I only use black gesso for everything - brush on, it shrinks so don't worry about detail loss, leave for 24 hours to fully cure.
I will say this though - don't skimp, get Liquitex gesso, it's the best by a long long margin.
Liquitex Professional or Basics? I ask because I was wondering if the Professional offering had finer pigments or something like that and thus was more suitable for miniatures?