Feb 5, 2012

Lesson Learned: Proper Priming

Over the weekend I got Army Painter white primer and finally got to use it on shoulder pads for my Space Wolves, which turned out with some interesting results.  I've used Testors grey primer and have used it several times so I know how to properly prime, or so I thought.  I'd looked up information about Army Painter and found some horror stories about melting plastic and I assumed if I primed correctly with a bit of caution, I'd be fine.

I set up my shoulder pads and primed them outside.  I ended up with some pretty disappointing results which I attribute to probably the fact that I sprayed from a distance farther than recommended.  They ended up extremely bumpy from the primer.  

I went over them a second time after the first coat dried to try and smooth them out. Both times I gave them an extremely thin coats and yet when I went to pick them up, I noticed that the plastic had warped and melted in parts.  I ended up ruining about half of the shoulder pads, so I've got to go and get some more...
On a positive side, I looked up how to "properly" prime with Army Painter and had some leftover shoulder pads to test and they came out better.  I had to tape them down to get the spray close enough without blowing them away.  Of course, I'm quite unhappy about how easy it is to melt the plastic with Army Painter, I may have to look for another primer so I don't destroy any figures.

3 comments:

  1. For primer I actually swear by Krylon's primer.
    http://www.krylon.com/products/indooroutdoor_primer

    You can pick that stuff up at a local craft store. It is really thin, so it doesn't fill in cracks and really coats the model well. I cannot tell you how amazed I was at the use!
    ---------
    Also, I am following your blog. Check out ours at ironbraxus.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. I actually haven't thought of using Krylon for miniatures. I just ordered some Tamiya white primer, hopefully that will turn out better. I'm really not happy with how easy the Army Painter primer messed up shoulder pads so easily.

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    2. I wouldn't be happy either! You'll have to let the blogverse know about the Tamiya primer. I know the matte Krylon primers from craft stores are perfect for it. I should do a review on it on the blog.

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