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The two times I've primed minis this winter, the result was grainy. It's been cold and dry, and I don't want to use primer inside my house, what should I do? Should I just move the can much closer to the minis, or is there some other trick?

A trick is to put the can (do not submerge the top) in hot water for like 10 minutes. helps if the can was cold.

But that probably wont stop it from fuzzing if you prime when it is too cold and dry.

if you have one a Garage may help otherwise you may be SOL.

Best way I have found is it hit fast, what I do is I get the model I want to prime ready, or if it's a squad just like 5 models at a time. I will then sit with the spray n against my leg or between them to keep the can warm and the paint warm. I then prime a few and quickly take them inside after priming.

It's rough to prime in Cold weather man I feel you.

Being a fellow Canadian I share your issue and I can safely say there is no real solution other than, like Desubot says, using your garage. Wear a mask and open the door after you spray. The most important thing is to not let your models dry in the garage as well. Spray them quickly and move them inside. Never use primer in your house.

The other alternative is get away from spray cans and go the airbrush route and prime via that method.

Warm the can up in water before using, I have in the past wrapped a can and placed it on the radiator when not in a rush where it can be rolled and shaken inbetween.

Dont leave it unattended and dont ever let it get near 50*C

I think I have it around 20-25*C

could possibly warm the models which was talked about before, though I've never tried it

Get an airbrush. I got sick and tired of priming in finnish weather which essentially killed priming in winter with good result. Cheap airbrush set makes priming dirt easy. Plus it pays back in saved price of all those rattlecans.

I recently attended a painting course & the course leader said he uses a hairdryer plugged into an extension chord so he can dry the minis as soon as the spray has gone on. Worth a try? But make sure there are no puddles etc 1st!!!!

I was hoping for better news, but I'm glad to hear that I wasn't missing something obvious.

I just saw this article about priming with gesso, which sounds promising.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Priming%20With%20Acrylic%20Gesso

Atlatl Jones wrote:
I was hoping for better news, but I'm glad to hear that I wasn't missing something obvious.

I just saw this article about priming with gesso, which sounds promising.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Priming%20With%20Acrylic%20Gesso

That's what I use. Pretty much all year it is either too cold or too wet to spray anything. Gesso saves me a lot of heartache.

There's always brush-on primer. Not ideal, but it's an option.

Batch prime a lot of stuff when the weather's good, so that you have a stockpile of stuff ready to paint during the bad times?

 sockwithaticket wrote:
Batch prime a lot of stuff when the weather's good, so that you have a stockpile of stuff ready to paint during the bad times?

That leaves you with depressingly big unpainted pile of shame though

Brush on primer!
+ any Temperature
+ prime the model not your surroundings
+ smell!
+ with a white primer, you can do a "prime & base in one go" with many colors.

- takes a bit longer

I'm using the Vallejo brush on primer and imo, it's just great.

Unless you are on one of the poles, you should be fine. Step outside, spray, put back inside to let dry. A little space heater to set them in front of is nice too.

I live in Alaska and regularly prime in single digit weather. I have never had an issue using Krylon primers.

Same here in Scotland. Biggest problem with spray primer is running out of propellant when there is still loads of paint if you let the can get too cold.

Take a bucket of warm water outside and float the can in it. Bring out some models, immediately spray the and take them back in. Don't let them get cold or leave them to dry in the cold.

Knallfix wrote:
Brush on primer!
+ any Temperature
+ prime the model not your surroundings
+ smell!
+ with a white primer, you can do a "prime & base in one go" with many colors.

- takes a bit longer

I'm using the Vallejo brush on primer and imo, it's just great.

I've heard of a lot of people doing this but I keep wondering how resilient this vallejo stuff is. I've been thinking about trying this cause I hate spray paint but i'm worried regular handling will still wear it just like regular paint.

It's not a resilient as primer sprays, but as long as you give it 24 hours or more to dry properly, then it's more resilient than regular paint. You shouldn't need to be laying hands on bare primer all that much anyway.

I've had mixed results with it wearing off while painting, but its inconsistent about it, and really only been a problem on models I don't stick to a cork or the like or otherwise directly handle. (Also probably doesn't help I mostly do metal models and don't scrub the mold release first either.) Satisfied enough with Vallejo polyurethane that its still my go to.

Vejut wrote:
I've had mixed results with it wearing off while painting, but its inconsistent about it, and really only been a problem on models I don't stick to a cork or the like or otherwise directly handle. (Also probably doesn't help I mostly do metal models and don't scrub the mold release first either.) Satisfied enough with Vallejo polyurethane that its still my go to.

That's my experience as well, I find the Vallejo black primer in particular works very well with a brush. No real problems with metal or plastic models (I have had problems with resin though - even after thorough cleaning). I have not had the same success with their white - though it might be a bad batch - so I switched to a light grey with more success - it still is nowhere near as good as the black though. Spray is obviously quicker, but when you can't . . . .