Painting Miniatures Figures Made Quick And Easy
Using Colored Spray Primers
The basecoat often takes up the most significant chunk of time during the painting process. Most of the time, we're layering basecoats over black or white primer. Probably greater than 99% of figures out there are spray primed white or black, with black being the predominant color of choice. What if you could combine the priming and basecoating process? You can if you find an appropriate colored primer.What I'll do today in this article, is talk about using some alternative colors, like sandstone or almond to combine the priming and basecoating stages together. With the right spray primer in hand, you can drastically reduce painting time and boost throughput.
Requirements
When I evaluate different spray paints, I really only have 3 pre-requisites:
- Must be a flat or ultra flat paint. The glossy paints are harder to paint over and won't take washes as well ... and they are ... shiny.
- Should be close to a stock paint color. I want to know if I can cover up overpainting. If I'm looking for speed, then ideally, I want a color that is an exact match to a stock Citadel, P3, or Vallejo color so that I don't have to mix and blend colors to cover up a mistake. To compare before I buy, I'll usually open up a two browser windows and compare color palettes with the color swatches found on the model paint and spray paint manufacturer sites.
- Must be able to take a wash. Getting a basecoat down fast is nice, but the wash gives it depth and definition. Before I prime a large number of figure, I'll prime a test figure and try out a full figure wash using the Citadel washes or a Liquitex wash to make sure the wash doesn't bead up. If the wash does bead, then it doesn't necessarily preclude using the color, but I know I won't be able to use mass washes as a technique.
So what does this all let you do. Here's an example Tyranid that is spray primed with Rustoleum High Heat Almond, given a simple basecoat of Mechrite Red on the carapace, and then washed with Liquitex Raw Umber. The rest of the details are picked out in other colors and washes. So, pick the right basecoat/primer and you can save yourself tons of time.
Manufacturers
At least in the US, there are two major manufactuers of large spray paint lines that I am most familiar with as well as a couple of hobby specialists. There are others, I just haven't done any testing so I can't render an opinion:
- Krylon. I've mostly used their black and white paints for primers, but like Rustoleum, they have a very large range of specialty paints and lots of colors to choose from.
- and Rust-oleum. I've tried their specialty plastic, high heat, and camouflage lines, which have all worked pretty well.
- Citadel also made a line of spray paints that were color matched to their paints, but sadly, they're discontinued now. You can find their paints here and there on E-Bay.
- The Army Painter has an interesting line of spray paints also, focused on speeding up your painting as much as possible. The color range is small, but focused on the most useful basecoat colors for minis.
Take a look at their web sites. Krylon and Rustoleum have quite an amazing range of colors and applications, including paints specifically designed for plastic and textured paints.
Spray Paints Tested
| Brand | Color | Takes Wash? | Closest Stock Color | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rustoleum High Heat | Almond | Yes | White + a little Bleached Bone | Tyranid Gaunt |
| Rustoleum Specialty Textured Plastic | Sandstone | No | Dheneb Stone | Tau Hammerhead Tau Broadside |
| Rustoleum Camoflage | Khaki | Yes | ??? | Tau Firewarriors |
| Rustoleum Camouflage | Deep Forest Green | Yes | VMC Dark Green | Transport Jammer Landing Platform |
| Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer | Red Brown | Yes | ??? | Refinery |
| Citadel Spray | Ultramarine Blue | Yes | Ultramarine Blue | Cygnar Charger |
| Citadel Spray | Blood Red | Yes | Blood Red | Khador Juggernaut Bloodletters |
| Ace Hardware | Grey | Yes | ??? | None right now |
Not Every Figure Warrants a Non-Black/Non-White Primer
Think about how you want the figure to turn out before you reach for that non-black or non-white primer. Colored primers work best when they form the predominant color of your figures. It doesn't make much sense to use one if you're going to have to paint over all of it.
Notes
| Last updated | 9/11/08 |
| Author | Michael Kan |
| Pre-requisites | Priming the Figure |
| Related Articles |
Paints and Washes for Miniatures Speed Painting |