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I recently bought 20 tac marines and 5 termies to add to my army. However, I also recently moved and can no longer use spray to apply a primer. I have tried using a paintbrush with varying degrees of diluted paint. I am not happy with the results. Is there any way to prime, or basecoat models with a brush that does not make them look like crap - or am i just a painter? Any ideas would be welcome.

Gesso

You have used it before with success? It's pretty cheap from what I have seen. Thanks for the tip!

The Seth in my Gallery is primed in gesso and dropped 4 times. It's a tough durable finish put on thick and sop up pooling.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh yeah I gesso primed the marine in my thread Flesh Tearers pait by numbers too

Looks good! I will definitely have to buy a bottle.

Gesso's good, and make sure you wash your models. I find undercoats done by hand tend to be less durable than ones done with legit spray primer, so you want the best adhesion possible.

shrike's wingnut wrote:However, I also recently moved and can no longer use spray to apply a primer.

I must ask why you can't, as living in an apartment/flat/etc is a poor excuse, tell me more specifics and I bet I can come up with a decent solution that allows you to prime with spray-cans again...

I'd still recommend a spray prime in most cases, unless you've moved to the ISS or something...

Best advice for a non-spray primer would be to get a large container of brush-on stuff (I think the army painter does it) and a big-a$$ brush

Leigen_Zero wrote:I must ask why you can't, as living in an apartment/flat/etc is a poor excuse, tell me more specifics and I bet I can come up with a decent solution that allows you to prime with spray-cans again...

Oh oh, tell me! It's a pain having to go to my parent's place to spray all the time.

I want to spray paint my models black, but live in a rented flat with white carpets, white bathroom tiles, white kitchen cupboards etc. I've done some spraying with white before (in the shower, lol, in a box with newspaper around it) but seeing how much that spray went flying around, I'm too scared to try black. I also got several face fulls of tasty fumes, which i'd also like to avoid.

Advice?

Is doing it outside possible for you?

A few places you could do it:
-Out of your window.
-In a local park.
-In a nearby car park (parking lot for Americans).
-On the street right outside your house.

Unless you're living somewhere ridiculously cold, any of these would be fine, no?

I don't know if you're referring to me or the OP, but I already do it outside, Leigen_Zero made it sound like he had ideas for doing it indoors (I might be mistaken) and was curious about that. I always make a hell of a mess so I'd only ever do it on private property i.e. on my parent's decompsing wooden bench

master of asgard wrote:A few places you could do it:
-Out of your window.
-In a local park.
-In a nearby car park (parking lot for Americans).
-On the street right outside your house.

Unless you're living somewhere ridiculously cold, any of these would be fine, no?

My main problem is I recently moved to a bigger city where if someone sees you in a park or parking lot/car park with a can of spray paint, the pigs would most likely be called - and I really do not like cops. I rent the bottom half of a split level house in a fairly decent neighborhood where they have the codes, covenenants and restrictions making doing it in the street an impossibility. Also, the owner of the house (who is actually a nice person) is very adamant that I do not spray anywhere on his property - he thinks I will miss and eff up his immaculately manicured lawn, even though it would take a supreme idiot to miss a 4'x4' sheet of paper... The Northwest where I live is also notoriously rainy.

shrike's wingnut wrote:

master of asgard wrote:A few places you could do it:
-Out of your window.
-In a local park.
-In a nearby car park (parking lot for Americans).
-On the street right outside your house.

Unless you're living somewhere ridiculously cold, any of these would be fine, no?

My main problem is I recently moved to a bigger city where if someone sees you in a park or parking lot/car park with a can of spray paint, the pigs would most likely be called - and I really do not like cops. I rent the bottom half of a split level house in a fairly decent neighborhood where they have the codes, covenenants and restrictions making doing it in the street an impossibility. Also, the owner of the house (who is actually a nice person) is very adamant that I do not spray anywhere on his property - he thinks I will miss and eff up his immaculately manicured lawn, even though it would take a supreme idiot to miss a 4'x4' sheet of paper... The Northwest where I live is also notoriously rainy.

There's a big difference between tagging a wall and obviously engaged in an useful task. If the cops decide to do a meet and greet with you, holding a can of black spray paint and a bunch of models painted black, and you aren't trespassing the most they can and unless you look like a deviant the cops should take a pass and move on. In other words this isn't a great excuse, it's just getting in your way.

I would invest in a crappy $40 airbrush and use it entirely for the sole purpose of priming and base-coating.

Badger 250: http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-BADGER-250-4-Beginner-AIRBRUSH-MINI-SPRAY-GUN-Paint-/390344464137?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae257d709

For how often you would use it, I would just purchase (yeah, I'm about to say it) canned air. If you get into airbrushing more, you can upgrade the equipment.

Canned Air - http://www.ebay.com/itm/BADGER-PROPEL-PROPELLANT-SPRAY-PAINTING-AIR-BRUSH-13oz-/370526179286?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564514cfd6

Airbrush primers:
Black - http://www.thewarstore.com/product67977.html
Grey - http://www.thewarstore.com/product67976.html
White - http://www.thewarstore.com/product67975.html

Then, use normal airbrush paint (or properly thinned acrylics) to base-coat the miniatures.

In this way, you can use it indoors, and you won't have to worry about fumes indoors. There are cheap- homemade airbrush booths you can make/use designed with your problem in mind, to prevent overspray issues.

Many thanks! I think I will try the gesso first, as it is the least expensive - if the result is not to my liking then I will go with the cheap airbrush.

shrike's wingnut wrote:

master of asgard wrote:A few places you could do it:
-Out of your window.
-In a local park.
-In a nearby car park (parking lot for Americans).
-On the street right outside your house.

Unless you're living somewhere ridiculously cold, any of these would be fine, no?

My main problem is I recently moved to a bigger city where if someone sees you in a park or parking lot/car park with a can of spray paint, the pigs would most likely be called - and I really do not like cops. I rent the bottom half of a split level house in a fairly decent neighborhood where they have the codes, covenenants and restrictions making doing it in the street an impossibility. Also, the owner of the house (who is actually a nice person) is very adamant that I do not spray anywhere on his property - he thinks I will miss and eff up his immaculately manicured lawn, even though it would take a supreme idiot to miss a 4'x4' sheet of paper... The Northwest where I live is also notoriously rainy.

Insult to police aside, put aside alittle bit of money for a portable air compressor and spray gun. The spray is very small coned if you operate it properly and can be used for basecoating/priming fantastically. You can get a decent set up going for only about $100-200 and in the long run is far better money wise than priming with spray cans. Only problem I've noticed with them is depending on the model of the compressor, you may have to take breaks from basecoating.(Mine gets pretty hot after about an hour or so of constant use.)

But since the spray doesn't go nuts, you can safely spray inside your home without fear of the land owner. If he is skeptical of it, show him how controlled the gun is when used properly.(Just setup a cardboard station or newspaper painting station in your flat) Demo it out to him, and if he is a nice guy like you say, he should have no problem with this solution.

I feel really quite sorry for you that you feel THAT oppressed in your home that you can't carry out this simple task.

Get a large cardboard box so that your sparying the models well within in it, make sure the windows are open so you don't suffocate and die in this apartment (i would imagine they have a rule stating you are NOT allowed to suffocate and die there)

A large enough box would allow you to make sure no paint went anywhere but inside it.

If you want to give brushing the primer on a try, I'd recommend Vallejos Polyurthane Acrylic Primer. It can be applied either by brushing or airbrushing and works great.

Other than that, I second the posters before me, who recommended getting an airbrush setup. This will save you money in the long run and is an excellent overall hobby tool.

Cheers,


IK-Painter

lukewild1982 wrote:I feel really quite sorry for you that you feel THAT oppressed in your home that you can't carry out this simple task.

Get a large cardboard box so that your sparying the models well within in it, make sure the windows are open so you don't suffocate and die in this apartment (i would imagine they have a rule stating you are NOT allowed to suffocate and die there)

A large enough box would allow you to make sure no paint went anywhere but inside it.

It is actually more out of respect regarding the wishes of the people from whom I rent. Why did this devolve into how I am making excuses for myself? I asked a simple question, wanted some advice, and i get lambasted for it? Your sarcasm is very funny btw. I was not trying to be inflammatory or start a debate (apologies to anyone who was offended by the cop comment - I typed before I thought), but it has somehow become that. I believe I posted under "Painting & Modeling" yes?

All I wanted to know was if somebody could prime with a brush, or if there was another solution, not the reasons why I was a coward/oppressed/lazy/excuse maker, but I appreciate all your input on said matters. Could you not have just told me your idea of spraying in a cardboard box? Oh well, all I am doing is fanning the flames at this point so I will stop rambling. Like I said before, thank you to everyone who gave good advice... without the negative connotations.

You can also use a small window fan to help vent the spray air out of the house. Used in conjunction with a cardboard box for spraying in it will help cut down on the amount of paint heavy air lingering around. Just make sure the fan is sucking air from inside and pushing it outside or it will do the opposite of what you want.

shrike's wingnut wrote:

lukewild1982 wrote:I feel really quite sorry for you that you feel THAT oppressed in your home that you can't carry out this simple task.

Get a large cardboard box so that your sparying the models well within in it, make sure the windows are open so you don't suffocate and die in this apartment (i would imagine they have a rule stating you are NOT allowed to suffocate and die there)

A large enough box would allow you to make sure no paint went anywhere but inside it.

It is actually more out of respect regarding the wishes of the people from whom I rent. Why did this devolve into how I am making excuses for myself? I asked a simple question, wanted some advice, and i get lambasted for it? Your sarcasm is very funny btw. I was not trying to be inflammatory or start a debate (apologies to anyone who was offended by the cop comment - I typed before I thought), but it has somehow become that. I believe I posted under "Painting & Modeling" yes?

All I wanted to know was if somebody could prime with a brush, or if there was another solution, not the reasons why I was a coward/oppressed/lazy/excuse maker, but I appreciate all your input on said matters. Could you not have just told me your idea of spraying in a cardboard box? Oh well, all I am doing is fanning the flames at this point so I will stop rambling. Like I said before, thank you to everyone who gave good advice... without the negative connotations.

Firstly I was not having a go at you, I felt sorry for you. My reasoning for feeling sorry for you maybe incorrect but it does not stop the fact that I feel sorry that your unable to do this in your own home. Secondly, not sure if the sarcasm comment was directed at me, but it no way am I trying to be sarcastic, if it was at me because of the suffocation comment, I was joking and fail to understand how you could take that as anything but that!

You can prime with a brush but you will always get crap results. Spray is with out question the best way to do it hense my advice on how you could go about doing that! I have never used Gesso so can not advise on that. GW used to do something called smelly primer which came in a paint pot size. I often used it when i was younger. I used to apply a coat then a coat of black ink which would not only come in handy sometime down the line when painting the mini but mainly highlighted all the detail

I hope my further advice goes to show that I was not trying to have a pop at you and actually would like to help you.

If you don't like some of my comments then you better get ready to get awful stroppy on Dakka when the actual trolls and flamers come walking in!