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Joe Mama wrote:So your actual problem is that you are extremely busy, and your minor secondary problem is that the weather isn't always perfect in the rare moments you aren't busy. Er... ok. I suppose paint on primer is useful to you, although it will take you longer to prime your models, by that I mean you will spend more time on the activity than you would if you used spray primer. Unless my common sense notion that spray is faster than a brush is wrong.

IF the weather is perfect, I have to change into "messy" clothes, take my minis out to the car port, get my spray box, prime, allow to dry, bring inside.
Brush on (I haven't tried yet because I just recently gave up on spray after having to dip my Hive Tyrant yet again, but my understanding is) Go into office, squeeze out some gesso, prime.

The actual application is faster with a spray, yes. It's the travel time/setup time that makes the time pretty much a wash.

Skippy wrote:Theres absolutely no need to take such a hostile tone with anyone.

Your post was completely off topic and did nothing whatsoever to advance the thread topic or even a tangentially related topic. Furthermore, your off topic point was already noted by a previous poster. Never do this on the boards, if you truly care about their proper function. If you must respond to this, PM me, as there is no need to add more nonsense here.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

rigeld2 wrote:IF the weather is perfect, I have to change into "messy" clothes, take my minis out to the car port,

Whoops, yeah, I sometimes forget people have their minis stored away in harder to reach / more time consuming places.

{Edit for clarity} Even so, you raise a good point, convenience can be worth more than some potential time savings. If painting on primer takes the same amount of time, or even a little longer, if there is a lot less hassle for you in doing it that way, it can be the better option.

The other option i guess, if you have the money would be to get an airbrush and some airbrush primer.

Long as you have a respirator you can do that inside on a desk into half a box. Theres such a tiny amount of overspray from an airbrush and the smell is almost non existent from the ones ive used.

Plus, youd have an airbrush for other stuff too. Obviously thats only a good solution if you have a couple of hundred to drop on an airbrush set up.

Joe Mama wrote:

rigeld2 wrote:IF the weather is perfect, I have to change into "messy" clothes, take my minis out to the car port,

Whoops, yeah, I sometimes forget people have their minis stored away in harder to reach / more time consuming places. Even so, even if painting primer on is still more time with all those steps included for spraying, perhaps the convenience factor outweighs the time savings anyway.

The convenience factor for spraying or brushing?

For me, not having to dip my damn Hive Tyrant ever again will be infinitely more convenient than using a spray.

rigeld2 wrote:.

The actual application is faster with a spray, yes. It's the travel time/setup time that makes the time pretty much a wash.

This is was my conclusion as well. It's not the application that takes time with spray paint, It's setup, dry time and respray which is often necessary. With a brush on primer, priming becomes just another painting step that can be done at your desk. I still use spray primer when I'm doing a large batch where the primer and basecoat are one step, but otherwise it's all brush-and-gesso for me.

To varl,
Welcome to Dakka! This thread has taken a bit of a snippy tone,but pay it no mind. You seem like you're sincerly looking to learn, so rest assured I and others here would be happy to answer any questions you might have about priming here or via PM.

Best of luck finding a solution to your priming woes!

rigeld2 wrote:

Joe Mama wrote:

rigeld2 wrote:IF the weather is perfect, I have to change into "messy" clothes, take my minis out to the car port,

Whoops, yeah, I sometimes forget people have their minis stored away in harder to reach / more time consuming places. Even so, even if painting primer on is still more time with all those steps included for spraying, perhaps the convenience factor outweighs the time savings anyway.

The convenience factor for spraying or brushing?

For me, not having to dip my damn Hive Tyrant ever again will be infinitely more convenient than using a spray.

Ugh, that was a poorly constructed sentence of mine up there. The convenience factor for you of painting on primer may be enough to outweigh the time that you could potentially save by spraying. My point was even if painting primer was slower for you, it could still be preferable if it involves less hassle.


PS - What are you saying about dip? I don't get what you mean there.

Joe Mama wrote:PS - What are you saying about dip? I don't get what you mean there.

IT varies, but by context I'd guess he's using it in the Roger Rabbit sense of the word ("OH NO NOT THE DIP!") which would mean placing it into a chemical bath (for non-metal use Simple Green/SuperClean/FairySpray/Detol depending on your area) for 24 hours to remove the paint from the mini.

It could also mean physically dipping a model into paint (unlikely with a tyrant), or the use of Floor Polish (Minwax is popular) to both shade and seal a mini in a single step. Note that both of these give most serious painters seisures at the merest mention, but I will admit to having seen good results with the second kind of dip on both Tyranids and Vampire Counts.

EDIT: Looking over Gesso tutorials it's looking like 1-2 minutes for application, just over an hour to dry completely, and a great deal more control with regards to thickness.

Bounty wrote:[
EDIT: Looking over Gesso tutorials it's looking like 1-2 minutes for application, just over an hour to dry completely, and a great deal more control with regards to thickness.

The hour long drying time is not necessary my clubmates and I (gesso fans all!) paint over gesso almost as soon as it's on the model. If you put it on as thick as they show in the second part of the tutorial then it may take an hour to dry, but I think they were doing that as more of a "what if" than a standard practice.

Yeah, by dip I meant a simple green bath for 24-48 hours. I even use it for metals so I don't forget and put plastics in the wrong chemical.

I always prime in my basement, with a de-humidifier constantly running.

Lungs be damned!

thanks all; some great info here. I read over the gesso article and it sounds like it's right up my alley. I'm more of a single-model painter than a squad-at-a-time painter, so speed isn't a huge concern for me. good results (even coverage, no bubbles or lost detail), ease-of-use and not pissing off the neighbors/gf are, however I'll give gesso a go when I do my next batch of priming.

Glad to help! Hope it works out well for you.

A couple other things to note, Gesso comes in black, white and sometimes even other shades. We've had really good luck with black and white Liquitex gesso, both the "Basic" and regular line which also has the advantage of being a brand that's easy to find at art supply stores and craft stores like hobby lobby. I mosly use white, now that I'm brush-dipping my figs (dip goes over better on brighter paint jobs which are brighter over white primer) but both white and black work very well.