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..I'm considering using it as a flamethrower to torch the minis I just basecoated with it.

Seriously, thought, I just finished a unit of IG when I decided to work on my Bretonnian knights. I figured I'd spray them white to make them look brighter even though I was having such good success with black.

The official GW Skull White paint spread really unevenly, leaving a lot of grey showing, and in some lower areas it pooled and the pools have CRACKS. Big ol' cracks that I can't even paint over.

Am I doing it wrong? Chaos black was SO easy to basecoat, the SW should really have a warning label if it has to be done differently.

Did you shake it up really well before spraying?

Personally I prefer Plasti-Kote grey primer.

Ah, I forgot to mention, after the first time I tried using it I thought I may have done something wrong. So I tried it again, under these conditions, and got the same result:

Sprayed inside at night (about 75 degrees f.)
Shook the can up for eight minutes upside down
Sprayed from approx. one foot on one model and three feet away on another model; the models have the same poor result


Sing to me the praises of that grey primer, please! It might be a great replacement for me. Assuming I can strip the white basecoat off..

White can be a really tricky color, even as primer. I honestly hate the GreedW white paint. I use the Army Painter white. Or in a pinch I'll use krylon fusion.

Some times I have an issue with the armory stuff. It will come out all pilly. I don't know of any way to strip a model of primer.

Sorry to hear about the models bro.

I have thought about using grey. I will be picking some up once my next couple of cans run out.

I use grey for everything except 1:1200 scale ships.

Plasti-Kote make white and black as well.

Watsabi: Thanks for your input. I was really hoping paying for the GW brand would mean getting at least a standardized, if not really high quality product. Maybe I'm wrong. I'll have to buy a can of your brand to try with grey.

Killkrazy: I'm excited by the prospect of grey primer, since white has so far failed me. Is there anything you can tell me about how colors cover it vs. black or white primer? Are there any colors that need extra prepping before applying (similar to how you can't paint yellow right on top of black primer)

I use a light gray as a rule, or more rarely a dark gray in place of black. I picked up a can of Krylon Fusion white primer to paint the Talisman models in my gallery and it worked exceptionally well in Florida humidity in the middle of the day.

Which basecoat color you decide on should also help you choose which primer you use. The white worked great for lighter color models that would otherwise require layer after layer to obtain a consistent basecoat over gray or black.

Edit: as far as prepping goes, you don't need to prep the model for most light gray primers other than the standard dishsoap scrub you should give your models to remove any mold release or finger grease. Les Bursley (that's LBursley here on Dakka) has a great tutorial on how to use both white and gray primers on a model to quickly and easily paint with "built in" highlights.

Yellow doesn't seem to paint too well on top of anything.

All the mid colours work fine on grey -- blues, reds, browns, greens.

I don't like black primer because it's too dark for my poor old eyes to see the details.

I never use GW spray paints. I never liked how it sprayed or laid or the whole of the paint lol. I use a cheap primer from home depot for about a buck and that is the best primer Ive ever used IMO.

The GW white spray has always been really bad, last can i used sprayed so weirdly and powdery my fingers holding the can got more on them than the models I was aiming it. Even the stuff 1 foot away had it's powdery residue.

Planning on ordering Army Painter black, white, bone and varnish to try them along with some of their brushes though will give you feedback when they're hare and I've needed to use them

It is nice to know I don't have to use GW stuff to prime and paint. I have spent enough on my army as it is...

i've always had good results with krylon's white primer, i've even used it when it was raining outside and still not had problems.

grey primer.....i like it on metals, but it fails me when dealing with plastics

I live in Michigan, so the weather changes alot here. And Ive still had no problems with the cheapy stuff I use from home depot as I stated before. Its 97 cents a can and sprays beautifully. Ive also used it when it was 5 outside during a blizzard, and in rain and super heavy humidity days. Pretty good shtuff for mini basing

Krylon

I cant find any acrylic Krylon ,
why are they all enamel here? ( in homedepot and such they say its enamel for out door projects? )

You don't need to use acrylic primer just because you are painting acrylic on top.

I thought I heard enamels weren't too good for miniatures? Or does it somehow not matter for basecoating?

I've used GW white primer exclusively for over 10 years (having tried armoury and other brands, and didn't like the results).

I have had pilling and wonky sprays sometimes. One thing I learned that has helped dramatically is how to shake the can - I know, it sounds strange - but the standard up and down shake (or shaking it upside down) isn't all you should do.

Hold the can by the lid, and roll your wrist to move the bottom of the can in a circular motion. This will 'roll' the agitator around the bottom of the can and break up some of the settling in the can. I combine the wrist roll with standard shaking for several minutes (longer if its been awhile since I've used the can - and I've used cans that are over 7 years old without problem).

Other consideration: temp, humidity, distance. You've mentioned some of these, the only other I can think is that it was humid possibly? And this can be the case indoors as well.

What to do. One option is to try to use simple green, or Super Clean (purple bottle) to remove the primer. To be honest, I've had little luck removing spray primers, except on metal models.

The other would be to take the minis and can to your local GW. I've heard that they'll replace models damaged in this way, esp if its a bad can. YMMV though, depending on your local GW.

ImperialTard wrote:I thought I heard enamels weren't too good for miniatures? Or does it somehow not matter for basecoating?

Enamels work fine for miniatures. It's what everyone used until acrylics were invented. (Actually that's not true because really hardcore military modellers often used oils.)

The advantage of acrylics is they dilute and wash with water. Enamels need white spirit which is stinky and inflammable.

The main thing is you mustn't mix enamels and acrylics with each other. It just doesn't work. I mean you mustn't mix two liquid paints together. There's no problem with putting one on top of the other as long as the underneath coat is completely dry.

Krylon for white
Krylon for black

I use the Krylon Plastic for white and the Krylon camo color ultra flat black for others. When I'm doing something that needs a sort of midtone I'll use the camo khaki. They also have a green that I suppose would be good for cadians.

As far as removing it, just let it sit in some Simple Green concentrate for about 24 hours then just brush/wash away. It'll be a little bit tougher than just an acrylic, but it should work fine.

A few articles on Priming from TPC.

You may have just had a bad can of primer. It happens from time to time no matter who makes it. As for GW, I've only ever had good results using their white spray primer.

It does sound stupid, but I think the main problem people have with "bad paint" IS the fact they arnt shaking it properly. Shaking for a 15 secs isnt going to do it. You have to violently shake it in all directions for longer then that. A good shake will clear any problems, unless the can really IS bad.

I use Armory and it's pretty decent.

Brother SRM wrote:I use Armory and it's pretty decent.

ditto and about 1/2 the price

@Kilkrazy: I've used a couple of cans of the black Plasti-kote stuff. Worst spray I've ever used. It comes out thick and powdery and stays that way dry on the model. Such a bitch trying to paint onto instead of wasting my entire WH Chaos army!
So wouldn't recommend the black stuff but glad the grey works for you.