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The search function didn't seem to help, so forgive me for asking what I'm sure has been asked a thousand times:

What's a good alternate primer? Something I can pick up at the hardware store, for example. Army Builder looks cool and all, but Krylon paint and primer is 3.45 a can. Would this work on my daughter's tyranids?

Krylon primers will work fine, along with some Auto primers for vehicles.

I literally go to Home Depot and buy the cheapest can of FLAT black spray paint that I can find (usually runs me ~$5).

I have had no major problems that I can recall.

Brite touch grey primer works well btwn 70F to 35F low moisture level.

I don't know if a brush-able alternative is acceptable but acrylic artist's gesso works great, covers completely in one stroke, and doesn’t require spray precautions. It dries in a couple minutes and I use it all the time when I do singles and what not. Make sure you soap an rinse the minis beforehand. (Spray primer has some wicked chemicals to eat the mold-release grease off the surface as it sprays on the pigment.)

You can get it cheap at the art supply store and it come in white & black

http://ordinarygaming.blogspot.com/2012/06/priming-miniatures-gesso.html

What color do you want to Tyranids to be? I've used the full range of:

Rustoleum/Krylon Camo Dark Green
Rustoleum/Krylon Camo Brown
Rustoleum/Krylon Camo Khaki
Rustoleum High Heat Almond
Rustoleum/Krylon/Ace Black, White, and Grey

I did my Tyranids in a Hive Fleet Kraken scheme. The base primer was the Rustoleum High Heat Almond and I applied the brown wash directly to it.

Here is a short article I wrote about using various colored primers

http://www.kan.org/michael/mkp/paints_spray.php

Well, they're actually going to be used on my daughter's tyranids, so we are looking for pink, purple and blue.

If you are willing to throw down a couple of extra dollars to experiment, there are tons of craft sprays that should bond well to plastic. The major problem will be the glossiness, but you could solve that with a second coat of matte sealer. I would try it out on a couple of test figures first.

I use Krylon primer, Krylon spray as a base coat, and craft paints for details and touch ups.

I haven't got the hang of Gesso yet though. Always seems to come out really thin.

I use car primer spray in medium grey.

I've used Gesso with good success but it is an art shop product rather than hardware store. The other thing is it needs to be painted on so it's not as good for quick production.

Ifurita, that article is amazingly helpful. Thank you!

So, now that I've had to read it, would you say that any flat spray paint would work? Do I even need to bother with primer?

Hardware store flat black spray (I usually use the cheapest buck-a-can stuff I can find) adheres well enough that you don't need a primer, and since it's flat, it has enough "tooth" that the paint will adhere well.

I use Gesso (black or white) for small batches, and cheap white or black spray for larger batches. However, for anything where I can use a color primer, I use:
-colored camo sprays from Rustoelum or Krylon.
-Ruddy brown (Rust) or light grey primer sprays.
-If priming a model or terrain piece containing toys or materials using soft plastic, I'll always use krylon camo sprays because they have "fusion" chemicals that allow them to bond well to soft plastic. Nothing else bonds as well.

If you're doing tyranids, though, then take a look pastel sprays as a possible single step prime/basecoat. They can usually be found in "satin" which does have a bit of a shine, but with tyranids, that's not usually a problem.

For painting tyranids fast, maybe a spray of a satin pastel, some details in other colors and a dip would be one way to go.

She has specifically mentioned wanting them to be shiny, so Satin might be a way to go as well.

Pastel sprays will take a wash, then?

I've recently started using and been pleased with DupliColor Sandable Black Primer (though it comes in other colors). It's 5-6 USD at Pep Boys or most other auto stores and sprays in a fan instead of a circle (less wasted paint, just have to wave it up and down the model).

It's got a very smooth coating that hugs the model really well and is resilient. Haven't seen it chip yet.

Meh. Story says there was no nudity.

We are making a huge deal out of nothing.

 Monster Rain wrote:
Meh. Story says there was no nudity.

We are making a huge deal out of nothing.

Um? What?

That's really, really weird.

I swear I posted that in an OT thread! Yes, ignore that. Thanks for the primer advice everyone!

I've used krylon fusion as its designed to bond to plastic and has a nice color range but it needs to be matte varnished before you can wash/paint it. I recommend eitertestor dull cote or the krylon acrylic flat sealer for this.

Another brand that has a great color range s rustoleum painters touch 2x. But use care to make light passes ata good distance as it comes out of the bottle twice as much( hence the 2x) but still covers in one pass. Also needs a matte varnish to work with.