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As summer draws to an end here in the US, I can't help but think of the impending cold weather, snow, and less-than-ideal conditions for spraying miniatures that are headed my way. Yes, I know I could just step outside and quickly spray a single mini, but that's hit or miss. So to that end I've been researching brush on primers. I've read quite a few posts here on Dakka, and the article on Priming With Acrylic Gesso piqued my interest. My local Michaels carries a few varieties of Liquitex gesso, and the "store brand" Artist's Loft White Gesso. The Michaels website says that they also carry a Bob Ross Gesso and a FolkArt Gesso, but I didn't see them (maybe online only). At any rate I was curious if anyone had any experience with the Artist's Loft White Gesso. After coupon I can get that stuff for about $5.00, and it's non-carcinogenic which is nice (as opposed to the spray primer I've been using).

So, has anyone tried to the Artist's Loft Gesso? Does it work just as well as the Liquitex brand?

My honest real answer is to use an airbrush and airbrush primer. I use badger and it is sweet and dries fast so you can get to painting sooner.

I have never used Artist Loft or Liquitex Gesso. That said I have used Golden Gesso in black. That stuff is really nice and leaves a very night base to paint on, its smooth yet has this texture that paint just sticks to. It can take a little bit to get it just right as I thin it a very little bit and as it dries it tightens up, but it is very easy to put it on to thick and lose detail.

If you are using white to can add color to it and get a nice base coat right away as a pro tip.

Hope that helps.

 timwrightii wrote:
My honest real answer is to use an airbrush and airbrush primer. I use badger and it is sweet and dries fast so you can get to painting sooner.

I have never used Artist Loft or Liquitex Gesso. That said I have used Golden Gesso in black. That stuff is really nice and leaves a very night base to paint on, its smooth yet has this texture that paint just sticks to. It can take a little bit to get it just right as I thin it a very little bit and as it dries it tightens up, but it is very easy to put it on to thick and lose detail.

If you are using white to can add color to it and get a nice base coat right away as a pro tip.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for your response. I'm going to pick some up and try it out. For <$5, I can afford to try it.
If it works out, I'll post results. Thanks!

In my experience, black gesso works much better than white gesso on miniatures. White gesso never seems to dry nice and flat for me.

I've never used Artist's Loft, sorry. I bout a $9 bottle of Liquitex Black and Liquitex White, and haven't gone through either in years.

I bought a container of the Artist's Loft Gesso and did a few tests.


I tried it straight out of the container, but it was clearly too thick. It has the consistency of glue or thick latex paint. The un-thinned gesso actually cracked a little as it dried. So after playing around a bit, I settled on the following mixture:
1/2 teaspoon of gesso (about the size of a US quarter) + 10 drops of water. I added 2 drops of flat black acrylic paint to give it a little color too.
The results are somewhere between regular acrylic paint and milk. More like melted ice cream, if that helps.

In the photo above, you can see the unthinned and untinted gesso on that plastic spoon. On the right, you can see the thinned and tinted mixture.

Here are my two test figures:

Hullo little 2nd Ed Gretchin! Hold still, this won't hurt...


The model on the left was primed with Armory black spray primer. The model on the right had two coats of gesso mixture brushed on. As you can see, there is no discernible loss of detail on the model primed with gesso. Looks good to me anyway!

I was actually surprised at how fast the mixture dried. I let each coat dry for approximately 30 minutes. Based on other reports, I expected that it would take hours, but after just 30 minutes I found that it was dry to the touch. I did paint it on pretty thin, so that probably explains why it dried so fast. I might even apply a third layer, to make sure I get good coverage.

So to sum up: Spray primer is faster for sure, but the weather conditions need to be right. Not to mention that it's carcinogenic. I usually let sprayed models off-gas outside for at least 30 minutes before bringing them inside. I found the Artist's Loft gesso to have very low odor; I had put my nose right up to the container to even notice any smell. The downside of the gesso is that you have to brush it on, dab at any thick areas to make sure it dries evenly, and will probably need multiple coats with drying time in between. On the other hand, you can use it indoors year-round. Both methods have benefits and drawbacks. I'm going to try a few more models, but from what I can see gesso is a pretty good replacement for spray primer. YMMV.

Thanks!

It might be dry to the touch, but always do a sniff test. If you can still smell chemicals/paint, wait to paint your base coats (you were probably alright with a second coat of primer). The paint smell means it isn't cured and is still gassing out.