Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I have just spray-primered about 20 plastic warhammer 40k marine models using Krylon indoor-outdoor. I read good things about it, so I sprayed them up and they look great. The problem is, that I can scratch off the primer with a determined fingernail.
What happened? I shook the hell out of the paint, and sprayed close enough to prevent dusting

This isnt normal, is it? Does the next layer of paint create a shell here or something, or am i screwed?

Did you let it dry?
if not, it'll be better to removed the primer, give it a wash to remove the oil and release agent on the model and prime it again.

xSamhainx wrote: The problem is, that I can scratch off the primer with a determined fingernail.

Well, don't do that then

Let them sit overnight in a cool dry place. If the problem persists then you may need to strip them and try again.

I suggest "LA's totally awesome" let the models sit in a bowel of the stuff over night then go at them with a toothbrush (if you have a sibling whom you hate use their tooth brush)

Did you wash them in warm-ish water with dish soap before painting?

Yeah, i always wash everything while still on the sprues. It had only been an hour or so since painted, but they appear dry. Im just gonna leave them alone a while.

I found this out due to me screwing up the shoulderpads which im painting separately. Primered them black, then hit them with a little too much skull white spray. They globbed, so i scratched at them and noticed how easy the paint came off. So i tried the same thing on one of the models i primered black and well, lets just say the cloud of curses is still hanging in the atmoshpere.

Maybe im being a little premature here. I'll just chill, Let the primer sit, dump the screwed up pads in some simple green, assemble the rest of my models.


edit- post got screwy there, so I edited it.

Sounds like a plan

Was it actual 'primer' you used?

Yes, I used Krylon indoor/outdoor black primer, the skull white was the next paint coat. I'm doing a Black Templar chapter, so I figured I'd just spray the skull white on instead of sitting there for weeks trying to cover the black primer w/ a brush. I got a little crazy w/ the skull white spray, and before you know it I had globbing and it looked like gak. The primer did appear to be dry before i painted the white as well, but it was only like 20 mins at most. Those are sitting in a nice Simple Green bath right now. I'm considering just white primer instead, then hit w/ the gloss coat, then decals.
I did another set of 10 with primer/skull white but I learned my lesson on the spraying and they look good.

So yeah, i think that I may be jumping the gun here and thinking the stuff is dry when it's really not. I mean, it's not tacky to the touch at all, and people online rave about how fast this primer dries. Still, maybe it just needs to set a while and really dry.

I'm just excited here, I've got a big battle on Wednesday and want to get rolling on my troops. Tired of hitting the table w/ unpainted army!

Remember that evil humidity issue too.

The higher humidity, the longer it's gonna take to dry completely.

I know here on the East Coast USA, the humidity has been super-high lately, so keep that in mind.

Ok, that would make sense because it's been kinda rainy last few days. Today was dry, but the air was probably humid factor could have played a part.

Thanks for all the replies and help, as you can imagine my heart sank and I was freaking out at first. Cleaning seam lines, assembly, all on hundreds of dollars worth of little plastic dudes, you all know the mania one can feel if something goes wrong!