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This seems like a lost art from the days of GW's "smelly primer".

I just did it for the first time with vallejo airbrush primer and vallejo thinner...the results were far better than spray priming and I can do it indoors and not anger the wife! Suffice it to say I had no idea what I'd been missing.

If you're brushing on airbrush primer, and getting better results than spraying, then you're spraying it wrong or are god with a brush!
GW still do a brush on primer, its black now and they call it Imperial Primer. Nothing wrong with brush on primers at all, I think speed is the obvious attraction to the sprays. Aswell as it being easier to ensure the film is thin enough to obscure detail.
Brush on primers do tend to have a shrinkage factor though, theyre designed to go on thick and shrink back to hug the details of whatever is being primed. Artists Gesso works well.

Congratulations on your discovery!

I usually prime by hand for small batches of figures, and since I mostly play warband skirmish games I do alot of brush priming. I use black or White Gesso depending on the color scheme. Usually white since it brightens up the colors for the Minwax Brush-dip that almost all my figures get.

It's fast, convenient and not messy. Gesso shrinks really well also, so I can put it on fast and a bit messy without worrying about detail loss.

I'll still use sprays for terrain, larger batches of minis and minis where the bascoat and primer can be sprayed in one coat (Usually with Krylon Camo colors).

I prefer spray priming. But there always seems to be single models or parts that need hand priming. GW's technical primer is great for small parts/ models.

a while back I was looking for a good indoor priming solution, since I don't have a garage or outdoor area to spray in. I tried brushing on vallejo primer and using gesso (both black and white) and my results were meh, at best. priming with an airbrush gives me much better, and faster, results then anything I was able to achieve with a brush. works just fine indoors, as I use a CO2 tank rather than a compressor so it's nearly silent. just need to crack a window and wear a mask and it's all good

Only if I'm using gesso.

I try to do as little by hand as I can get away with.

I still have half a jar of Smelly Primer left. I covet it like my precious.

It comes in handy when I really want to paint something new and the weather outside is too frightful for spraying stuff. I only really use it for figures though, I need to spray big stuff like tanks and buildings

Thinned Skull White or Chaos Black when I'm wanting to do a one-off. Always does the trick. Yes, I'm still on some very old pots.

Necros wrote:I still have half a jar of Smelly Primer left. I covet it like my precious.

It comes in handy when I really want to paint something new and the weather outside is too frightful for spraying stuff. I only really use it for figures though, I need to spray big stuff like tanks and buildings

Give Gesso a try. I used to use Smelly, but I find that gesso works great. I think it might even smell a bit similar...

JohnnyHell wrote:Thinned Skull White or Chaos Black when I'm wanting to do a one-off. Always does the trick. Yes, I'm still on some very old pots.

Is the old paint thicker or more adhesive than new paint, or are you just very careful? Paint as primer has a bad reputation for rubbing off easily.

Hell yeah! I generally brush on my primer depending on the weather (humidity, temperature, etc.)

I've used gesso, but I really wasn't all that impressed. It was Liquitex's White gesso though, so that may be the issue (as I've heard a difference between white and black for some reason).

I have used Americana Multi-purpose sealer and it works amazingly (add a drop or 2 of a color ink so you can see where you've been, as it's clear). Quite resilient, holds well, doesn't kill the detail, and it's CHEAP.

Otherwise I grab my can-o-Krylon,,,

Inhabe used liquitex white gesso and compared it to imperial primer on some of the Dark Vengeance marines. Althought the painting process was different and the white gesso one looked sloppy, he end result was the same and now I can't even tell which one was the tester for the white gesso. I also would like to give the black gesso a try, although I am still partial to spray primers.

I've completed 5 Dark Angels Space Marines using the starter paint kit - each one I hand primed using the Imperial Primer that came with the kit.

They're the first models I ever painted, so I had some issues at first - the primer was going on too watery with too little color, so I had to shake it extremely vigorously. I've also had several instances of paint flaking off toes and other areas. Ultimately, however, I got them done with fairly even coats and most of the paint appears to be behaving.

I think I prefer it to spray coating because I can do it indoors and without ventilation. I tried spray priming a base and I felt like I was making a mess, so I just went back to brush priming everything. I just need to work on my technique and ensuring that I have an even coat of primer to prevent paint flaking and I think I will use brush primers going forward.

I only really ever buy spray twice a year - my birthday and christmas, the time that I get buches of new figures. When that runs out, I never bother buying more because I simply can't afford it :S

So I prime by hand for most of my models.

I hand prime using the normal Chaos Black paint, is that a bad idea?

 Shadowclaimer wrote:
I hand prime using the normal Chaos Black paint, is that a bad idea?

Most folks would say yes. Adhering to the model and providing "tooth" for paint to adhere to are the two jobs of a primer. Brush on Chaos black probably has enough tooth for other paints to stick to it, but it's not going to stick to the model as well as a primer will, so you end up with a much less sturdy paintjob.

Primers are cheap (or cheaper in the case of gesso) than paint, so there's really no reason to use paint instead.

I prime by hand using a big old pot of standard black acrylic paint, I have yet to notice any real differences to spray primed models once the model is completed.

I prime by hand. Either with my Chaos Black paint or the GW primer.

Imperial Primer paint makes me feel like having masturbated. Lots of effort, and it ain't worth it at the end of it. Not cool GW, not cool. I don't want to shake my pot of paint for minutes before it will work A BIT.

As many others have said Gesso is the hand priming go to. I don't prefer it but I like to try new things.

I use Vallejo PU primer (grey), often combined with a white primer spray for zenital lighting. It gives a perfect base for painting.

I frequently use the GW Black Primer for heads, jump packs, and bolters/plasma guns/melta guns That is because I paint those separate from the body, and so it's usually just easier to do it by hand than try to secure and spray them.

Vehicles and large models get a spray primer. Troops sized models get clear gesso brushed on.

Depends. Troops get the fast and dirty paint job, or else they never get done. Big guys, like vehicles or carnifexes, usually sprayed unless there's no colored primer. Special guys, my trophies, get a fully manual paintjob.

I generally prime with GW's Imperial Primer by hand ... living in a 3rd fl apt has its drawbacks...

I do because we have bad weather here all the time.

Thanks for the replies guys! Nice to see hand priming has a place.

I've always been so happy with GWs black spray primer that I use little else when I'm doing black. Army Painter Plate Mail is what my son uses for his Necrons.

I'm rarely able to spray prime because of daily routines so I have been mostly doing it by hand, either using GW's Imperial Primer or Vallejo's White Primer.