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I am soooo mad right now. I have been using rustolium flat black protective enamel as spray on primer for my models. about 50% of the time my modls come out "gritty" looking. I am so done with rustolium. it is a nice day out today no much humidity and there is just no reason that this should have happened. What kinds of primer do y'all use that is more reliable than this crap!

The gritty texture probably has more to do with your technique than it does with the primer.

That being said, people seem to get excellent results using sandable automotive primer.

Do a search for "grainy" or "gritty" primer....this question gets asked literally about once a week (more common in the warmer months in the northern hemisphere...for a reason).

As SPJ says, that is an effect of how primer is being sprayed and can happen with ANY primer.

Basically what happens is the small droplets of primer are starting to dry in mid air, and hit your models as small balls of paint, instead of liquid.

Try spraying in less heat, or different humidity, or spray closer to the model. If you spray closer, use shorter bursts or sweeping motions to control the coverage.

But....don't take my word for it...seriously, this is an very common problem, and a lot of other folks might have good suggestions as well - do a few searches, or literally just go to the next page and look for primer problems.

best of luck!

I like to use krylon 2x covrage bonds to plastic black primer. Humid hot cold whatever it's worked wonders. Only problem is that you can't simple green it all off if you plan to strip a model.

The_Satin_One wrote:
I like to use krylon 2x covrage bonds to plastic black primer. Humid hot cold whatever it's worked wonders. Only problem is that you can't simple green it all off if you plan to strip a model.

I too use this primer, and have had great success with it. I do find, that it takes a bit of experience to use well, as it not careful, you can put it on a bit thicker than some others.

This is my go to primer for terrain, vehicles and any thing else where I need to spray a large number of models. If I am doing only one, or I need very precise control (say, to get in an undercut or angle where a can may not work well) I use Vallejo surface primer in my airbrush.

One note; While I love the krylon 2x (I get it at home depot, for about $3-4 a can) it too can cause the grainly effect if you are spraying too far from the model in exceptionally dry/hot weather (its many factors that cause this affect, not just a single one...).

I use the cheap stuff from walmart, about 1$ per can. Before that it was basic krylon.

If you're buying premium spray paints, sandable primers, plastic bonding- you're wasting money. We don't need any of those features! Some of them are actually very detrimental. Sandable primer- it has surface fillers in it. Meaning it fills in fine details. Since you dont sand miniatures- its a waste and you pay extra for it. Plastic bonding? sounds great- but do your marines get beat up as much as the plastic patio furniture that stuff is meant to put a thick layer on? If so you have other problems.

Heres my blog article on priming, as far as I know I was the first one to document(and figure out the cause behind) the various problems like the gritty/fuzzy results and others. So if you have any questions feel free to ask (here or PM )
http://mistressofminis.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-primer-on-priming-when-weathers-not.html