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First off, I'm no noob with a spray can, but I clearly made a rookie mistake here this time. (TLR, will a solid basecoat smooth out a rough prime job?)

Okay, so I ran out of primer, went to my favorite retail store that sells chicken feed, saddles, guns and licorice, and they were out of my usual Krylon primer (I prefer white, but they never have it). So I decided to save the time trekking across town to my SECOND FAVORITE retail store that sells bondage equipment and flowers, and just grabbed two cans of Rustoleum 2x plastic primer (one black, one white).

I primed some dudes on a nice dry day (rare for Indiana in July) using the black, and all was well. Smooth, slick, coated nicely after a few passes. I was really surprised, cuz I've read that the 2x comes out like a firehose, so I stood back a bit extra and sprayed even less directly than I usually do. These dudes turned out fine and I happily painted them.

SO!!! Fast forward to yesterday. I got some nice new metal (well it's like ten years old, but it's new to me!) and I really wanted to start off with a white base (I like to do a quick water-soluble ink wash to find all the highlights). I primed as I did before, only subbing out the color of cans, and the metal seemed to take the primer well. I went ahead and grabbed some Skeletons I recently assembled, since dry and not-ungodsly-hot is a rarity around now. I used the same damn technique, and these guys just didn't seem right.

Despite my everything screaming not to, I started to paint these models. They were a bumpy mess of clumps and chunks. Details didn't fill in too much, but no matter how many coats of base I put down, I couldn't get rid of the texture. Looking under my magnifier, it was obvious the primer put down larger particles in some areas, with a finer mist underneath. So in the vat they all went. ALL OF THEM. Pissy about it.

I spent last night scrubbing and cursing, but thanks for Fabuloso! I got the awful 2x Rustoleum off of these dudes. I'm clearly never going to buy this stuff ever again, but I'm wondering WHY the black would be smooth and the white would put down big and little dots. What do you gents think? And as a follow-up: do you think any amount of basecoating would smooth that texture out (say, if I was painting an Imperial Bastion for my LGS and I *may* have accidentally also used the same wretched white primer on it?)

Sounds like you may have a poorly mixed batch, or you didn't shake it extensively enough prior to spraying. I use the 2x on everything and am always very happy with the results.

I don't think you'd be able to smooth it out as much as you'd like with a basecoat, but you could try a spray of gloss sealer followed by a spray of matte sealer. It works for me when I've used cheapo spray sealer and gotten a pebbly texture, but I've never tried it on a basecoat.

Oh, I shake that can like they're playing Ginuwine.

LOL

"SECOND FAVORITE retail store that sells bondage equipment and flowers"

I think it does very between color. iv had white primer be chalky as heck while black primer as smooth as some of the stuff that comes out of that second store

Heh, I've had nothing but nightmares with Krylon and GW stuff

I think you held the can just a bit too far away. The paint was already drying before it hit the surface. I always use a cardboard box to test how far away I should be, but sometimes it's hard to tell especially outside. I also use that Rustoleum exclusively, and it will be gritty if you are not at the correct distance.

Last summer I based sprayed 2 models for a friend, a Wraithknight and the new Eldar Jet. It was in the 90's, and I was a lil bit too far away and the models came out that texture despite having used the 2 cans (before and after) on different models and having them come out perfect. I had to sand them off.

I hadn't thought about being too far away, but I can't have been more than 16" away. I'm usually about 10 to 12.

The metal models appear to have taken the primer fine, but the plastic dudes are still chalky.

What I'm gathering as consensus is: painting over it will probably not fix it. I think I'm better off just chucking out the can and getting new primer.

Try playing with your technique, a bit, before you just toss it. White sprays of all types generally seem to be more problematic than other colors. It's the same with cheap ColorPlace aerosol enamels - the black goes on like a dream, covering evenly and thinly, but the white applied the same way will just give you chalk. It's not unworkable, though, it just requires different handling.

Grab some scrap to test on and move closer - I can manage to spray black just fine from a bit under a foot away, but find I need to be closer to 6" for white. You'll need to move very quickly, since the more concentrated cone of spray will overload the models before you know it, but it very well may solve your texture problem.

And no, painting over a rough prime won't help, unless you plan to cake the models so heavily in paint that NO texture, including all those intended details, will show through.

I had this happen to me once. Learned really quick that if you hold the can too far away, it clumps up like that. Bits dry in the air and then stick together. 6-8" seems to be the sweet spot for me (and I prime white with krylon). Temperature can have an effect on how far away, as well. The hotter it gets, the quicker it'll clump so shorten up your distance.

 tekno000 wrote:
I had this happen to me once. Learned really quick that if you hold the can too far away, it clumps up like that. Bits dry in the air and then stick together. 6-8" seems to be the sweet spot for me (and I prime white with krylon). Temperature can have an effect on how far away, as well. The hotter it gets, the quicker it'll clump so shorten up your distance.

This ^

This can happen when its too hot and dry.

This can happen with ANY spray primer, and is often known as "gritty" primer.

Basically, what is happening, is some of the tiny globules of paint are starting to dry in mid air - getting a slight surface tension on them before they hit the model.

Some of them break back into a liquid, and you get color...others don't, and you get...little bits of almost dust or sand on your mini.

To avoid this when spraying when it is very dry or hot, spray closer to the model, to reduce the "air" time of the primer - now of course, do you don't get too much coverage, you may need to use sweeping motions to avoid build up.

Again, this can happen with ANY SPRAY PRIMER, although some may be more susceptible than others depending on their chemical composition.

However, once your know, it can be avoided.....so yeah, too dry can be just as frustrating as too humid.

best of luck!

Alright! These guys turned out fine, so I'll hold onto the can and check the barometer before priming next time. Thanks!