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Every time I prime my models they come out very fuzzy and it feels like I'm ruining my models some times. The primer just rubs off easily and even worse fills in the recceses.

I've tried both new black and white GW primer and also black reaper primer. I tried doing short bursts, long sweeps, and even spraying the same spot for a second. Nothing works!

Does anyone have any advice, videos or other tutorials that they can point me to? I'm sick and tired of not painting just because I can't prime anything worse a damn.

Do you have a pic of how its coming out? Preferably of a particularly bad case.

Try washing the models in soap and water and give them a quick scrub with a soft toothbrush. Thsi gets rrid of any excess mold release agents (primer/paint cant stick to that stuff either).
Also consider your environment when priming. To hot and dry and the primer particles start to dry out before they hit the model, leaving a rough surface. To humid and the primer tends to get "blotchy."
In addition I tend to use the line of model primers from Tamya. A bit more expensive, but they are specifically for plastic models and are made to cover in a finer layer to preserve detail.

Spray paint is an insidious thing, there are many factors that will effect your end product.

First is storage, store it upright in a cool/dry place a closet inside your home will do perfectly for this, basically just avoid storing it in your garage or shed outside that has no AC and is subject to the varying humidities of non temp-controlled spaces like your house.

Your second step is to shake it really damn good, if you don't do this the paint in the can will not be mixed right and can come out a bit gloppy (at least as gloppy as a spray paint can get) and then you get your recesses filled.

After the above two issues are figured out you need to find a place to spray, either indoors in a well ventilated area with minimal to no moving air, or outside. If you spray outside, don't spray on a day that is very hot or overly humid, if it is very hot outside the paint will dry before it reaches your model and creates the fuzzy issue you have. humidity will also effect the spray by making it streak and not dry properly, you are overly screwed if it is hot and humid at the same time, like most places in the summer.

now that you have a place to spray, clean your models like stated above, than continue on.(edited for a very good point)

Next is spraying, as you spray don't sweep in an arc, go from one side to the other starting and ending beyond the model.



the picture shows the bigest issue people have with spraying primer, the arc, if you are your path the center of the model, will be much more heavily painted than the sides due to your distance from the model.

the last thing is to let it dry properly before rotating the model for further priming, and take care nbot to overlap the spray to mucha s that can cause caking of to much paint if you aren't careful.

after thye model is spray there may still be some spots not covered, that is fine because you still need to base coat and that will cover any imperfections you may have as long as there aren't any real big glaring misses, I will always spray down over the head as well as up from the base to cover those harder to reach spots.

I hope this helps.

Less is more. Short sweeping bursts. One LIGHT coat. Don't expect to finish priming at one attempt. After the light coat is dry. Give it another light coat at a different angle. Repeat.

Light coats, short sweeping bursts, and patience.

Have you tried any brush on primers?

Vallejo makes a product called Surface Primer. It is a brush on primer and it seems to have great coverage, excellent adhesion, and a little bit of shrink so it doesn't obscure detail.

Just a thought.

~Eric

I appreciate the quick replies. I think once tomorrow rolls in I'm going to give it another go and see how well I can do.

I'll let you guys know about the results! And again, I can't thank you all enough.

X,

I ran into a similar problem a while back, I got in a rush and didn't shake the primer as well as I should have, I found the carrier stuck to the model, but the actual "primer" didn't.. wound up with a layer of almost dust on the plastic.. You could run your fingers across the surface and have a powder residue come off.. I tossed it up to not shaking, plus it was very very humid.. just my experience.. J

Chalkiness can be from spraying too far away, particularly in hotter weather, as the paint is drying as it is in the air on the way to the model.

Can also be just down to not shaking the can enough.

Note that GW's sprays tend to the chalky at the best of times, so you often have to be extra careful with them.

Temperature/humidity can also play a part. Definitely shake the can vigorously though. Could also be faulty can(s). I've had, in the past, cans of primer that shot out fluff. It was like spraying a cloud onto my minis. I wasn't happy about that. Just thankful it wasn't varnish onto painted models, haha.

Yeah, you just need to really shake the crap out of that can next time, and maybe if you can move into the shade or inside, it seams like you have a bit of the pre-dry issue going on, though i am not 100% as I don't know where you live and where you are spraying, as I live in Florida the humidity just kills me down here, and rain makes me think very carefully of when i prep to spray, i have almost 20 marines waiting for primer because of this.

 insaniak wrote:
Chalkiness can be from spraying too far away, particularly in hotter weather, as the paint is drying as it is in the air on the way to the model.

Can also be just down to not shaking the can enough.

Note that GW's sprays tend to the chalky at the best of times, so you often have to be extra careful with them.

This was my first thought. What temperature is it and how far away are you spraying? The only thing that's really screwed up my spray jobs is spraying when it's been too hot and from too far away, so if the weather is warm I typically wait for the evening to spray and spray from a shorter distance in shorter bursts.

In regards to shaking the can; first hold the can by the end and rotate your wrist so the shaker ball inside starts to roll around the can. Get it going at a good speed. Vary the angle so the ball rolls all around the inside of the can. This scrapes the primer/paint from the sides of the can.
Then shake the can in the normal way to get ALL of the paint mixed up. When your done shaking the can...DO IT AGAIN for just as long. Most people shake their spraycans for a good 30 seconds or so and it feals like forever, but in reality thats way to short a time for a complete mix.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 insaniak wrote:
Chalkiness can be from spraying too far away, particularly in hotter weather, as the paint is drying as it is in the air on the way to the model.

Can also be just down to not shaking the can enough.

Note that GW's sprays tend to the chalky at the best of times, so you often have to be extra careful with them.

This was my first thought. What temperature is it and how far away are you spraying? The only thing that's really screwed up my spray jobs is spraying when it's been too hot and from too far away, so if the weather is warm I typically wait for the evening to spray and spray from a shorter distance in shorter bursts.

I like in the Michigan so I get pretty high humidity, but these last few days it has been fairly cool and low humidity. Tomorrow's forcast is to be about as cool with low humidity and I want to give it another shot to see what I can do.

use testors black primer and matte / gloss varnish, you wont go wrong. Also, take your time.

I like in the Michigan so I get pretty high humidity, but these last few days it has been fairly cool and low humidity. Tomorrow's forcast is to be about as cool with low humidity and I want to give it another shot to see what I can do.

I was thinking more about temperature rather than humidity. I've never actually had trouble with humidity myself, I'm not sure how Melbourne (Australia) humidity compares to the rest of the world, but I spray in both extremes of the humidity we see all year round and have never had a problem. Temperature, however, often is a problem for me, as the paint dries too fast, often starting to dry while still in the air, which creates a rougher finish.

Maybe its just me, but I can undercoat a model in about 5 minutes tops using a brush and a paintpot...

I see spray painting as lazy and a bit of a waste of money....


( although I admit I normally work on a one at a time model basis, for speed / mass painting spray priming is the way to go )

Hey man i had/ still have the same problem but i found some way to take care of this

1) do not use army painter they suck. I bought a can the other day, the guy at my FLGS warned me about it told me to shake well, when i got home i shook that thing like i was making a martini, tested it out on an unpainted AOBR captain, just destroyed him, had to throw him away.

2) as so one said before, light coats, you may need to do two or three but make sure they are light, its better to do a bunch of light coats and maybe miss a few tiny spots then glob it on and ruin the model.

3)Test the primer before you spray your models, this is something i found out to do, get a piece of paper, and hold it up and spray it. find the right distance you need to hold you can in order to get the best effect, to far and you get bubbles to close and it gunk's up.

Also when buying primers i have heard good things about GW stuff. from what i have heard it actually has a chemical that will dissolve any leftover rubber from the molds, so you dont need to wash it.

and IMO, i might get flakk for this, the wal mart stuff works really well. its only 93 cents a can where i am and it works wonders. My advice though with this primer and any for that matter, as soon as you get done spraying the primer clean the nozzle with a rag to prevent build up. i had a few cans that i did not do this on and dried primer build up on the nozzle and did not give me an even spray.

I've wrecked a couple of my AOBR orks with the GW white stuff, but I've also primed a hundred other orks with it and they've been fine.

Primarily, I think this comes down to method. The best method of I've found with GW (Extremely strong propellant) is to spray the models from much further back. The 6" Diagram above I think is way, way, way to close to be using the GW stuff. The method I use with GW White primer to get a very fine, thin coat is:


1. Apply upside down tape to a piece of sturdy cardboard
2. stick models to tape
3. If you value your health and general wellness--use a well ventilated areas
4. Test spray the air/another piece of cardboard to get the cobwebs out of the can
5. with the can on the left (or right) side of the models, about 12-18" away minimum, hit the nozzle and draw the spray across the models in a straight line quickly
--this will apply a very thin, light coat.
6. as a habit, I always let go of the nozzle at the end of the spray, and don't ever hold it down while continuing to spray.
7. Repeat steps 5-6 as many times as it takes to fully coat the model
*Disclaimer - You will use more primer this way. I've found with the GW primer that its mostly propellant... and not so much paint. So it doesn't last that long.

The best stuff I've found for priming with is: Duplicolor car primer (Grey/Black/Red). It goes on EXTREMELY smooth, and after hundreds of modes, I am still pleased with this brand. But I can't credit myself with the find--I came across the idea to use Duplicolor from Eggroll's BA army.

Nexus6 wrote:
Maybe its just me, but I can undercoat a model in about 5 minutes tops using a brush and a paintpot...

I see spray painting as lazy and a bit of a waste of money....


( although I admit I normally work on a one at a time model basis, for speed / mass painting spray priming is the way to go )

Speed, consistency and paint tends to stick better to sprayed on primer. I like working on a nice solid coat of primer, free of brush streaks and such. I find to prime a model by brush if I don't want to be slopping it on poorly and obscuring detail or missing bits is more like 5-10 minutes, which is long enough for me to want to spray instead. Even if I'm buying the uber-expensive GW sprays, $15 to save me a few hours of priming... I'll take it. This hobby is time consuming, I don't have a lot of time, so I like to minimise wasting time on bits of the hobby I don't enjoy (painting I enjoy, priming not so much).