IMHO it covers better than most of the expensive modeling brands and none of the side effects of a crappy primer.

I'll definitely have to give the Sherwin-Williams a try for that price!

Anyone else have Primer ideas, recommendations, loves, hates, whatever?

What do you use as a primer?

I personally like to use Tamiya's on all my models; TS-32 Haze Grey, usually. I don't like to go cheap or fast for any of my models, which is probably why my army still isn't completed, four months after I got it.

I use the Flat Black spray from Walmart. It's 88 cents and it works fine for me.

the guy at my FLGS recommended I start using autobody primer. Haven't gotten a chance to try it, but I would imagine good results. Of course theres several different grades of primer within that idea.

Orkimedes wrote:I use the Flat Black spray from Walmart. It's 88 cents and it works fine for me.

morgendonner wrote:the guy at my FLGS recommended I start using autobody primer. Haven't gotten a chance to try it, but I would imagine good results. Of course theres several different grades of primer within that idea.

I use a 2.50$ can of black, auto-body primer I buy from Wal-mart once every three months when I run out. My models look great, I get compliments all the time.

The only problem I have with it, is a chalky feel. Not anything with the actual texture of the model. They just feel chalky, kind of odd. But no ill effects with the two large armies I have painted using it so far.

GW primer. It's all I can be bothered looking for.

morgendonner wrote:the guy at my FLGS recommended I start using autobody primer. Haven't gotten a chance to try it, but I would imagine good results. Of course theres several different grades of primer within that idea.

I used auto-body primer and it seemed to work well on plastics but not good at all on the metals. Go figure. I chipped and flaked right off the metals.

I am still looking for a good one for the metals. Almost any primer I have tried has worked well on the plastics.

Black gesso. Either Liquitex or Windsor & Newton. Glob it on with a brush, let dry. Fills all the crevasses and dries very thin and even. A 16 oz bottle will easily last you awhile, and outside weather conditions don't limit you.

i use a spray enamel from home depot its called quick color its only 0.97 a can covers and drys just like GW primer . they have grey and black and they also have white but its only in a gloss finish

I've been using Armoury primers for the past couple years, and I've been pretty happy with the results. Prior to that, I used GW sprays exclusively but the price simply got to be too much. Something doesn't quite feel right about using a primer from a big box store like Wal-Mart, but I could just be deluding myself into believing that products marketed as specifically made for models have been "specially formulated."

I saw the Army Painter cans in my FLGS, so based upon your favorable review, GoFenris, I might bite the bullet on the cost and see the results for myself.

I mostly just paint my models chaos black with a brush befor I start the actual painting. I do 5-10 models at a time, sometimes I make my kid do it for me. If I'm doing vehicles or groups larger than 5-10 models I use either matte black or gray spray paint from Wal-mart, you know, the 99 cent cans. Sometimes I get a bad can, but oh-well,they are,after all, only 99 cents

Army Painter primer, or heavily heavily thinned down, airbrushed on paint.

Bob Ross Gesso, white and black. I add pigment (even black ink to the black gesso, as black gesso doesn't dry jet black) as needed if I want to prime in color.

I've talked about it on these boards before. Gesso is your friend!

Here is a great article on the subject (for miniatures).

I use Armory White for all my metal models, then I have several Krylon FUSION colors I use for my plastics.

The FUSION primer bonds on the molecular level to do priming and base coating in one sweep. Saves me a lot of time.

Orkimedes wrote:I use the Flat Black spray from Walmart. It's 88 cents and it works fine for me.

This. I've tried armory. It's not bad but it's expensive. GW is, by far, the worst spray paint that I've ever had experience with. The cheap stuff works as well or better than any other brand that I've tried and it's...well....cheap. It applies a nice, even, smooth coat.