Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I’m relatively new to the hobby (6 months aprox) and feel like I have learnt a heck of a lot in a short space of time.

But there’s a couple of things that I’m gonna need to ask about.

1) Is the art of base coating. The irony is that I’ve been able to pull off some quite advanced techniques on my miniature, dry brushing highlighting that kind of thing, BUT getting a good solid basecoat is still some variable and slightly elusive.

2) my second question is about priming the miniatures.

This is a big one, and the main focus of my needing help.

I have tried a bunch of spray can primers. With somewhat varying results.

Initially my go to was army painter black mat spray can primer. But I’ve ditched that now because I’m just sick of the low quality of the spray can. It would always always malfunction before you had emptied the can of spray paint. In most instances there was a half or a4 left in the can and it will always malfunction. And £11 pop was too expensive. So I had to find another spray cam primer.
so I went to my local Robert Dyas and found a spray can primer that I can pick up for £5. it’s pretty good.. has good coverage. The spray can functionally is very good. And like I said it’s £5 so it’s less than half the price the army painter spray paint.

But I just can’t work out what the deal is. Some miniatures, I can scrape the paint off easily with my fingernail..?
It Sod’s Law, that on some of the miniatures I don’t care about I could take sandpaper to the bloody thing and the paint doesn’t come off. But on some of my best painted miniatures, the paint seems to come off easy, if I scrape it with my fingernail...


I’m sure I’m not alone, in expressing how anxious that situation makes me. The amount of time you spend painting these little bastards, you don’t want your effort to be wasted.


I’ve never used a varnish as yet. As generally most of the miniatures the paint job fares fairly well. Because sometimes I get some paint peeling I panic. I’m now thinking should I start spray and varnishing my miniatures? Will that ruin the paint job?

I do have an army painter satin varnish spray can I have yet to use.

I really appreciate any thought folks might have or tips they can share.

Thanks.


This is the spray primer I use.


But it seems easy to scrape the paint off? But then other primers too seemed to have same issues??


https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/maxicolor-primer-grey

With re: to primers and miniatures and stickiness - I find that it is safer to wash your miniatures in warm soapy water with an old toothbrush to remove any mold release, especially for resin and metal minis. Some will say that plastic doesn't need it, but I find its better to be safe than sorry.

That could be one reason. The other could be cure time. It might say "30 minutes" to dry, or an hour, or whatever, but I leave mine for 24 hours, or at least overnight. I tend to have less rub-off when I do that. Usually, rattle can primers, due to the chemicals in them, don't have that kind of problem. But, see above about washing.

Finally, I find that environment, especially outside, can have an impact on priming. Priming outside in humidity or a breeze can cause all kinds of problems. I switched to an airbrush for priming and never looked back.

Finally, finally, some will say that you should warm your rattle can in a hot water bath before and while using, as the propellants will cause the can to go chill, which can then impact the duration of spray, and cause you to leave primer in the can. I've never done it, however I have had some bum cans of primer but its rare (and I use(d) GW, Army Painter, and Armoury primers (mostly GW).

1 - Base coating will come with practice. You will find what works best for you over time. I now just ink/wash over white and don't bother with basecoat, but sometimes still use it, it depends.

2 - I found this video very useful



Sometimes I prime my models, sometimes I forget, sometimes I just put thin paint over sprue and paint over it, Sometimes I mess up on the primer, and sometimes the primer is rubbish.

So far in ALL of my painting woes I can really on one thing - Varnish!
I know, that if I mess up, or forget to prime, if for some reason the paint is literally rubbing off from a slightest touch
(Like was with these 3 https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/150/780044.page#11663697 , I began painting strait over the metal, and if I was not careful how I held it, paint would rub off down to metal right away)
Or if the model is sticky (like Reaper bones sometimes would get)
Or mess up on layering and end up with a mess (like on these, https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/813720.page#11670090 I messed up and the basecoat paint was over hairspay and would wash off immediately, and I so varnished it with Vallejo-Matt-Varnish, but still the water would wash off the basecoat paint!)
In ANY case - I can always Varnish with Rust-olium varnish (gloss, matt, satin don't matter) And the Varnish will seal in everything!
Because got nice Matt Flat varnish to matt the model as the very last step, it does not matter if my "sealing" varnish was gloss or satin.

Varnishing is important in any case, and especially if the pieces will be used on table top as gaming pieces, think of wooden chess pieces those are varnished as well.
I sometimes watch PLASMO and notice that he would spray varnish multiple times between major steps like basecoat and applying decals, ets.



Hope this helps ya.

Thanks for the feedback.

Useful video!

With regards to priming my miniatures - I buy off eBay already painted and you have to practically take sandpaper to that sucker to get the paint off . and They don’t look varnished.

Where as the miniature I paint, you only need to lightly scratch them with your fingernail and the paint comes off??

I don’t get it….

Some of that will be people just globbing paint on. Some will be using paints other than the standard acrylic. And some will just be variations on the basic acrylic paint formulation. Some acrylics just don't adhere all that well, and others adhere quite well.

If you're having trouble with paint adhesion, there are some steps to take.

1) Wash your minis before priming. The mold release agents manufacturers use to prevent wear and tear on both mold and model can interfere with paint binding. A gentle scrub with a soft toothrbush and a mild soap solution should do. And let the model dry thoroughly afterwards.

2) Proper thinning of the paint. OVERthinning can cause the paint to not adhere properly. Of course, UNDERthinning causes the paint to appear chalky or globby and obscure details, so it's a fine balance to strike.

Add in that even within a range of paints the proper level of thinning can vary wildly, and things get complicated. It's something you just have to experiment with until you get the desired results.

3) For plastic minis, I find using Krylon Fusion as a primer helps. It binds to most plastics very well indeed. Experiment and find out if it works for you.