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Since GW primer is criminally over-priced, I have begun looking for alternatives. Forum searches here showed that Krylon was a big hit, but there were two kinds used - Krylon Fusion for plastic, and Krylon standard black primer. For metal, I will be using the primer, but for plastic I am not sure if the Fusion or the Primer is best. As well, Fusion has three kinds: Flat, Satin, and Gloss.

Any people with experience using these know what the ups and downs are of each? I want something that will hold onto paint well but not compromise detail to a huge degree.

try both on a couple of test models.

I have a friend who uses the fusion and loves it.
I use the krylon primer and love it.

You do have to be careful with both not to spray on too thickly as you mention.
For highly detailed minis I use armory brand primer, as I find it is easier to give thin coats.

best of luck.

My personal experience with both has been quite interesting. The Krylon Fusion for plastics works great! Make sure you get Flat, since the semi gloss and glossy will create problems with painting... Downside: It might have a tough time accepting a really watered down version of paint (in my case, citadel paints). Flat kinda solves this problem though.

The Krylon Primer I also used and had a great experience with it! If you are going to use it, I think it only comes in Flat, but make sure you get it in White. Downside: I suggest not using it in humid areas, as it will bead in mid-air and put dried crusty crusts (<---technical term) sputtered all on your model.

I use both to do a black base and hit it with a white primer ultra light coat to give it some surface to have the paint bond onto, and I thought it worked out great for my blood slaughterers! I will be posting up some more pics on a blog sometime in the near future that will show how my fabrication and paint process works out.

This being said, try out both on some models, and which ever one you don't like, just dunk it in LA's Totally Awesome (Dollar Tree - $1) for 24 hours and scrub it off if its white. If its black, try it, but I haven't been too successful with removing black from my models...

I seem to have had a similar experience as dave.

i use army painter exclusively. they now have acrylic pots which match their colour sprays now.

I love the krylon fusion stuff, as it binds to the metal, plastic, finecast, resin or whatever really really well. I have no experience with the straight up primer, but the Krylon Ultra Flat camo colors with fusion are what I swear by. They give really consistent coating, and are not really picky about the weather or humidity. I don't recall having any issues of the paint rubbing off of metal models either. The only down side to it, is I can't buy enough of it at once.

It looks like you are Canadian - so I can offer you another alternative. If you have a Rona store nearby, you can pick up the Rona brand primer, or even the rust-proof flat lacquer in a can.
It is cheaper than Krylon, is very flat and takes paint like nobody's business and a light coat will suffice.

I have used it on plastic, metal and finecast without issue.

As far as Krylon is concerned, I find their primer binds well, but in my experience, is not flat enough (for my taste). I unfortunately have no experience with fusion however.

I use krylon fusion (I think, maybe its just the regular kind...), and it doesn't respond well to touch, going all gummy on the bases where I hold the model (everywhere else is fine, though).

I also like to give them a light dusting with the primer just enough to get it mostly black everywhere, and then go in and use regular black paint to finish the priming job. That way I can be careful around the details, which won't get washed out by overpriming.

I like fusion, but i find that the primer bonds to metal far better than fusion does