How to Prime Miniatures: Spray, Brush and Color
To prime miniatures, spray or brush a thin, even coat of primer over the bare model before any color goes on, because paint grips primer far better than it grips smooth plastic, resin or metal. A can of Vallejo Hobby Paint spray primer does a whole squad in minutes; a bottle of brush on primer handles single models and touch ups. Pick black, grey or white to suit your scheme.
Why do you need to prime miniatures?
Bare plastic is smooth and slightly slick, and bare metal and resin are worse. Acrylic paint laid straight onto them beads up, goes on patchy, and rubs off at the edges the first time the model is handled. A primer is made to do one job: bond to the bare surface and give every layer above it something to hold on to. That is why a primed model takes paint in fewer coats and survives a season of games without bare patches showing on the weapon tips.
Primer also shows you the model: mold lines and gaps that hide on shiny plastic jump out under a flat coat, while they are still easy to fix.
Spray primer or brush on primer?
Spray primer is the fast way to do a batch. Vallejo Hobby Paint sprays come in a 400ml can made for metal, plastic and resin models and miniatures, and they dry fast to a matt, self leveling finish that keeps even the finest details crisp. Each can comes with two nozzles: low flow for small areas and medium flow for larger surfaces, so the same can works on a single hero and a tray of infantry.
Brush on primer suits a single model, a small kit, or a quick fix where the spray missed. Vallejo Surface Primer is a water based acrylic primer for resin, PVC, brass, white metal and wood. Vallejo recommends several thin layers; it dries rapidly and within a few hours forms a strong, resistant film. It is not flammable and contains no solvents, which makes it the easy choice for priming indoors.
If you own an airbrush, primer through the airbrush gives you the control of a brush with the smooth coat of a spray. AK Interactive 3G Grey Primer is a new formula that is ready for airbrush straight from the bottle, with no thinning, and it can still be brushed. It self levels as it dries, AK formulates it for all types of surfaces, and it can be sanded after 24 hours if you want to refine a surface before painting.
What color primer should you use for miniatures?
Primer color sets the starting point for everything above it, so choose it by the look you want.
- Black fills the recesses with shadow for free. It suits dark armies, metallics and grim, high contrast schemes, and it hides any spot the brush misses later.
- White keeps colors bright and clean. Yellows, reds and pale skin all need fewer coats over white, and one coat paints such as Speedpaint look their brightest over a light primer.
- Grey sits in the middle. Mistakes show less than on white, colors stay truer than over black, and it is the safe choice when you are not sure yet.
A colored primer goes one step further and lays down your main color at the same time. Vallejo's sprays are primer and highly pigmented color in one, and their colors match the equivalent Game Color and Model Color shades, so a model sprayed Bone White can be touched up with the matching bottle and the patch will not show.
How do you spray prime miniatures without ruining the detail?
Most spray priming problems come from too much paint, too close, in bad weather.
- Clean and dry the models first. Trim mold lines and let the glue cure. Resin parts often carry release agent from the mold, so wash them in warm soapy water and let them dry.
- Pick a dry, mild day. Humid or cold air is what turns a spray coat grainy or chalky. Spray outside or in a well ventilated space: the Vallejo cans are extremely flammable aerosols, and the label is plain about not breathing the spray or mist.
- Shake the can well, then test on a piece of scrap to check the nozzle is spraying evenly.
- Spray in short passes from about a foot away, starting the spray off the model and sweeping across it, rather than aiming and holding. Turn the model and repeat from each side, then from above.
- Stop at thin. One light coat that still shows a little plastic is better than one heavy coat. Let it dry, then add a second light pass where it is needed. Heavy primer pools in the recesses and softens the detail you paid for.
A cardboard box on its side makes a simple spray booth, and models taped to a paint stick can be sprayed and turned without touching them.
What about primer for an airbrush?
An airbrush lets you prime indoors with very little overspray, and it is the smoothest coat you can put on a model. AK Interactive Grey Primer and Microfiller is an ultrafine primer with an auto leveling formula: the wet coat flows out and settles into a smooth, even film rather than drying with ridges or grain, and AK rates it for great gripping force and resistance. It goes through the airbrush straight from the bottle, and AK recommends its AK470 Xtreme Cleaner/Thinner if you want it thinner and for cleaning up. Vallejo's Surface Primer airbrushes too, at around 15 to 20 PSI.
How long should primer dry before painting?
Primer is dry to the touch quickly, but give it time to cure before you brush color over it. Vallejo's Surface Primer forms its full film within a few hours. If a coat went on rough, AK's 3G primer can be sanded after 24 hours, so you can smooth the spot and prime it again rather than painting over grain.
A simple priming kit to start with
- One 400ml spray can in grey, black or white, for batches.
- A bottle of brush on primer for single models and the spots the spray missed.
- If you airbrush: AK 3G Primer or AK Primer and Microfiller, ready to spray from the bottle.
Glue comes before the primer and color after it: our guides to the best glue for plastic miniatures and your first miniature paint kit pick up from here, and everything above lives in our paint and hobby supplies.