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Last week i bought some Imperial Primer, it's the first paint in the new range i've tried. The site description and the staff at GW suggests it is good for undercoating, so i assumed it would be fairly consistent and i'd end up with something similar to what it would look like if i painted something Chaos Black. I've tried using it, and it is really watery. Is it meant to be like that? Some pictures and a few videos of it i've seen suggest it's not, but i'm not sure. I've tried shaking the pot/stirring it and it hasn't helped, it's still really watery. Am i doing something wrong?

I have no first-hand experience with it, but I can say that I haven't seen or read anything good about. Unless you have an airbrush, pick up a better (and cheaper) spray primer from the hardware store (automotive primer typically goes on smoother and lighter so I would recommend it).

It's a primer, meant to go directly onto metals/plastics/resins. An undercoat is what is applied to a model before any actual paint is applied. Then there is a basecoat, which is the basic set of colours that will be on the model. Then there's highlighting an etc. I think you confused undercoating with basecoating, since you said you'd use it as a Chaos Black equivalent. In the GW range Abaddon Black replaced Chaos Black.

 Deunstephe wrote:
It's a primer, meant to go directly onto metals/plastics/resins. An undercoat is what is applied to a model before any actual paint is applied. Then there is a basecoat, which is the basic set of colours that will be on the model. Then there's highlighting an etc. I think you confused undercoating with basecoating, since you said you'd use it as a Chaos Black equivalent. In the GW range Abaddon Black replaced Chaos Black.

I know Abbadon black is what replaced Chaos black, but the GW site says Imperial Primer is "perfect for when a spray undercoat might not be convenient (when it's raining outside, for example, or when undercoating a fiddly component). The paint's high concentration of pigment and special design means that it will cover metal, plastic and resin models with ease" and the staff at GW suggested it would do something similar to what the Chaos Black Spray would do. This picture also implies that it gives an even coat:



The first part is of that picture is "1. Undercoat the model. The details are small, so I hand undercoated the model (rather then use a spray) with Imperial Primer."

And then there's videos such as this:




My Army was going to have a Black Colour scheme, so i was hoping i'd just be able to paint it Imperial Primer without having to go over it again with Abbadon Black.

Gods, I have this very same problem!

A lot of high quality paints for minis are pretty thin. I use Formula P3 Thamar Black, great paint IMO but takes a few thin coats to get an even solid base like with Imperial Primer. Bit more work but the detail you save and get a more even coating of the mini. No need to go over it with imperial primer AND abbadon black for a black color scheme. Or save yourself work and time with an airbrush.

Tried it again, it's not quite as bad as it was last time but it's still pretty translucent and would require a minimum of 2 coats.

Sorry I misunderstood what you were going for, but it's still always better to paint something black than just leaving it primed black. The finish is different IMO.

If I use imperial primer I kinda use it as a very heavy drybrush with a large brush, such as the large dry brush from GW.

It's marked as a 'Technical' paint and that's what I generally use it for. Since it's nice and thin already I find it's great for touching up areas and fixing mistakes.

For undercoating make sure you give it a really good shake, use a large brush and give it a few coats. It will come up nicely. I still prefer to spray my models though... so much easier.

 Mentlegen324 wrote:
Last week i bought some Imperial Primer, it's the first paint in the new range i've tried. The site description and the staff at GW suggests it is good for undercoating, so i assumed it would be fairly consistent and i'd end up with something similar to what it would look like if i painted something Chaos Black. I've tried using it, and it is really watery. Is it meant to be like that? Some pictures and a few videos of it i've seen suggest it's not, but i'm not sure. I've tried shaking the pot/stirring it and it hasn't helped, it's still really watery. Am i doing something wrong?

GW is really good about replacing defective stuff, which is good because 10% of the two hundred paints I've gotten from them (layer/base especially, shades were fine, some technical were no good though) have not met with quality control specs. My Imperial Primer was like black ink, the replacement is very thick. I would write GW with a picture and the lot number with a description of the problem.

Also, the picture they supply and somebody posted above is very very blatantly not a miniature that's just been hit with Imperial Primer.

The primer dries slightly patchy and is completely matte.

I've personally not had any problem with Imperial Primer. I don't have access to sprays right now so its all I'm using, and it's working fine with one coat on plastics, resins and metals.

What the OP is getting does sound like a bad batch - the primer needs a ruddy good shake and stire but it is a fairly thick paint when it's ready to go.

They seem to have a lot of those--my bottle of that had the same problem, but I didn't try really shaking it. I went with Vallejo german grey polyurethane instead, as I'm in an apartment with no balcony to spray on. That said, opinions and results vary...

This is from a four-year old thread. Except in special circumstances, we prefer that you start a new thread if you find a thread more than 30 days old that you'd like to comment on.

Thanks!