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Want to Spray paint some plastic miniatures from the open fire box with a black primer.

So I was wondering what kind of spray paint do people here recommend and how do people spray the little men without the little men being pushed by the air from the spray can? Experienced this while trying to spray paint some small pieces of a tamyia tank which I had left off.

Also keen on time effectiveness. Appreciate any advice.

I'd suggest sticking with spray paint designed for models. It’s tempting to by cheap spray paint from dollar and hardware shops but I’ve not had good experiences with these, they don’t allow paint to adhere as well.

You can either spray a base colour directly onto the plastic or spray them black and paint the base colors by hand. What works for you is a matter of preference.

Plastic Soldier Company do spray paints for the uniforms of the main nations. I’ve no experience of the infantry ones, but the vehicle sprays are excellent. Humbrol Sprays are also pretty good but I’m not sure if they are available outside of the UK. If you want to undercoat black, I personally prefer GW’s Chaos Black spray. I’ve tried the Army Painter black but didn’t think it was as good and was only a pound less anyway.

As to how you stop the plastic guys from being pushed over, you have two options. Either glue the miniatures to the bases and paint the base as a whole (my preferred method) or stick a group of them to a temporary surface like a lollypop stick with UHU glue. This will hold them in place for painting but will still allow you to pull them off the stick without too much trouble when finished.

I use blu-tak or the putty used to hang posters to hold the infantry to popsicle sticks.

The putty you can get from pretty much anyplace with school or office supplies (I got mine at target in the U.S) and the popsicle sticks can be bought at almost any art and crafts store.

I use wooden Coffee stirrers and double sided tape "borrowed" from work for plastic, or stirrers and a dab of super glue for metal.

I personally spray all my infantry after they are based (obviously before flocking etc...). They are only a little more awkward to paint and it cuts out a step.

For infantry I always use a black spray. I use black acrylic car body spray from Halfords, its not a true undercoat but it adheres well and its quite a lot cheaper than modelling spray.

I use GW's black spray simply because that is what I had already lying around.
I stick them to their bases before spraying in order to reduce the 'pushing around' issue.

The fineness of the details means you would want to use an airbrush primer.

No it doesn't.

There is no disadvantage in quality from using either brush, spray or airbrush.

 notprop wrote:


There is no disadvantage in quality from using either brush, spray or airbrush.

Airbrush primer produces a thinner coat on the model. Trust your heart, you know it to be true.

All methods can be applied in thin coats. You can feth up with an AB as easily as a spray can; it's really just a question of method and technique.

You really should try your brain rather than heart.

I used a can of GW black primer on mine with no problems.
All the models were based and textured (but not flocked), then stuck to a tray I use for spraying with blu tack.
I also use Krylon flat black camouflage paint.
It adheres to plastic very well, takes paint very nicely, and goes on in thin coats that don't obscure detail.

Thanks for the replies people. (:

Ended up using "craft glue" to glue the trial group minis to a Popsicle stick then gw chaos black primer. (easy to source)

am yet to start painting (other than prime). need to make a trip to source the right colours tmz.

Have yet to discover if it will be easy to remove models from Popsicle stick, however trials with random bits from bits box left for a few hours on Popsicle stick have shown that glue is quite weak. Don't think I'll have any problems, will post back with results.

 notprop wrote:
All methods can be applied in thin coats. You can feth up with an AB as easily as a spray can; it's really just a question of method and technique.

You really should try your brain rather than heart.

Actually I think you should try using your brain, because AB primer gives as thin coats at 5cm as spray at x5+ the range.

Spray primers are decent on a budget but airbrush is far, far more precise and versatile, stop trying to deny it.

 sing your life wrote:

 notprop wrote:
All methods can be applied in thin coats. You can feth up with an AB as easily as a spray can; it's really just a question of method and technique.

You really should try your brain rather than heart.

Actually I think you should try using your brain, because AB primer gives as thin coats at 5cm as spray at x5+ the range.

Spray primers are decent on a budget but airbrush is far, far more precise and versatile, stop trying to deny it.

Highlighted or the hard of thinking.

No denials there, just pointing out that your indication that there is a superior method to that which the OP was asking about. He's also new to wargaming and I'm sure doesn't need the hassle of learning (and expense of) airbrushing as well.

A method that your post history indicate you know little about and probably don't actually practice.

The above, in English please

MadMarkMagee wrote:
Thanks for the replies people. (:

Ended up using "craft glue" to glue the trial group minis to a Popsicle stick then gw chaos black primer. (easy to source)

am yet to start painting (other than prime). need to make a trip to source the right colours tmz.

Have yet to discover if it will be easy to remove models from Popsicle stick, however trials with random bits from bits box left for a few hours on Popsicle stick have shown that glue is quite weak. Don't think I'll have any problems, will post back with results.

As another alternative to the popsickle, you could try undercoating with a brush.

Use toothpicks/cocktail sticks. A tiny dab of superglue to attach the miniatures to the stick (I usually then stick these in a cork from a wine bottle for drying) - superglue can be quite brittle, they will be held fast yet you can then 'snap' the miniatures off the sticks when you have finished painting them. This is very easy with metal miniatures, although I've also done it with the PSC troopers (a pair of cutters can help with those however).

You can undercoat each miniature in 10-20 seconds, which I think in reality doesn't take a whole lot longer than spray undercoating when you have finished faffing around, setting up a painting area and spraying.

I should note however that I've only done this with small numbers of miniatures. If I was painting large quantities of troopers (Soviet Strelkovy for instance) it might even be an idea to spray them on the sprue.

I have found that P3 primer gives a very thin spray while GW primer tends to be thicker and more prone to detail loss.

Yea used the method I posted before and just finished the test group yesterday. Happy with the results no problems getting the guys off, (though I did have to use a little tiny bit of forces from underneath their base, will in future only apply very small amount of glue and make sure base overhang on Popsicle stick. )

Thanks for the advice people.

 Palindrome wrote:


For infantry I always use a black spray. I use black acrylic car body spray from Halfords, its not a true undercoat but it adheres well and its quite a lot cheaper than modelling spray.

Following this I actually bought a can of Halfords matt black this weekend to try out. I sprayed a single tank and I'm impressed with the result. It covers the model well and the basecoat went adhered to it nicley. It's also £2 cheaper than a can of GW Black Spray and 100ml bigger.

I exclusively use the Halford's primers for all my priming needs. I am especially impressed with the Grey primer which is now my 'go to' primer.

 Surtur wrote:
GW primer tends to be thicker and more prone to detail loss.

How far away do you spray this primer from?