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Where do you all prime your minis?

I'm only now getting back into painting and stuff...but I'm realizing I'd always had a backyard or porch that I could go off to to prime.
I don't exactly want to take these things out onto the street, and priming inside my apartment feels like something that would fall under the "bad idea" or "gonna make the apartment smell like spray paint for a while" categories.

Silly city life.

Thanks.

I used a box lid and went out on my padio

Try the local GW or hobby store. You'll have to plan in advance, but you avoid 1. lung damage in the apartment and 2. strange looks on the street.

Heheh, since moving to my new apartment i´ve primed:

On the fire escape. Works, but possibly not entirely what it´s meant for..

On the back lawn, got me strange looks...

At my FLGS, when i found out they had facilities for it. Yay!

On my balcony, though I do get some smell backdraft through the door when I open it to go back in or through other open windows if we're not rocking A/C or heat ... I know other apartment dwellers or lazy home-owners who will open a window, hold out a piece of wood or other sturdy flat thing with minis upon it and spray away at arms-length. And another friend made a sort of spiny turntable atop a piece of board that he could clip onto the window ledge and prime minis, turning the thing to get at more angles.

Sounds like work to me :S

- Salvage

Boss: you know, I had briefly considered that option...but decided that was definitely more work than I wanted to bother with.

(I hope my wife doesn't read Dakka anymore)

I have put a cardboard box on the stovetop and turned on the venting hood for spraying sealer, and never had issues with the wife noticing. Granted, her sense of smell is questionable, but it worked with no mess as the hood pulls a good bit of air. If you are priming you could probably get away with taping lots of news paperdown, then using the box and hood method. Possibly with a fan blowing in the direction of the hood from over your shoulder to increase air flow.

Alternately, take Salvage's method of finding a friend with a basement or shed to do the deed in. A FLGS will often work too.

Out on any lawn/other greenery available, around 9:00 AM on a Saturday when no else has yet awoken. That or during the day (2:00 PM ish) when work/school has removed most folks from the premises as well.

Wehrkind wrote:(I hope my wife doesn't read Dakka anymore)

I have put a cardboard box on the stovetop and turned on the venting hood for spraying sealer, and never had issues with the wife noticing. Granted, her sense of smell is questionable, but it worked with no mess as the hood pulls a good bit of air. If you are priming you could probably get away with taping lots of news paperdown, then using the box and hood method. Possibly with a fan blowing in the direction of the hood from over your shoulder to increase air flow.

Alternately, take Salvage's method of finding a friend with a basement or shed to do the deed in. A FLGS will often work too.

Looted! I don't get much painted in the winter, as the primer doesn't dry. It's too damn cold outside in Massachusetts. This is a great idea, as long as I don't turn the stove on. Hmm, that could be fun too.....

When I lived in an apartment, I'd go out to the parking lot with a cardboard box and set it up next to the garbage cans. Put the minis in the box and spray away. The box catches the excess spray and nobody can smell the fumes over the garbage.

Wehrkind wrote:Alternately, take Salvage's method of finding a friend with a basement or shed to do the deed in.

Uh, right, when I said "my balcony" I meant "Wehrkind's house"

- Salvage

The alley way behind the tattoo shop.

It's great fun, especially since I'm normally doing it late on a Friday/Saturday night, and all the drunken college kids going by have the most interesting reaction to seeing a 30 year old guy in the alley between the bars and tatoo shop with a Devilfish and a can of spray paint.

Is there a parking lot? Common ground?
If so, get a box or box lid & spray them there.

So what if you get looks. Do you really care?

"Oh, no. Our neighbor is spraying something outside, where the smell will dissipate faster. How dare he!? A grown man using spraypaint!"


Just do it.


Eric

Part of the issue is I'm on the top floor of a elevator-less building and I don't want to schlepp that stuff up and down. :-p.

Do you have access to the roof? Viola!

When I've had a balcony I use it. But I've also used the kitchen and living room. Just make sure you cover important stuff (like a 40" TV) with drop cloth. A black dusting will appear everywhere regardless of which direction you spray.

jabbakahut wrote:When I've had a balcony I use it. But I've also used the kitchen and living room. Just make sure you cover important stuff (like a 40" TV) with drop cloth. A black dusting will appear everywhere regardless of which direction you spray.

Quoted for truth - there's a variety of items in my back yard currently which have a mysterious dust on them that just won't come off when you try to clean it...

HFJor wrote:Part of the issue is I'm on the top floor of a elevator-less building and I don't want to schlepp that stuff up and down. :-p.

Okay... then you get a pass on that one (unless it's only a 2 storey building LOL).
The rooftop idea is good, and I'd put the balcony/fire escape a close second.

Priming in your living space would be the VERY LAST option I'd ever suggest...

What about taking them along with you when you go out? When you get home, you spray them, then carry them upstairs with you.

I mean, you're already heading that way, ANYWAY... and it's not like a few minis will weight THAT much.

Just a thought.

Eric

When the neighbor passes away, don't alert the officials
until you're done with your priming in his apartment. People
will thank you for masking the smell.

Assuming you don't have a balcony, just opening the windows and spraying while leaning out of it should be good enough. Make sure you tape or tac the models on so that they don't fall off. I did that in an apartment I shared with my very fussy ex and she didn't say anything.

carport or back lawn on a quiet day.

I'll second the stove hood suggestion. I taped a garbage bag to the wall, put the minis on a pizza box, and sprayed away. I then put them on the stove with the hood on full blast. Works like a charm.

While I technically do not live in an apartment, I've come to despise to effects of even the slightest breeze when I try to spray anything outside, and thus have moved to doing everything under the stove hood. Used a large piece of sign plastic I had lieing around, though cardboard would probably work just as well, to make a nice area that helps to catch and funnel most of the over spray.

be careful with the range hood because many do NOT vent outside. they recirculate the air using filters (which will get clogged) to "clean" the air.


buy a cheap-o box fan -- the 20 inch size or smaller depending on your windows. set the fan in a window BLOWING OUT crank it up to its highest speed. use the box ideas posted above and set the models as close as you can without the spray flying out the window instead of on your models.

you can use this during the winter as well. you will lose some heat, but not as much as you think.


good luck

On the balcony, I used to do it on the dustbin.

My hood does vent right out the side of the house behind the stove. It's really annoying on windy days because it will slap the flapper open and closed fairly loudly.

Aduro the whole spray paint cans sitting on the microwave thing just seems like an accident waiting to happen to me lol. All of therese other the the dead neighboor thing are good suggestions. I had a balcony at my apartment so I was home free well accept I could occasionally hear the people who lived below me complain that their food on the grill tasted bad but hey no worries

Try brush on primer - artist gesso works very well for me.

I have used the bathroom on occasion and laid down lots of newspaper and opening the window wide afterwards. It's worth being very economic with the amount of spraying and making sure it goes on the model and towards the paper rather than being directed into the air. I wouldn't do it often because the spray will land on things in the room and you get a gradual buildup forming fine dusty layer on things you can't shift, but for a one off (if it's raining, windy or particularly cold outside) it's fine.

Worth bearing in mind I did it when the missus was out too. When in halls at Uni I leant out the window sometimes.

There are a few grassy areas around my community where I can go and spray. Tho I hate doing it outside as the smallest breeze erks me. I've contemplated using my place of employment as it has a purpose built painting booth and I have master key.