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Yeah, I know this thread has been posted a million times, but I haven’t been able another. (Probably due to the fact I'm too lazy to look past the first page)

I'm mainly looking for a cheaper black and/or white Spray Primer, but I wouldn't mind coming across some cheaper paint alternatives, so what advice can Dakka give me?

One word...

Vallejo

One more word...


WalMart.


They've got some really good cheap spray paint that can be a decent primer. I would recommend that you spray a useless model first to see how far you have to hold the can from the model.

Not all spray paint is primer! Use Krylon or Armory primers. They work best and are both pretty cheap. For average pots of paint, Coat D'Arms is the exact same formula as GW, and they have a lot of old colors GW doesn't have anymore.

bear in mind not all primers are designed for use on plastics, some may be strong enough to eat into your mini's, ones designed for resin will be stronger for example. just look at what a gw spray will do to polystyrene!

if you go to any model shop they should have some alternatives. they are pretty much guaranteed to have humbrol, but they can be a bit of a pain, as they are not water based. A lot of them should have vallejo model colours, but less have the game colour range (gw equivalent)

You'll find plenty on the net, but postage costs can be a pain for individual paints, but if you are willing to get a set you can do well!

Any low solvent based spray paint.

I've used hardware store flat white and black spray paints as my primer for years with great results! Recently I tried Krylon brand ruddy brown primer as a basecoat/primer for some IG and it worked great. It covers smooth, thin, and dark enough that all I had to do was paint the details on top!

Also, for brush paints, try craft store paints. I started using these a few years ago, and I rarely buy "model" paints anymore. They come in more colors than you've ever seen and are quite affordable. They aren't going to be quite as smooth as miniature-specific paints, but the Delta Ceramcoat brand is darn close and a bottle is less than half the price for over 3 times as much paint!

Since you were curious about prices:
Hardware/Walmart/HomeDepot cheap spray paints. $1-2
Krylon Spray paints $3-5
Craft Store paints $1-2 for 2oz (59ml) Delta is around $1.80

As always, YMMV, but it's definitley worth trying out on a few test figs to see if you really feel that you need model-specific paints.

Also if you want any camoflauge colors, Kmart has Krylon camo paint: Brown, Beige, OD Green and Matte Black. All work well and safely on GW plastic.

If you have access to an AC Moore or Michaels, get some Delta Ceramacoat paint. Works really really well on minis, and the color selection is wide:

http://www.deltacreative.com/pcid/16/Default.aspx
http://www.deltacreative.com/uploads/media/documents/Ceramcoat_Color_Chart_0310.pdf

Thanks for the Delta color chart, I'd not seen it before. Delta is also usually at Joanne Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, and other crafting stores.

P4NC4K3 wrote:One word...

Vallejo

Also a lot of hobby stores carry acrylic paints meant for other models (cars, planes, tanks, etc) that work just fine for citadel minis. These, unfortunately, are only like 25 cents cheaper at the hobby lobby by my FLGS.

P4NC4K3 wrote:One word...

Vallejo

Or Tamiya

I use Tamiya Grey for light models and P3 black spray for dark models. I haven't been able to get anything that works better than those. And while not a ton cheaper than GW, they are somewhat cheaper. Good luck and don't over spray

I started using Walmarts brand (Colorplace?) sprays for my priming. I've been using the flat black color, but they have a white as well. So far it's turned out pretty well.