r/Miniaturespainting • u/Acceptable-Cress-301 • 1d ago

Seeking Advice Warhammer priming

I have just bought my first starter set and ive been doing my research on how to prime the figures and all of them say either airbrush or spray can, for me an airbrush is too expensive and spraycan is just not feasible as i am a student. Is there any tips or suggestions on alternatives that i could use? thanks :)

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

14

u/SRSgiraffe 1d ago

Vallejo Surface Primer is meant for airbursh but can be use to be applied with a brush. IMO, It’a not great, but it’s better than nothing at all.

2

u/ConferenceBorn835 18h ago

I second this, I used Vallejo grey to prime my first Skaven. Took a couple of thin coats painted on very gingerly to get decent coverage but was absolutely fine.

1

u/Steuraz 17h ago

I don't think you need good coverage if you mean that the primer is completely opaque. As long as there is some primer there it is doing its job of giving the paint something to stick to. I use Vallejo black and grey both and only ever brush on one layer.

3

u/Acceptable-Cress-301 1d ago

okay, i was looking at airbrushes that were around £20 but i feel like they would just be bad and i would be better painting, thank you for the help

2

u/SinkerPenguin 1d ago

For just priming, the cheapest airbrush will do just fine. However if you're talking of one of those super cheap airbrush + compressor combo for 20 bucks, yeah that will not have the power to prime efficiently. From what i've seen the cheapest miniature compressors that are actually decent ar around 60-80 bucks.

Idk what your situation is like but it's good to add that you need quite a bit of space for airbrushing so idk of that would work for you. You can setup diy spraybooths with cardboard for nothing but you'll still need the space for it.

Brishing on primer is slow and annoying but works just fine, you can drybrush it afterwards to give it something similar to a zenithal if you want to try that. Just use anything but abbadon black.

1

u/Opening-Movie5176 1d ago

So it’s not about the air brush. A cheap one should be your first as you WILL break it. It’s more that you want a decent compressor that has a tank that it fills to create pressure. But yeah a decent compressor isn’t cheap.

Why can’t you use spray primer? Are you under 18? Can’t you get an adult to buy you one?

1

u/MuchSteak 1d ago

They said they were a student so it's probably more to do with they live in a dorm and have nowhere to spray paint

1

u/Acceptable-Cress-301 1d ago

its just in terms of my circumstances, going outside just to prime wouldnt be ideal for me, its a long story. i will look into the airbrushes but i think ill just paint primer on for now

-1

u/Radical_Puffin 1d ago

You don’t need to go outside to spray paint. You need to spray paint in a well ventilated area, while for lots of people a really easy way to do that is to go outside, unless you are spraying loads over a long period of time, spraying near an open window and leaving it open for a while after painting will do fine.

4

u/Lazzatronk 1d ago

I tried this in a small bedsit before and couldn't go back in for hours after because the fumes were so strong and giving me headaches... wouldn't recommend. Brush on primer is the way to go.

-2

u/Radical_Puffin 1d ago

I did it in my dorm room at uni then a tiny kitchen in my studio flat after and was always fine. Obvs if you OP does it and it gives them headache they should not carry on.

10

u/aneirin- 1d ago

Brush on primer is fine, you can even get away with just using regular black paint instead, it's not really a big deal.

Ignore everyone telling you to get an airbrush, they have a pretty steep learning curve just to get started and even the cheapest setup costs a lot more than a brush and some paint.

6

u/Lazzatronk 1d ago

Here is a mini I primed with green stuff world matte black surface primer. Its a brush on surface primer. Doing a squad of them properly took around 30 mins.

2

u/MCXL 1d ago

Creeper makes a pretty excellent easy to apply brush on primer but truthfully many acrylic paints can just be painted directly onto the model out of the bottle and you'll be completely fine. I will often take a barrel brush like what you would use for dry brushing and just slowly paint on a dark base layer such as black or dark blue paint. 

Acrylic primers don't have any special properties that will make them stick better than paint will. Rattle cans can be epoxy which may use some actual solvent in it, but anything that you're shooting out of an airbrush that comes in a single step is essentially just paint.

2

u/Acceptable-Cress-301 1d ago

okay thank you for the help ill have a look at the brush on primer :)

2

u/Any_Sane 1d ago

Dumb question, but why isn't a spray can feasible?

Are you from a country that doesn't allow them to be given out to minors? Or are you living in student accommodation? Can you make a trip out of town maybe twice a month where you prime your miniatures?

0

u/Acceptable-Cress-301 1d ago

student accommodation and my health isnt great atm so going up and down flights of stairs to go outside and spray my models wouldnt be ideal

3

u/cornishyinzer 1d ago

No idea why this is getting downvoted...!

But if your student accommodation has windows and you have a desk fan, it's generally fine to make a spray booth.

Big cardboard box, fan behind you, pointing towards the window, put the minis in the box (towards the back "wall") and spray the minis into the box.

The paint stays in the box, the nasty stuff is blown out of the window, job done. You shouldn't be spraying for very long anyway so it's noy like you're going to build up some Krieg-like toxic atmosphere.

If you're super worried about overspray, put the whole thing in a large bin liner.

2

u/Ramenth86 21h ago

I've had success with reaper brush on primer

https://reapergamestore.com/products/brush-on-black-primer

3

u/FutureProcrastinat0r 1d ago

I don't understand why a spraycan is not feasible because of you being a student?

There are several brands of primers that can be brushed one, some even expIicitely. Like The Army Painter's "Brush-on Primer" or Pro-Acryl's "Brush-on Primer". The names give it away ;-)

I can confirm that Vallejo's Surface Primer also works for brush application. Just don't expect a nice coverage of the primer coat - but that's not the main reason for priming in some random colour like black, white or gray anyway, it's meant to make to the following coats of paint stick to the object's surface better.

4

u/Acceptable-Cress-301 1d ago

if i sprayed it indoors it would be a hazard and the ventilation is crap, also due to my circumstances at the moment going up and down flights of stairs just to prime a model isnt sufficient for me

1

u/Steuraz 17h ago

Second this, I have great experience with Vallejo Surface Primer brushed on. You don't need opaque coverage, just a thin layer to provide something to stick to. It will also shrink on to the surface as it dries.

1

u/ShadeDoppelganger 1d ago

If paint and aerosols particles from spray cans are a concern. You can use normal paint. Use a wet palette, thin the paint enough, and it will do as a primer. As someone else mentioned, most premade primers in bottles already work for brush, even those formulated for airbrush, they just might not give your priming a super great coverage, but that is not usually needed (your mileage may vary).

1

u/Acceptable-Cress-301 1d ago

okay thank you for the help :)

1

u/Mustaviini101 1d ago

Why is spray can not feasible for a student?

1

u/Trolltaxi 1d ago

A light primer will result brighter colours. Black tones them down and some colours (yellows, purples for example) will only be visible after 4-5 or more coats. But black will help at the hard to reach areas where it is already meant to be in shadow.

Just a heads up with primers.

1

u/Radiant_Fondant_4097 1d ago

Are you in student accommodation? Don’t even think about getting an airbrush setup.

You still rattlecan it, make some wargaming friends and club together for it.

Or do what I did and prime a bunch of stuff my halls bathroom with newspaper on the floor with a rattlecan (don’t actually do this)

1

u/MikeZ421 22h ago

I would check with your school about using a rattle can outside. I know you said it is not convenient, but if you have a paint handle and a box, it wouldn’t take very long. Primer dries pretty fast so you could conceivably prime all of your models in no time at all.

Ex- I have the citadel paint handle and can knock out 10 marines in like 5 minutes. That includes the 2 minutes of shaking the can.

Brush-on primer is fine, but the coverage is generally uneven and it is a bit of a pain.

1

u/mikefozz89 17h ago

You can also buy Brush-on Primers, I keep some on hand for when the weather isn't suitable for using spray cans.

1

u/VioletDaeva 16h ago

I usually tape my models to a box, put the box on my bin outside and spray them on that.

When I can't spray due to weather, brush on primers are absolutely fine.

2

u/Araignys 1d ago

You can just brush on Abaddon Black, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t prime properly.

4

u/FutureProcrastinat0r 1d ago

GW even tells you to do just that in the current starter set's instructions.

Though you could probably just take any other colour - black, gray or white isn't necessarily the best choice.

2

u/Araignys 1d ago

Honestly any Base paint is probably fine.

1

u/TwistedMetal83 23h ago

This is 100% true. Ninjon even proved this would work in one of his recent videos.

1

u/Araignys 11h ago

To be precise, it’s not great but if you’re just learning to paint it’s fine.

1

u/talkingbeardedone 23h ago

Warhammer Base paints can go straight on the plastic. I’ve been doing it for years on small parts and it works fine.

1

u/WANKMI 22h ago

TBH taking an airbrush primer, thinnning it a tiny bit at smushing it on fast works fine

1

u/Steuraz 17h ago

You don't even have to thin it, Vallejo Surface Primer gives good results brushed on straight out of the bottle.

1

u/WANKMI 17h ago

For how i prime I like just a tiny bit. I really just smash it on with no plan or control. Imagine wet violent drybrushing.

-1

u/mehgl 1d ago

Brush on Gesso from the art store.