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Hello

Are there any paints for priming, which can be painted by brush? I know there are priming sprays, but I don't have spray booth, and no spaces to spray something here. So, I can't use spray.
So I'm looking for paint for priming instead of spray.

Thanks

Best,

There's the Citadel Imperial Primer, and I think Vallejo might have some as well.

Edit:
Yes, Vallejo do make a brush-on Surface Primer.

I use Color Decor indoor\outdoor spray enamel that's black. works very well for me.

 KaptinBadrukk wrote:
I use Color Decor indoor\outdoor spray enamel that's black. works very well for me.

He's asking for brush on.

As an answer, look for the GW Imperial Primer.

Vallejo makes a polyurethane primer, Tamiya and Gunze make lacquer primers, Humbrol make an enamel primer, there's also gesso.

Enamel primer I wouldn't recommend if you don't have great ventilation, enamels stink and the smell lingers long after you've finished painting. It is tough, but acrylics often don't flow brilliantly over it. It also takes a longer time to cure.

Lacquer is my preference, it does smell bad but the smell is short lived, once you're done painting it the smell should be gone because the solvents evaporate off very quickly (but you still want ventilation while painting it). Because the solvents evaporate off so quickly it dries very quickly, you can paint over it almost immediately. It's also very tough and forms a good base for acrylics. Downside is you have to thin it with lacquer thinner, which is relatively cheap but more of a hassle to work with than plain old water.

Vallejo's PU primer, there's no horrible smell to worry about, but personally I don't like it. It doesn't go on all that smoothly, isn't all that tough and takes a while to cure properly (a day or two). But I know lots of other people love it so YMMV.

I haven't used GW's Imperial Primer to know what that's like.

Honestly, for me personally, if I wasn't able to spray my primer I'd be tempted to not prime at all, or maybe just apply a very thin layer of Gunze lacquer primer by brush. Washing the models in warm soapy water prior to painting is important to make sure they're clear of any oils and release agents, once that's done I would be tempted to move straight on to my base coat without priming.

 KaptinBadrukk wrote:
I use Color Decor indoor\outdoor spray enamel that's black. works very well for me.

Do NOT use this. Although it's affordable, cheap spray paint will clog up details and can ruin your minis, which ultimately means that you'll be spending more money on either replacing your models or stripping them clean. Besides, the OP was asking for brush-on primers.

For brush-ons, you should try Gesso from a local art supplies shop. It's pretty amazing stuff that'll shrink down to the surface of the mini, no matter how thickly you lay it on. There are tutorials online that'll show you how to use it, so I'll let those do the rest of the talking.

 youidiotkid wrote:

 KaptinBadrukk wrote:
I use Color Decor indoor\outdoor spray enamel that's black. works very well for me.

Do NOT use this. Although it's affordable, cheap spray paint will clog up details and can ruin your minis, which ultimately means that you'll be spending more money on either replacing your models or stripping them clean.

I will try to use something else.

I've used the GW Imperial Primer. Isn't the best of stuff... but it could have been a bad pot that I had. I actually bought another pot recently since the weather outside isn't the best for priming right now.

The pot of GW primer that I had was really really thick. Even after like a minute or two of shaking it still was super thick and hard to work with.

Prior to the GW stuff I've used Reaper Master stuff and that stuff I like. I just didn't have it readily available last time I got some paint/hobby supplies.

 djphranq wrote:
I've used the GW Imperial Primer. Isn't the best of stuff... but it could have been a bad pot that I had. I actually bought another pot recently since the weather outside isn't the best for priming right now.

The pot of GW primer that I had was really really thick. Even after like a minute or two of shaking it still was super thick and hard to work with.

It's a lot thicker than regular paints, but I've had no problems just shaking it and painting it on, and it leaves a surface identical to that of the Citadel spray primer. A lot more tedious than spraying, but very good for touching up after spraying or re-priming parts of the model if you modify it after priming.

GW imperial primer? Nearly £3 for 12ml of stuff you have to cover dozens of minis (including vehicles and big monsters) with? To pot with that! Go with AllSeeingSkink's suggestions. I use black gesso myself when I don't use spray. I don't doubt lacquer, PU primer etc. work better, but it works alright. Look:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Priming_With_Acrylic_Gesso

I highly recommend Liquitex Black Acrylic Gesso for brush-on priming. It's very cheap, works very well, and one "little" bottle will probably last a lifetime.

This model was primed in its entirety with gesso, including the base:



Putting aside cost, GW Imperial Primer is horrible. I really can't think of anything nice to say about it

Thank you so much everyone~! This was the one real good session for a noob. Thanks~!

Chaos black (or whatever is name is today) isn't ok as a primer ? I always paint my mini black before painting them

 godardc wrote:
Chaos black (or whatever is name is today) isn't ok as a primer ? I always paint my mini black before painting them

Very simple. I can't use spray, because I don't have spray booth, my family doesn't like the smell (and it seems no good for health), and I'm living in tall story building so coming out just to spray is quite a work for me.

I recommend Vallejo Surface Primer for brush-on. It comes in at least three colors (black, white, and gray, but there could be more I don't know about), and it works great.

 Talys wrote:
I highly recommend Liquitex Black Acrylic Gesso for brush-on priming. It's very cheap, works very well, and one "little" bottle will probably last a lifetime.

This model was primed in its entirety with gesso, including the base:

Putting aside cost, GW Imperial Primer is horrible. I really can't think of anything nice to say about it

I still haven't tried gesso, been meaning to but there's a lack of art shops near me. Is it actually tougher than just painting a layer of acrylic paint straight over the plastic?

I'll put it this way: We use it for basecoating stage props in the local theatre. Think it can stand up to being held for a few hours on a miniature.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
I'll put it this way: We use it for basecoating stage props in the local theatre. Think it can stand up to being held for a few hours on a miniature.

What are the stage props made from? I'm sure the gesso is in and of itself is quite tough, but my understanding is that it's just an acrylic latex with some additives to make it less crumbly and more flexible and more absorbent, so does it actually stick to plastic models (ie. more resistant to chipping) than just applying your acrylic paints straight to the model?

Acrylic sprays are tougher than your average brush on acrylic but they're very different animals (completely different solvents), but is acrylic gesso tougher than brush on acrylic paint?

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Talys wrote:
I highly recommend Liquitex Black Acrylic Gesso for brush-on priming. It's very cheap, works very well, and one "little" bottle will probably last a lifetime.

This model was primed in its entirety with gesso, including the base:

Putting aside cost, GW Imperial Primer is horrible. I really can't think of anything nice to say about it

I still haven't tried gesso, been meaning to but there's a lack of art shops near me. Is it actually tougher than just painting a layer of acrylic paint straight over the plastic?

Black gesso is the easiest thing in the world to paint. Much easier than acrylic paint. Just slop it on, and it shrinks so much that unless you're being stupid, you never have to worry about keeping your paints thin, losing detail, or brushstrokes. Gesso also gives you really nice surface to paint on ('teeth') -- as opposed to AP colored primers, for instance, which are super glassy smooth.

It does take a little while to dry though, and you want it completely dry before you start painting, otherwise, it will mix with your paint.

Another trick: It's really good to prep an area for silver, because gesso has amazing, single coat coverage. The tiniest bit will cover any other color as it is 100% opaque.

 Talys wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Talys wrote:
I highly recommend Liquitex Black Acrylic Gesso for brush-on priming. It's very cheap, works very well, and one "little" bottle will probably last a lifetime.

This model was primed in its entirety with gesso, including the base:

Putting aside cost, GW Imperial Primer is horrible. I really can't think of anything nice to say about it

I still haven't tried gesso, been meaning to but there's a lack of art shops near me. Is it actually tougher than just painting a layer of acrylic paint straight over the plastic?

Black gesso is the easiest thing in the world to paint. Much easier than acrylic paint. Just slop it on, and it shrinks so much that unless you're being stupid, you never have to worry about keeping your paints thin, losing detail, or brushstrokes. Gesso also gives you really nice surface to paint on ('teeth') -- as opposed to AP colored primers, for instance, which are super glassy smooth.

It does take a little while to dry though, and you want it completely dry before you start painting, otherwise, it will mix with your paint.

Another trick: It's really good to prep an area for silver, because gesso has amazing, single coat coverage. The tiniest bit will cover any other color as it is 100% opaque.

But is it tougher than just regular acrylic paint? That's the main thing I look for in a primer, and why thus far I favour aerosol or lacquer based primers. If my primer isn't adding any strength to the paint I often won't bother with it at all (you just be a touch more careful with your first layer since the surface won't have as much tooth and then keep working as normal).

As a primer for silver, I've really been liking Alclad's gloss black lacquer primer. Mix in a bit of Gunze levelling thinner and it dries super smooth and glossy which makes for a great base for shiny metallics. That's assuming I'm going for realistic metallic though, for regular not-realistic metal I tend to not care so much

Ohh tougher as in STRONGER. sorry, on my phone and read that as tougher to paint

Gesso adheres to surfaces -- ANY surface, practically -- much better than acrylic paint. Non-miniature artists use gesso to prep their 'canvas', which can be anything from cloth to wood to metal to plastic and may be a sculpture or odd shape.

For our purposes, gaming, a model prepped with gesso and painted over will keep its paint much better than a model that hasn't been prepped. It's not as good as most spray primers in terms of toughness, and I wouldn't use it on parts like terrain boards that get tons of wear.

I think it's a great solution for minis.

Vallejo Brush on primer is great, or the grey is. Tbh, I didn't like the black as well. It could be the bottle I got. It's thicker for some reason than the grey, it thickens up faster generally and is more expensive from my experience. I got about the 200ml more iirc of grey for the same price. Could be just my experience so take it with a grain of salt. If you use it on metal minis, you will want to be absolutely certain you've cleaned them well, rinsed them and let them fully dry before priming or my understanding is Vallejo brush on primers may have issues sticking to them.

Reaper has a brush on primer, that's an off white, but comes in quite little amounts (reg. size paint bottle, essentially). I use it for touch ups.

Imperial primer - highly mixed reviews and personal experience, here. It's quite thin. I dunno who says it's thick, but the bottle I have certainly is not. It can take two or more coats to cover a mini. I stopped using it. It's not really cost effective as well, for the size. Again, ymmv, this is just my personal experience with the pot I bought.

Gesso - hmm, first off, I haven't used it for minis, but other projects. Yes, artist use it to prep their canvases. Canvases have a texture to them, so if you want it smooth you want something that fills in those spots and provides a smooth surface. Gesso does great at this. It seeks its own level, and dries so you get a great surface. But it's brittle. You have to be careful with it. I'm not sure how well it'd "stay" on a mini, over a long haul, in terms of something you actually play with. Possibly once it's painted, and well top coated, you'd be fine. I just mention it because in my experience I would worry about this aspect of it. For small surface it might not be a problem at all, for larger things like tanks, I think I'd be a bit concerned.

Anyway, just my two cents.

+1 for Gesso. I switched from spray primer a few months ago and haven't looked back. Yes, it is tough; I have to really scratch a mini hard to get that stuff to scrape off. It's not brittle, I have never had any issues with it. You do need to wait for it to dry, but that's not a big deal. I thin mine down with water, and apply 2-3 coats of Gesso (personal preference). No loss of detail, and no "fuzzing" that can happen with a bad spray primer job. The main reason I switched though is that it's too cold here several months out of the year to spray reliably, but with Gesso I can prime and paint indoors all year long.

You're right about tanks Guildenstern. I wouldn't use gesso on things like tanks (though I have patched small parts with gesso)... but then again, I wouldn't use brush on primers on tanks, either. You're just so much better using a spray product, preferably close to the color you want... If nothing else, it's a zillion times faster.

Also, regardless of what you use, if you're going to game with it, you should clear coat it, and after that cures, they're all relatively resilient.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
I'll put it this way: We use it for basecoating stage props in the local theatre. Think it can stand up to being held for a few hours on a miniature.

What are the stage props made from? I'm sure the gesso is in and of itself is quite tough, but my understanding is that it's just an acrylic latex with some additives to make it less crumbly and more flexible and more absorbent, so does it actually stick to plastic models (ie. more resistant to chipping) than just applying your acrylic paints straight to the model?

Acrylic sprays are tougher than your average brush on acrylic but they're very different animals (completely different solvents), but is acrylic gesso tougher than brush on acrylic paint?

Anything from fibreglass to resin or plastics. Sometimes furniture.
Usually we run it through a Badger spraygun, and we've got props kicking around from the 70s done this way.

vundere wrote:

 djphranq wrote:
I've used the GW Imperial Primer. Isn't the best of stuff... but it could have been a bad pot that I had. I actually bought another pot recently since the weather outside isn't the best for priming right now.

The pot of GW primer that I had was really really thick. Even after like a minute or two of shaking it still was super thick and hard to work with.

It's a lot thicker than regular paints, but I've had no problems just shaking it and painting it on, and it leaves a surface identical to that of the Citadel spray primer. A lot more tedious than spraying, but very good for touching up after spraying or re-priming parts of the model if you modify it after priming.

Yeah, no doubt on it being thicker than regular paints... I expect my primer to be... but this pot that I got was incredibly thick... It was 'chunky' I guess you can say... It worked great but just took a lot of effort to be able to work with it. I suspect it was just a bad pot. In the end, I did get the coverage I was looking for.