Best brush on primer?

[cram]

Been painting and gaming for many a year and in all that time I've never primed my figures, although I do undercoat them using acrylic paint first. I've never had any consequences from not doing so, maybe you can get away with it on metal mini's especially if they've had two or three coats of varnish.

That said priming is something carried out by most, and maybe I'd be wise to be doing it also. So maybe my New Year's resolution should be to prime my figures!

I'm not a fan of using spray cans for anything if brush on is an option. I live in a part of the world were the conditions are often not good for going outside to spray, frequently windy and wet. I do own an airbrush but the clean up after is a bit of a pain so I'd still root for a brush on option. So the question is what is the best brush on primer? If tried Vallejo but was disappointed to find that it was peeling of the figures!

Many thanks in advance.

[robh]

Brushed on slightly diluted Humbrol matt enamel is the best primer for metal figures.

Great adhesion and coverage, good matt surface to bond acrylic paints and available in wide selection of colours for "in colour priming" techniques.

[Dr. Zombie]

Black Gesso.

It's the stuff artists use to prime canvases with. It is brilliant it goes on rather thick. But it shrinks when it dries.

I have been using it for years.

[westwaller]

Vallejo surface primer with a little tamiya flat base mixed in. Bizarrely I found that the normal 17ml bottles of it yielded poor results, but the bigger bottle was fine. I have only used black though...

Apply sparingly so you don't clog any details.

Merry Christmas!

[Sir_Theo]

Vallejo surface primer.  Can be used in airbrushes but find to brush in as well.  Great stuff.

[cram]

Thanks guys.

I've read a lot about paint rubbing right of metal miniatures that have not been primed. So I'm rather curious as to why I have not had this experience!

Have those figures possibly not been varnished? Like I've said I do give my figures a few coats of varnish (1 or 2 coats of gloss and 2 of matt using Daler Rowney soluble varnish).

[supervike]

Yeah, with all that varnish you are using, I think that would be a pretty protective shell.

I only spray my minis with Matte Varnish...but I rarely play with my minis.




Basically primer just gives paint (which is usually less thick that primer) something to hold onto.

[FramFramson]

Black Gesso.

It's the stuff artists use to prime canvases with. It is brilliant it goes on rather thick. But it shrinks when it dries.

I have been using it for years.

+1 been using it for years as well.

Just do be aware that it flakes off rather easily until you paint over it. 

[supervike]

Black Gesso.

It's the stuff artists use to prime canvases with. It is brilliant it goes on rather thick. But it shrinks when it dries.

I have been using it for years.

Maybe this is a silly question....I don't care for painting over black...I can't see the details!

Does White Gesso have the same shrinking property? 

[Billchuck]

Maybe this is a silly question....I don't care for painting over black...I can't see the details!

Does White Gesso have the same shrinking property? 

Yes it does.

[Dr. Zombie]

I think it does but I have not had great succes with white gesso. I find it obscures details and is quite chunky. I think it has something to do with the color pigments for the white being larger than for the black.

[john Hollyoak]

Another vote for Vallejo surface primer. It is very thin so doesn't obscure detail but covers well. I use the pale grey which is not quite as stark as white.
John

[duc de limbourg]

I always use humbrol grey slightly dilluted as primer

[cram]

Thanks fellas.

One of my friends can get me a bottle of black gesso at 30% discount, so I'm going to give that a shot.

A couple of questions on the black gesso. I paint 28mm figures, with Flames of War being the one exception, how well does it work for 15mm? My second question is could you add a bit of white acrylic paint to the black gesso to give you a grey primer? I usually undercoat in black, but not always.

[Zaheer]

I mix black and white gesso, and find it gives a great surface, very matt and fine.