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If so, what should I do?
And what Citadel colors are Blood Angels and Death Company?

Always prime, always.

As for the colors:
BA:
http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=52883
DC:
http://www.miniwargaming.com/content/how-paint-death-company

I'd say "always prime" as well, but with a caveat: People have different definitions of "prime." Some use the term loosely to mean "that initial coat of paint you spray on your models before the brushwork starts," while others reserve the term exclusively for the use of dedicated primers, which are formulated differently from standard paints to improve durability and adhesion.

For plastic models, I've found regular old matte spray paints to be sufficient - I've had no issues with paint flaking off or the like, nor have most of the other folks who do likewise (a considerable number, I assure you). True primers will work on damn near anything, but they're far from an absolute requirement, in the case of plastics.

So what brand should I use and if you could give me a link that'd help a lot!

Another option that you have is priming with gesso. There's a good Dakka article on it here. It's especially useful when you want to start working on something and the weather isn't great for spraying.

As far as spray priming goes, for plastic a lot of times you can get away with using regular spray paint as a "primer" coat. Some people use automotive primer, but you want to be careful with this as certain automotive primers can actually damage certain plastics. In general, automotive primer is probably overkill, even for metal motels, because it's designed for use on large, flat surfaces (like on a car), and that's really not something you find on miniatures.

I normally use gesso to prime both plastic and metal miniatures, and I haven't had any real problems with paint chipping or rubbing off. Making sure to seal your miniatures with varnish will go a long way to help preserve your paint jobs as well.

If you're looking for spray primer though, Krylon seems to be popular, some people use GW brand (which is generally pretty overpriced), but really most anything will work in a pinch. I haven't heard of any brands to absolutely stay away from or anything like that.

Yes! Always prime.

Almost anyone that has been painting a while will tell you, go ahead and use Games Workshop primer.

It is expensive. But it is the best.

Using $1 worth of primer is worth it for your $45 model.

That stuff sprays amazingly, coats perfectly and will stick to anything.

I like Krylon and Rustoleum. But Krylon is my favorite...

Emerett wrote:Almost anyone that has been painting a while will tell you, go ahead and use Games Workshop primer.

It is expensive. But it is the best.

Using $1 worth of primer is worth it for your $45 model.

That stuff sprays amazingly, coats perfectly and will stick to anything.

GW "primer" is very much not the best. If you want the best Aerosol primer, use Floquil. It is designed for scale model railroad use and as such keeps insane detail on models. It costs about the same as GW, but it is worlds better.

If you want the best primer period, you should use an airbrush primer like Vallejo Polyurethane primer. Airbrushing allows you much more control over the primer. Also, with the PU primers you can change the color of them to a certain degree which you of course can't do with aerosol primers.

Emerett wrote:Almost anyone that has been painting a while will tell you, go ahead and use Games Workshop primer.

It is expensive. But it is the best.

Using $1 worth of primer is worth it for your $45 model.

That stuff sprays amazingly, coats perfectly and will stick to anything.

I have to respectfully disagree with this. I find it over priced and doesn't cover as many models as other primers with one can.

That being said it does cover well.

I switched over to Army Painter primers and never looked back. Its $5 cheaper for the black and white. and in my experience covers 30% more models.

I have also used krylon white and brown and have been pretty impressed with results.

Question, does Tamiya have any primers that can go through an airbrush?

The two I use are Duplicolor Sandable Primer black spray and the new GW Imperial Primer brush-on. Use whatever tickles your fancy.

GW stuff is super expensive. I use Testors spray paint. It's just as good as GW spray paint, half the price and still specially formulated for models.

Another option is just putting on a base coat by hand. I usually reserve this option for the most detailed / character models. You know what they say, if you want something done right ...

fenrir1997 wrote:Always prime, always.

As for the colors:
BA:
http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=52883
DC:
http://www.miniwargaming.com/content/how-paint-death-company

These will work until the old paints run out.

New paints that work very well (from experience too)

Base coat with Mephiston Red
Wash the recesses with Carroburg Crimson
Touch up again with Mephiston Red
HIghlight with Evil Sunz Scarlet
Highlight again but finer with Wild Rider Red
And if you want to, glaze with Bloodletter. (This will bring out the highlights)

I use pretty much nothing BUT Army Painter primer. It coats very evenly and you can literally go take a whiz and its dry by the time you return. A single can can typically do somwhere around 30 to 35 sprues ( Assault Marine style) before needing to be replaced.

I cant say for sure that you'll have much luck with it, but this is my experience

Aerethan wrote:If you want the best primer period, you should use an airbrush primer like Vallejo Polyurethane primer. Airbrushing allows you much more control over the primer. Also, with the PU primers you can change the color of them to a certain degree which you of course can't do with aerosol primers.

If you live in a high humidity area, most aerosols will not work correctly. I live practically on the coast in merry ole England, so I can count on one hand the times where the humidity is under that magical number of 60% humidity for spraying. As such, I use the Vallejo Polyurethane primer, which is fantastic. I brush-on, which takes a bit more time but it's formulated for it as well, to sort of shrink when it dries, to "shrink-wrap" the model and keep the detail. It's probably better to airbrush it, but I don't fancy getting into that at this time.

It's also pretty cheap for a bottle of 200ml and you use surprisingly little to coat an entire model. I'm fully confident that this one bottle will base my entire army.