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Been a while since I last posted, but I'm looking for some priming advice. I'm looking at finishing up my Black Reach box, but I've run out of spraypaint with five pastic Nobz and a plastic Warboss remaining, so what better time to change spraypaints, especially after a frustratingly poor foray into Skull White Spray?

I read a recent thread hailing the many praises of Krylon sprays, but I'm faced with a bit of a dilemma. I've heard good reviews of both Fusion and Primer varieties, but I don't really want to make a "test run" since these are the only uncoated minis I have left. In short, I have six bare plastic minis to paint white, and I have a supplier of Krylon nearby. What exactly are the pros and cons between Fusion and Primer, and which would be advantageous for plastic minis?

Your questions are actually answered in the thread that you linked.

In a nutshell. Fusion paint isn't primer. It's a base coat color available in gloss and a satin finish - neither of these finishes are ideal for primers. I personally haven't seen any color of the Fusion line available as a true flat paint that has a decent tooth to it.

I'm currently using Krylon Primer to prime the bare metal or plastic, then Krylon Fusion Sunbeam Yellow for my base coat. I then need to let these dry AT LEAST over night and then seal with Testors Dull Coat. If you don't dry at least over night the Dull coat and craze and crackle as it dries at a different rate than the spray paint it's laid on top of.

Aaah. I think I see what was confusing me.

I've always used the terms "basecoat" and "primer" interchangeably. So, if I understand this correctly, the primer is the first thing to go down to hold the paint, and the basecoat is the first layer of color?

Yep you have those terms correct.

I tried to get a primer paint that I could use also as the base coat, and the Fusion paint is not that. It's great paint, but the Fusion sprays that I have been able to find is not primer due to it's gloss or semi gloss finish.

The funny thing is that GW used to sell colored primers. They sold Ultramarines blue, Blood Angels Red, Bleached Bone, etc. They were handy. I would still have advised a this base coat of your acrylic colors over the sprays, but it was convenient.

If your after colored primers almost any quality flat spray paint would work well. The key word being quality. Krylon's flat's are proven consistent and are highly recommended by many modelers.

Good luck!

you can use other substitute for true primer (i recently started doing just that) but you have to make sure they are truly flat. the reason primer works as it does is because it provides a surface that is rough enough for another color to adhere to. anything that is gloss or semigloss is smooth and wont provide that same property. i once resprayed an old rhino i got on ebay with what i thought was flat black (it was actually a semigloss) and the paint simply rolled off of the high points (i water them down a little); i had to glop on the paint in order to have it stick where i applied it.

Just a quick addition to what's been said. I've used the Krylon ruddy brown primer as the primer and basecoat for my guard and it works great. Very smooth and even application and good tooth for detail colors.

As to Fusion, the only real application I've seen for wargamers is it's ability to be sprayed and adhere to softer plastics, like the kind that toy soldiers are made of. It allows you to incorporate toys more easily into terrain or in kitbashed vehicles.

The Camo fusion paints are a primer AND a basecoat very nice "tooth" to it. Folks that are saying otherwise don't have much spraypaint experience methinks.

The standard "Fusion" line puts a super hard shell on your mini's but is very glossy, and is NOT a good primer.

Use Krylon Camo (green tan and black) or stick with GW Skull White or Army Painter Primer White for a primer.

Oops. I've been using Fusion as a Primer after I ran out of normal Krylon Primer. I saw "Bonds to Plastics" and thought "Primer", though I haven't yet had many problems with Fusion yet (though I only primed 2 squads of Guardsmen with it so far).

I'll have to pick up that Camo stuff. It sounds pretty good.