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A friend of mine used the citadel white primer on his Dark Eldar. The results look clumpy and the primer is flaking off the model. Anyone have any suggestions when using citadel primer or know of alternatives when working with finecast?

He probably primed in bad conditions. If it is hot and humid or cold and frigid, don't prime. Or maybe he didn't clean his models. It is not directly related to finecast.

Or he used the garbage that GW passes off as primers. Get a can of krylon flat black or white primer and don't look back!

Its probably a good idea to wash finecast in soapy water, like most resins there can be a mold release agent left on the model that will prevent the primer from adhering.

for all resin, wash in warm soapy water first, rinse and dry.
once fully dry use any primer in any conditions (i see far to much on here about humid/wet rubbish) shake well and go for it, light passes to make an even coat.

I have used the GW primers but nowdays i use Halfords flat grey primer, its wicked.

Vallejo's brush- or airbrush-on primer is a good alternative for those of us with less than ideal conditions for spray cans the majority of the time. I live pretty much on the coast, so I get textured spray more often than not. While it takes a bit longer, at least it's more reliable. I still use cans for tanks and scenery though!

EDIT: Have a review.

LadyCassandra wrote:

Vallejo's brush- or airbrush-on primer is a good alternative for those of us with less than ideal conditions for spray cans the majority of the time. I live pretty much on the coast, so I get textured spray more often than not. While it takes a bit longer, at least it's more reliable. I still use cans for tanks and scenery though!

EDIT: Have a review.

If you have an airbrush, the Vallejo Primers are a must. I have used them for quite a while now, and never looked back on the rattlecan-primers :-).

Generally resin products need to be washed before primed, although i know people who claim to have never washed a resin peice in their life and have never had problems. You don't need to get out the soap and toothbrush though, a quick dunk and swish in some dilluted superclean or other degreaser will do the trick.

Now on to the actual priming question... GW White spray isn't a primer, its just their white paint in a spray can. First I would recommend that your friend pick up an actual primer, either a spray or a brush on will work fine although you will get a smoother finish with a spray primer. Second wash the model, although at this point your friend is probably going to want to strip it and start over. And third, your friend needs to watch what temperature and humidity level he primes at. If its to hot or hold or if the humidity is to high he can run into problems.

Just to give alittle run down on what types of primers I recommend. Generally I use a spray primer, my favorite is Army Painter white I can honestly say I've never had a problem with any of their paint products. The biggest problem with it is its just as expansive as a GW can. On the cheaper side I've also used Armory primer, but from time to time you will find a bad batch of it. Alot of people on the forums will recommend Krylon and other multi purpose primers, they claim to have good results, but I have my doubts. For a brush on primer I recommend an art product called Gesso, its basically finely ground chalk and white glue, it will give you the smoothest finish of a brush on primer possible. There are a number of other brush on primers out there, however I would only recommend them when used with an airbrush.

Hope this helps.