From Based To Primed.

Welcome to the next step for our Chaos Chosen Team going from based to primed! Now I know what you are thinking "going based to primed" sounds like alt-right speak, but I assure you it describes the process of covering your miniature figures in a layer of primer which will make painting much, much easier.

Most hobby and miniature paint will not adhere well to bare plastic. Trying to paint unprimed plastic is like trying to pour marinara sauce on your spaghetti without draining the noodles well enough. The good stuff slides right off.

The first thing we want to do is get ourselves a good can of spray primer. I highly recommend the spray primer made by Citadel. It is a little expensive (22-27 a can) but it's good to cover 25-40 minis depending on how you spray which is usually more than enough to do a Blood Bowl Team or two.

It comes in a variety of colors from black to grey to white to even bone and gold metal.  Choose the primer based upon how dark or light you want your models to be. Black primer will mean much darker models then grey or White. 

There's nothing worse then picking a great color scheme only to find out that the primer color is altering how you thought it would look.

Now if you don't want to spend the money on Citadel primer, The Army Painter and Vallejo Paints both make great cheaper alternatives with no loss in quality.

Some painters prefer to use paint on primer instead of spray primer.  While that is a viable option I personally would advise against it, especially if you are a novice painter.

The spray regulates the amount of primer to help apply an even coat that won't cover up any details.  A heavy handed painted on primer can very easily cover up the features that will hurt your model overall.

Now once you have your paint you want to prepare your models to be primed.  The biggest thing you don't want to do when priming your minis is to touch them while the primer is still wet.

To get around this I like to use a sheet of newspaper and duct tape. I tape the bottom of the bases to secure them then I tape tbe newspaper to a piece of cardboard.

This allows me to grab the cardboard and move the models to spray other areas without touching them.

As you can see with these undead models as an example. I take a cardboard box and cut out one side, which allows you to have a backsplash to prevent spraying any unwanted areas.  

I discovered this process after I accidentally got primer on my kitchen table and my wife was none to pleased about it.

The next most important rule of priming after don't touch wet models is DON'T TOUCH WET MODELS.  Just kidding but seriously don't do that.

The second most important tip is never done the model directly. As in do not point the spray nozzle at the model and spray. That will only do two things.

1. It will probably knock the model off it's perch because of the intensity.

2.It all cake the primer over the details and ruin the model.

What you want to do is make sure that your models are line up or staggered (I like to do 3-5 models at a time) and you want to point your nozzle about 10-12 inches away from tbe models and you want to start spraying to the left or right of the model into the backsplash. Then you slowly sweep the spray over the models in a sweeping motion.

Do not stop while spraying or you will get caking. You should only need one or two passes before you spin them around and do the back.

Once the front and backs are done don't forget the sides. Usually you can very quick do a swipe to cover each side. It's also very important not to crowd your models before spraying them. 

Doing so could cause spray to miss some models if they are blocked by others.  The last thing to consider is the weather conditions.

For optimal priming you want the weather to be between 66-77 degrees F and under 30 percent humidity.  If you don't have these conditions the primer may not stick to the models correctly or may pool or go on too thick.

Once your models are sprayed let them sit for 45- 60 minutes before trying to touch them.

As you can see this group of beastman was primed in Chaos Black. You can still see all the features of the model and nothing has been obscured.

Here is a close up where you can see the details are still as crisp as before.

I hope you found this guide informative!  Miniature painting can be a daunting hobby to start, but really anyone can do it. Patience and perserverance will get you alot further then raw painting talent.

In our next guide we will cover base coat painting!

Thanks for readingam and see you on the pitch!