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Okay, so after expressing my frustration to friends that just doing one coat (without the weapon arm!) on 4 marines of my base color took two hours, my friend said, "pssh, just spray 'em. Everyone does."

It was like a light from the heavens. I may actually get my army done in less than a year or two!

Anyway, my question: I'm painting Orange marines, and I want the best spraypaint brand for basecoating: something that will look good and coat smoothly without obscuring detail. I'm assuming that I'll just spray this on the gray plastic, without a true primer (which I've been using up 'til now) first. If this is for some reason a bad choice, please do chime in.

Thanks!

Krylon Fusion for Plastic coats really well and comes in a bunch of colors. However, it does go on a bit glossy, so you'll need to tone it down with an even ink or a wash.

I haven't seen them in matte, but that might just be my local hardware store's low selection.

I don't mind glossy; I'm going to coat all my models will dullcote or the like afterward to protect them anyway.

Is it a problem to not *truly* prime them first?


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Hmm, I've poked around a bit, and it seems that Krylon Fusion might not be the best; as its glossy the detail colors I'd paint over it might not adhere too well*.

It seems that people think Krylon flats work well for a quick primer + basecoat, so I'll try that unless I hear any cries of horror from here.

*To be clear, I'm looking for a basecoat in a can. NOT a spray-and-done, but rather a spraypaint that will base my model in the majority color so I can save time, then wash and do details and other colors on top of. It seems Krylon Fusion isn't the best for this; disabuse me of this if I'm wrong.

Army Painter does a good range of spray foundations.

Approx $20 for a can and they do many colours and even 2 different varnishes.

I use their Matt Varnish on everything without hassle or discolouration.

They also now do metallics... including GOLD... good news for GK players.

I second Krylon Fusion. Great stuff I use it exclusively. Once it is clear coated the little bit of shinning disappears. Also paint holds to it wonderfully as it is a primer and a base color.


Here is a link to my stuff using the black as a base color.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/350658.page

Army painter sprays are fantastic, problem is i dont think they do an orange, they have 2 different reds though if thats any help.

http://www.totalwargamer.co.uk/army-painter-pure-red-colour-primer-spray-400ml.html

http://www.totalwargamer.co.uk/the-army-painter-dragon-red-colour-primer-spray-400ml.html

i use the full range of Krylon and Rustoleum Camo colors to basecoat and prime my figures.

My vote is for krylon fusion. It bonds to the plastic on a molecular level and the color range is outstanding. If you ever want to do lightning fast Imperial Fists, the yellow will make your jaw drop. It does dry to a more satin finish than a gloss in my opinion but I've found a zap of dullcote or even just a light coat of GW wash mattes it right out. Here's an example of krylon red straight to the plastic with no primer and a coat of gryphone sepia wash. The wash shaded it perfectly and completely removed the sheen. And its only $5-$8 a can. You still want to seal it after though. I've also used Rustoleum 2X Painters Touch paint. Its designed to go on with one pass but can be tricky because it can easily be over-applied even at long range (12" from the mini). It also dries alittle tacky.

Thanks heavybolter & farseer--that's good info on the Fusion line, and that red SM looks great, all ready for detail work. I'll definitely pick up a can of the Fusion stuff and give it a shot.

I tried Fusion's orange today--I'm unhappy with it (stripping the model as we speak) but I'll give it another go.

It went on very stipply, and to get it to completely coat the gray plastic it was so thick it obscured details (like the grooves in my SM's mouth-breather thingy). I did (or tried to do) multiple thin coats, too.

Maybe it's because it's rainy outside? In any case, even after it was coated (thickly) it wasn't smooth, being all bumpy and such.


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I'll give this another try and then try Krylon's flat orange.

Spray painting mini's is one of those things that looks like it should be easy, but is really hard to do right.

I went through about a dozen cans when starting out before I could get it to coat evenly without missing the usual spots, i.e. the underside of the torso, the joints, etc.

Here are a few tips:
- do two passes from each of the cardinal directions (front, back, both sides)
- wait for it to dry! This is the tough part. As you go along, you'll be able to skip this step.
- pick it up and see where you need more coverage
- grab a glove. You can get a box of the disposable plastic ones for pretty cheap.
- holding the model in your hand, do one pass on each of the spots you missed.
- again, let it dry.
- do the same thing again

The drying time should only be a few minutes, so it won't take that long. The waiting periods force you to put on thin coasts because you're only doing 1 or 2 passes and they also let you see where the paint is going and adjust your angle each time.

Here are the main issues you could have:
1.) It's bumpy or looks textured
Solution: You're spraying from too far away and the paint is drying in mid-air. Move closer, but you may also need to do your passes a little bit faster to prevent pooling.

2.) It's too thick or it runs
Solution: You're spraying too close or you're going too slowly on your passes. Move farther back and speed up your passes a little.

3.) It comes out in different colors
Solution: Either you didn't shake it well enough or it's too cold. Shaking it more. Also, if it's really cold out, put the spray can in a tub of warm water for about an hour before using it, remember to shake well again.

Again, I had a really hard time getting it right myself, so I hope this helps.

Sailense, that really does help.

Seriously, most clear advice I've gotten, thanks.

I've found a pretty good solution (that will only get better with your tips): I spraypaint Krylon's indoor/outdoor pumpkin orange over an already primed model. Works like a charm, other than the gloss, which is easy to get rid of.

I really want to find a flat orange, so I can use it as a primer & basecoat (the glossy stuff really doesn't like to adhere to bare plastic).