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Hey there, I recently just started this very addicting hobby of miniature painting and Wh40k but I have run into a bit of a snag with my hobby. I was just now told by my room mate that he has breathing problems all of the sudden. So trying to being considerate I'm no longer using rattle cans for the priming of my minis. I know my non aerosol options could be a medium of some sort, gesso, or a brushable primer. So, I have tried the gesso route for now, but being new this is my first venture with this media for priming. I was wondering if i could get a consensus (good or bad) on this mini if its what is to be expected of gesso or if my technique can improve with some of your suggestions. Let me have it though if it, looks like this model is one of many tests ... this seemed to be the smoothest I could get it as of now. It seem chalky to me.

Don't spray inside and allow proper dry time before bringing them inside maybe? Spray can will be the easiest/most cost effective, otherwise I don't have much advice as I've only used brushable primer for base details post-painting of the mini.

 LushWizard wrote:
It seem chalky to me.

It is, because it's meant for large paintings on canvas. You can make it work, but the surface is never going to be as smooth as you'll get with spray primers. One important thing you can do is spray everything with a coat of matte varnish, which will keep the rough surface texture from reflecting as much light and hide some of the imperfections.

honestly you shouldn't be spraying with rattle cans indoors in any case - if you're not, just wait a while to bring your stuff in, as has been mentioned.

I got an airbrush for priming (you can use a spray booth which exhausts to the outdoors via a window for instance) to help with this. I got mine mainly because it's too humid here to use spray cans anyway.

Otherwise I'd say use something like a brush on primer. I like vallejo's grey though not everyone does.

As for using Gesso, I've used black gesso and the cheaper white and while it has its uses, I don't care for it for things that have a lot of detail. It can be a bit hard to put it on thinly enough to cover, while keeping detail, as well as the fact that it does tend to level itself (especially if you put it on too thickly). It's great for terrain use! but I don't care for it for minis so much.

Anyway, so your options:

- do it outside, wait - good but time consuming + weather
- airbrush (with proper ventillation, also because it can smell) - really the best, but expensive initially
- brush on primer (like Tamiya, or Vallejo) - ok, but time consuming for multiple miniatures.

I'd probably go with the first, until you can afford an airbrush. if you're doing a lot of minis, an airbrush to prime with is a godsend.

Good luck!

I prime with gesso exclusively-- the weather here is too volatile for sprays, and I hate generating that much garbage. In my experience:

-Gesso shrinks when it dries, so if you apply it as thickly (or rather, thinly) as you would your acrylics, it shouldn't hide any details.
-While gesso is a little rough/chalky, any paint and lacquer you apply over it will smooth it right out.

I say give it a try.

There's an old gesso-priming article here on Dakka:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Priming_With_Acrylic_Gesso

My experience: I've tried liquitex white gesso and a non-brand black gesso. The white remained thick and chalky, like your photo, but the black shrinks around minis like it does in the article. I don't know what it is: the brand (though liquitex worked well enough in the article), the batch, any difference between white and black, or something I did. (I don't think so... ) In any case I still use the black regularly, for indoor priming and touching up spray priming, and I'd sooner recommend black gesso for mini priming.

I also tried priming with Gesso, it kinda worked, but it scratches off way too easily imo, takes more time and sometimes clogs up detail. No problems with it being chalky though. I used Liquitex Black Gesso, not white.

I also tried Vallejo Brush-On Primer Black, which removed the problem of clogged details. The other two negative points stayed the same.

In the end, I gave up on priming without a rattle can. In my opinion it's easier, faster and Armypainter sprays are hard to get rid off. I can play with primed or half-painted models without worrying about scratched off paint. Always use a well-ventilated area, though!