Comments on: Poll Roundup: Favourite Gaming Genre?

By: Stu

Stu — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:35:34 +0000

I always ink wash 28mm figures. It’s really the only way I know how to paint them! Probably explains my preference for white primer :)

By: Dustan

Dustan — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 19:31:34 +0000

I with you on the depends on the model but black is my favorite. Generally if I am going to use washes I will use a white base. more often though I build my colours up from black.

I do prefer the deadened look on my colours that black provides, it feels more gritty and realistic.

By: Stu

Stu — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:12:13 +0000

Interesting information thanks! Citadel primer is getting ridiculously expensive locally – almost $25nz a can now up from $18nz a year ago. So I am definitely looking for a replacement once my current supply is exhausted.

By: Hyun

Hyun — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 23:26:11 +0000

I forgot to add:

- the more I thin gesso (with water or Tamiya airbrush thinner), the more “fragile” the coverage seems to be;

- once I basecoat the figure and then paint it and seal it, the paintjob seems just as durable as those done on spray can primed figures.

By: Hyun

Hyun — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 23:02:57 +0000

You don’t have problems with chipping/flaking down the track with Gesso at all?

Actually, that can be a problem. Others have reported on threads on TMP that their gesso applications are durable, but I’ve noticed that it’s not nearly as strong as spray priming. I have to take care to not touch the miniature other than by base or some extruding part that can be easily re-primed afterwards.

I tend to do most of my hobby activities late at night, which makes it difficult to use spray cans.

The yellow-basecoated Imperial Fists marine on my website was spray primed white, and I just love how that worked out. I’m not sure if I can get such good results with gesso–I’ll have to experiment.

By: Stu

Stu — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:02:06 +0000

Hi Hyun, yes I’ve seen the gesso primer articles on your Wee Toy Soldiers site. I have a large pot of artist’s canvas prep Gesso that I use for terrain texturing occasionally but I haven’t tried it on a figure yet – Citadel Skull White used sparingly is what I’ve used for years.

You don’t have problems with chipping/flaking down the track with Gesso at all? I use a spray primer because I understood they contain an acidic etching agent to help the primer bond with plastic/metal.

I’m lazy too and much prefer spray priming where I can hit 6-8 figures in a couple of minutes rather than brush priming (which I used to do years ago) which takes considerably longer.

Mind you there’s a hidden bonus to brush priming – in that you get to examine the figure quite closely prior to painting. Whereas spray priming means you can sometimes miss details until you’ve done a fair bit of painting. For example I inked a couple of 28mm DAK Germans last night only to notice one of them has ‘DAK sleevebands’ modelled onto the figure which I would have liked to have highlighted prior to inking…

By: Hyun

Hyun — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:13:57 +0000

I opted for “gray,” since that’s what I tend to use about 70% of the times. I’d have preferred to add an option of “depends on the miniature,” as I tend to prime either black, white, or grey, depending on how I want the finished figure to look.

It might be worth mentioning that I prime with gesso, applied by brush, so I can, depending on the need, use 2 or 3 primer colors on a figure.