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I am collecting models for a Blood Ravens force, and some tutorials mention I should just spray the models with Mephiston Red to save time and effort.

I just checked the price 24 bucks for a can of paint seems a little... excessive?

Is it worth the price to avoid the Hassel of priming and then brush painting these guys red?

As with most such hobby supplies there are vendors out there who sell spray paints which are just as good at a reduced cost. I use Army Painter spray paints, they serve me well.

I have had a bad experience with Vallejo, specifically with spray varnish. I hear a lot of good things about Vallejo though so I guess I just got unlucky.

I'm not sure whether Army Painter or Vallejo are available in the US (I am in the UK).



To answer your question more directly: I would say yes, it's worth spraying your models before you paint them. This is more important with metal models than plastic, though I still do it with all my plastic models.

It depends on whether you want their specific colors or not. As mentioned, there are cheaper alternatives, but they may not match GW colors well. I do find that GW's stuff is generally very good quality, but is also very costly for what you get.

Im.just looking for a quick / easy way to paint Blood Ravens.

I have not used GW paint since 3rd ed (bone white for deathwing) i go down to walmart for all my primer/primary color needs. i am addicted to krylon- the fast drying for plastics line is especially good for GW kits but i also use it for metal minis(lots of battle tech). it don't come off so there is no stripping/repainting but it does not chip and goes on great with a few light coats. and it usually costs in the $6-$8 range for a can. for detailing/secondary colors i use vallejo/game color, and army painter.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Im.just looking for a quick / easy way to paint Blood Ravens.

white primer, medium red wash/ink/speedpaint/contrast/etc on the armour, beige/bone wash/ink/etc on the shoulders and black one on the details

if you want it more fancy, a violet/dark blue primer, zenital white so and the rest like above

priming in a solid colour works well with the traditional type of painting but not necessarily speed things up depending on what you want as the most time consuming part is always the details and shading and not adding the prime colour.

the Citadel/GW colours in general are more expensive without any benefit expect for the fancy names matching the chapters

Supposedly the GW's white spray (skull white?) and the Retributor spray are both good, although I've used neither myself. I liked the caliban green spray they did like 10ish years ago, but I don't believe they still produce it.
Also, not sure if it's changed over the years, but historically GW's rattle cans aren't primers. They're just spray paints.


Whether they're worth the cost? Well that's entirely up to the end user. If it gets you the colour you want, is convenient to use and comes at a price tag you're willing to accept? Well then that may well justify the money spent. If it does not meet those requirements, then it might be worth looking else where.

Not for my money. There's no doubt that they're good, but I don't think they're _so good_ that they justify costing two or three times the price of anyone else's rattle cans.

I've been in and out of the hobby for the better part of three decades and I still use cheap automotive / rattle can primer. It's near enough the same formula, it just doesn't have the range of colours. I recently picked up some black primer from the Pound Shop and it works great.

If I'm feeling fancy I might treat myself to one of those Colour Forge primers. But in the end, they're not giving you any greater value than a budget Rustoleum or equivalent.

 Snrub wrote:
Also, not sure if it's changed over the years, but historically GW's rattle cans aren't primers. They're just spray paints.

I've heard the same. Not only are you paying over the odds for a GW spray paint, it's not actually a primer. I don't think it matters all that much if you're just spraying plastic miniatures, though it's something to consider when working with metal ones.

The citadel primers are actually pretty decent overall but due to the cost I've opted to go with ColourForge, who match the same shades as Citadel for a cheaper price. Super smooth.

If I had a Halfords near me (UK), I'd be using their automotive primers.

I actually really like the GW primers. They go on very smooth and thin and their nozzel has really solid coverage. I had started using them more and more as I had some bad experiences with Army Painter and a few others.

I don't really use rattle cans anymore though. A cheap airbrush is a better overall buy in my experience. The primer is a lot cheaper and lets you prime indoors when the weather is bad. Also good for things like zenithal and easy base coating.

Still, I won't knock GW's rattle cans. They're expensive, but I've never had a problem with them.

No

This is definitely a YMMV scenario; I pay for GW black primer because I feel it's the best I've ever used.

I think the only reason to use them is to colour match with GW paint pots. For any other reason, there are cheaper alternatives.

Looking at how much GW rattlecans cost, you can buy any other brand for the same price or less. This includes stuff such as AK Interactive, Gunze (Mr Color) and Tamiya Primers, which are actually, you know, primers meant for fine scale models.

The only reason to go GW is if you absolutely need that specific tone. Also bear in mind that even the GW rattlecan paints aren't a 100% tonal match to their acrylic paints with the same name..

Nonetheless, as someone who's main army happens to be red, I strongly recommend priming red to begin with, unless you want to go with contrast style painting. You will save so much effort doing this, and will end up with thinner paint layers overall. But it doesn't absolutely need to be a spray can, or even an airbrush. You can totally use something like AK's Red Primer even with a brush, provided you thin it properly

The main reason to use them is if there's nothing else available nearby.

They recommend that you base coat the mini after using the spray, so I don't think they're true primers.