Ye Olde Inn

I was wondering whether somebody had useful tips for white priming?

Since I started painting minis I always used black primer (gw spray paint) because it would easily cover them up and also holds well on the minis. Thinking about my painting preferences made me want to switch to white primer now: As I'm not experienced in blending and highlighting I tend to work from light to dark color tones. Unfortunately this means basecoating light colors onto black primed minis first, which is very time consuming.

So I bought a gw white primer but it doesn't seem to work at all. I shake the can before using it and keep a distance of at least 25cm for the priming process but the color won't hold and tends to flow down the minis. Plus it takes 6 or 7 passes to cover everything up.

Did I get a bad can or what is the problem here?

I've found that both black and white GW primers spray the same.
I use the same spraying technique for both colours.
So if you have no problems using the black one, I'd say that the white you bought probably is a bad can if it is working like you describe.

I use gw white spray primer. It helps a beginner like me to get an idea of where to highlight after the base paint. It should coat completely and evenly. If you shook it sufficiently it sounds like a bad can. I'm going to take some pics soon for reference while highlighting (I usually get ideas from other artists work found on the web for this part too). I might as well take some now, they're already primed.

Guybrush Threepwood wrote:..but the color won't hold and tends to flow down the minis. Plus it takes 6 or 7 passes to cover everything up.

Did I get a bad can or what is the problem here?

I have a can of black and a can of white GW primer and never noticed any difference between them (except the colour).
The only time I had primer 'flow down the mini' was when I put far too much on. I got a bit trigger happy with the spray can! .

sajungzak wrote:If you shook it sufficiently it sounds like a bad can.

I would agree with Sajungzak.

I've had too many bad experiences with GW primer. I try to brush on watered down black paint, or use a different brand for white spray primer.

Thanks everybody! I'm getting a new can then. Might try out another brand if available at the shop.

return the old one with your receipt and bring a mini to show the problem. they might give you a new one in return.

The shops around here don't seem to do too well. Judging by the quality of the paint I think I'm pretty much their only customer.

I asked for new pots and they tried to tell me it was normal that almost all of their paint pots showed split up liquid and thickened paint.. Probably that's also why my white primer spray won't work.

You go from dark to light as you rise in skill. Painters like all white, because its like a canvas. It has the most potential, and will color the best. Black primer is for stylized painting, like done with Citadel minis most of the time. You use the dark because it doesn't show mistakes that well. Its good for when you need to paint a lot of miniatures. My wife uses white primer, because she's an artist. I use black primer, because I'm lazy.

I used to use only black primer, but I had a whole bunch of GW skeletons so I used white primer and it saved me so much time.

I had some left over and started some 40k ork boys with the white primer and the colors looked great,so much brighter now I only use white primer.
The only time I would use black primer now is if I am doing minis that have a lot of armor.