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So I just got this can of army painter gun metal primer to prime some knights and a new AdWords titanicus reaver but after shaking it well and testing it when I put it on the model it came on incredibly sparkly and rough to the touch, do I just have a bad can and can I save the titan or is it just done for?

Army painter primer is always a bit grainy, but will get really nasty if sprayed in humidity or too close to the model. I've stopped using that primer as it is overly prone to ruining models and even under best circumstances, the results aren't good.

I've successfully gotten that stuff off of pewter models by soaking them in acetone - but acetone will melt plastic models. I've had limited success soaking plastics in Simple Green and was able to smooth out some of the primer-lumps, but others, I've had to throw away.

The whole brand is fairly bad imo. It stays popular because it's cheaper than alternatives, but they cut corners with quality.

Its not really that cheap ether. only upside is that they have paint matched bottled paints too.

its very temperamental so you need a very good day to use them.

as well heat them up in a warm water bath before using.

you could try and soak them in 99% iso for a few days and maybe it will come off with a brush. otherwise you could try the nuclear method and use some fine steel wool to remove the roughness.

My Army painter metals come out so smooth that paint doesn't even stick properly (yeah I'm putting on too much occasionally). If you get a grainy texture you're spraying from too far away: the paint dries in mid-air before hitting the model.

Recently the other day, my tin of AP primer nearly exploded as I was shaking it, full I might add

It must have been a precision shake, the little mixer bar was perfectly central for a number of shakes that concave end cap popped out and deformed the tin

Basically what people have said. While it's possible you have a bad can (I've had maybe 30-40 cans of Army Painter primer and maybe 2-3 were just gak from start to finish). More often than not a rough texture is temperature, or humidity, or too hot.

That being said I have not tried their metallic spray. The majority of mine go on perfectly, though I tend to replace nozzles often as the stuff is thick and I live in a humid area so I get clogged nozzles often. This happens with other spray paints as well for me - so it's not an AP issue.

I always seem to get this s#!t with white spray in particular. Too close, and all my details get clogged up with gloop. Too far, and they're all covered in a fine layer of grit. Never seem to have any issues with black spray. God I hate white paint!

I've found that to have any luck with it you have to be close and do a quick swipe across the models. NEVER go back over what you have just sprayed,turn the models and spray at another angle,gradually building it up. If you don't do this you will get a very grainy finish.

 Weazel wrote:
My Army painter metals come out so smooth that paint doesn't even stick properly (yeah I'm putting on too much occasionally). If you get a grainy texture you're spraying from too far away: the paint dries in mid-air before hitting the model.

This. Get closer than normal spray paint. Like 6 inches away.

No. Army Painter primer is crap. Spray it too far, spray it closer - it has a really decent chance of ruining the model.
Use GW. Smells A LOT nicer too.

Again, as someone who's owned 30-40 cans of the stuff I can disagree with CragHack. But, far be it from me to tell you what has worked with actual experience vs. just shouting that something is crap.

 Rahshen wrote:
So I just got this can of army painter gun metal primer to prime some knights and a new AdWords titanicus reaver but after shaking it well and testing it when I put it on the model it came on incredibly sparkly and rough to the touch, do I just have a bad can and can I save the titan or is it just done for?

Rashen,

If the models have some clumps and spackle do not despair. First try doing a scrub in warm soapy water to see if that will remove the flakey primer. If that fails and it likely will, a bath in Simple Green will help loosen things up and you can scrub the primer again with better results. Simple Green should not affect the plastic at all. But don't leave the model in the Simple Green for days. A night bath and scrub the next day should remove a lot...you can always do a further bath and scrub or two. That should get you a smooth model back to start over. There will be some primer left in recessed areas, but not enough to affect a future priming.

As for the primer itself (not going to comment on favorite brands)...as some other members have pointed out spray primers can be temperamental in certain temperatures and humidity's, so a good shake and maybe a test on a better weather day can see if the can is alright.

Hope that helps,

CB

Grainy texture in general (given that the can itself is not bad, you're not trying to spray during a monsoon season, dead of winter & other extremes of cases) are caused mainly by 2 factors:

1. Spraying too far: the paint particles dry up before hitting the surface youre priming
2. The can isn't shaken long enough: by nature of spray can and how it works, the paint pigments in the can settles when left still - this is why you need to shake it up before spraying. Think citadel paints that settle and needs to be shaken to re-mix the pigments with the medium. What can happen is that the pigments are not fully suspended in the medium inside the can. Try rattling the can until it feels like you've shaken it WAY TOO much.

I've had good results with Army Painter spray cans but you need to keep this in mind: Army Painter primer goes on thick and you need to spray it close. Don't do one heavy layer, make sure the temperature/humidity is just right and figure out the right distance by testing on some sprue/crappy model. Hope this helps.

I used $4 Rustoleoum aluminum paint+primer from Walmart on a bunch of AT stuff and it came out nice, my humidity in Northen Virginia has dropped off so I don’t know your weather.

It’s brighter than Leadbelcher or the color you’re using but it shades nicely with stuff like Nuln Oil.

I haven't used AP primers in many years, ruined too many models with it even in ideal spray conditions. If I really want a colored spray, I'll find a Krylon or Rustoleum in a close finish, never really had issues with either brand.

This might work. In the car spraying industry,they use what is called finishing papers,basically a really fine sanding/polishing paper. It can be used to gradually (go through the grades down to the finest)remove things like scratches on glass etc, model makers use it to remove mould lines on aircraft canopies.
Get some 12000 grade and lightly sand the rough areas,you just need to rub over it,don't treat it like normal sandpaper otherwise you'll take paint off.