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Author Topic: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times  (Read 1855 times)

Offline Riquez

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Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« on: March 29, 2019, 10:35:53 AM »
Hi there!
I am returning to painting figures after a short 30 year rest! So a few things have changed & I hope you don't mind me asking some tedious basic questions.

Previously I painted metal figures throughout the 80's. Mostly Grenadier & Citadel, exclusively with enamels.

Now I am resurrecting my RPG & miniature painting life, (metal only of course ), with Acrylics :o (Army Painter) - "Acrylic" was almost a curse word back in my era, but I am enthusiastic to finally dive in with them.
After a few tests its clear I need to take care to prime & base coat to get a good starting point. This is something I never did before with enamels, so i need to learn.

I have picked up Mr.Metal Primer-R (bottle) & Mr.Finishing surfacer 1500 white (spray)

1) How long to safely wait for Primer R to dry before Finishing spray?
2) I'd like to Prime & Finish a few figures (maybe 10) & then store them (carefully) to work on later - They might sit for a month or 2 before I get to all of them. What do you think about that? OK? ...or only prepare when ready?

The first batch of miniatures from Otherworld arrived today & they are outstanding. I can't wait to get started.
I also ordered from CP, Mirliton & Gripping Beast, who each had something different to offer.


Offline syrinx0

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2019, 02:09:59 AM »
I have never used Mr Metal Primer so I can't comment on the drying time. But I generally prime large batches of figures with my airbrush and store them until I have time to paint. Some for quite awhile if I get distracted. 
2024: B: 0; P: 148; 2023: B:77; P:37;

Offline Codsticker

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2019, 06:14:42 AM »
I usually wait overnight to paint after priming unless the primer instructions specifically say I can go ahead sooner.  In the past I have batch primed nearly a hundred  figures in the fall so I have something to paint during the winter when the weather is poor for spraying.

Offline Mindenbrush

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2019, 12:24:31 PM »
24 hours is normally the time required for primers to dry.

I mount my figures on wine bottle corks for painting as they are easy to hold.

I hot glue the cork to 2 washers to give it a solid base and then hot glue the figure to the cork.

I also have 2 small glass fronted cabinets above my paint racks where I store primed, part painted and varnished figures before basing them.
Wargamers do it on a table.
YNWA - It is not a badge, it is a family crest
Montreal Historical Wargaming Club

Offline Riquez

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2019, 12:39:15 PM »
Thank you for the reply's & good advice guys.

I let the metal primer dry for 24hrs. Its a clear lacquer type, so I will adjust my initial expectations & expect to let it dry over night.

The white finishing spray drys quickly I found, so I started painting a couple of hours after spraying; that was no problem, first one is going well so far.

Wine cork is a great idea, thanks Mindenbrush! Today I was using a soft drink bottle top & some blu-tack (poster putty), but I like your idea of something a bit longer to grip.

I picked up a few of the screw/nail storage boxes & put some thin foam in the compartments for storing. At some point I will work out what I want to do about a display, have to get painting first! ;-)

Offline Riquez

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2019, 12:22:04 PM »
First serious effort in (& this is no joke) 28 years!  :o
Quite clumsy compared to most of the fine examples I see on here, but I am more than happy.

This is Halfling thief from Otherworld. Quite a challenge, but lots of fun.

I picked up Mr Hobby premium topcoat (semi-gloss) for ¥500 & very pleased with this varnish. Its just a subtle sheen, leaving the finished colours looking exactly as painted, but with some pizazz. Exactly what I want in a varnish.


Offline Cherno

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2019, 12:36:00 PM »
I stopped using spray-on varnish when I encountered a bad case of the dreaded "frosting" effect. Only brush-on ever since. The "frosting disaster" happened to lots of people and continues to do so, and it's a shame when a whole batch of miniatures has to be stripped or, in the case of plastics, you have to somehow deal with it or the figures might be ruined anyway. Just something to think about, it can happen to everyone ;)

Offline Riquez

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2019, 12:47:38 PM »
I stopped using spray-on varnish when I encountered a bad case of the dreaded "frosting" effect.

I have read about this & thankfully it didnt happen. I live on a very humid island, often 90%+ humidity, so its a bigger risk.

With some of the practice miniatures I did recently I used a cheap gloss spray & also the army painter matt (brush on)
The army painter one seemed to really dull out everything too much & I was convinced even disolve away highlights completely.
The cheapo gloss was OK, but very shiny. Sometimes that can look good.
I also tried a combination. Gloss & then brush the matt one onto the clothing, skin. I was impressed how well that worked, but again left feeling flat about the overly dry colours it seemed to leave behind. Just my taste.

Still, thanks for the warning. I will take care with that.

Offline gamer Mac

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2019, 04:58:45 PM »
Very nice painting after all that time, well done, I don't think you need much advice

Offline casual tea

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #9 on: April 02, 2019, 05:54:06 AM »
For not having painted for 28 years that halfling is amazing! Great job!

As for the varnish, yes, matte agents in varnish do dull down the vibrancy of your colors. This is why fine artists tend to prefer glossy paints. Unfortunately high gloss finish doesn't look so great on minis, so we just have to work around it. If you plan to matte varnish at the end take this into account and exaggerate your shadows and highlights.

Offline FifteensAway

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2019, 02:28:48 AM »
I will comment that dulled down colors can be a very good thing if working in older times.  The mordants used to 'fix' colors were not strong and colors were much less vibrant as a result - at least at times.  Obviously, some things will be stronger colorwise but clothing not so much for the pre-industrial age.  Unless quite new. 
« Last Edit: April 04, 2019, 12:56:31 PM by FifteensAway »

Offline Nordic1980s

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #11 on: April 07, 2019, 02:28:30 PM »
I have picked up Mr.Metal Primer-R ...
1) How long to safely wait for Primer R to dry before Finishing spray?
2) I'd like to Prime & Finish a few figures (maybe 10) & then store them (carefully) to work on later - They might sit for a month or 2 before I get to all of them. What do you think about that? OK? ...or only prepare when ready?

The first batch of miniatures from Otherworld arrived today & they are outstanding.

Mr. Metal Primer is good, but it may be necessary to share the knowledge here that most hardware shop carry the exact same liquid in spray can form under the "etch primer" or "acid primer" name. They're priced okay and at least the ones available in my country (Maston, Car-Rep) do have the best before date printed on them (unlike in the Japanese bottles and spray cans). You see, all etch primers go bad after some time if not used. Therefore it's always good to use the priming material up by creating a buffer load of primed models (point 2 below).

1. If one primes them early in a sunny day, when they can be left outside to dry, they're usually okay to be painted again in the evening. Otherwise I would leave them to dry overnight in safe place like garage, balcony or terrace with roof (inside if windy or lots of small animals in the backyard).

In general, if one uses 2K sandable spray primers (for extra durability), please all note that they may need some extra time to harden. Just primed some metal and plastic miniatures and it took literally 6+ hours to dry even when in direct sunshine. (Try to avoid fingerprints by moving the models on top of a small sheet or board instead of picking them up by hand.) When dry, it's really good surface and sands well with no tearing.

2. Totally fine, as in what Codsticker mentioned above. Because the acrylic bottle paints themselves are safe and have little or no odour, it really speeds up painting progess if one can conveniently just open a desktop drawer, pick up one or few already primed models and paint them for 15 or 30 minutes before doing something else. To make it as easy as possible to use all the vacant time slots between other more important things to paint miniatures, for primed mountain > lead mountain, as seen here and here.

As for the Otherworld miniatures, having acquired some of their drow elves lately I too can confirm their superbness. Well executed sculpting with lots of character in the classic style. :)

Offline Riquez

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #12 on: April 07, 2019, 03:48:10 PM »
Thank you Nordic. You clearly know what you are talking about & its very reassuring to have quality answers.

At first I was impatient to get started, but now I have plenty of miniatures prepared from various ranges, its no problem to wait overnight & I can get on with something else.

I've since painted a bunch of the Mirliton (Grenadier) Cthulhu Investigators. I found these to have good details & character. Quite easy to paint, so they are fun to do. Although some did have flashing that was troublesome to clean up, it wasn't too bad & very pleased with this range.

Offline SteveBurt

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Re: Beginner Q's; Priming, storage, dry times
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2019, 01:07:40 PM »
I have that chap with the book and lantern - these are the old Ral Partha range, I think. Very nice figures.