Monday, December 27, 2010

Helpful Hobby Hints: Primer


A recent check on my hobby stock led me to discover that my supply of GW spray "primer" was running dangerously low. Considering Orkfest is a mere 4 months away and Da' Deathwok Clan is far from being done I needed to find an alernative. The GW stuff was doing an OK job, but like everything else GW makes it is insanely overpriced and I was sure there was an alternative to be found for under their $15 price.


My first step was looking into what my options were and here was where I made my first discovery. What GW sells as "primer", that is what I was told was primer when I ordered it is really just a Chaos Black spraypaint. True primer has a different chemical makeup and does more to keep paint on a model. So not only are they overcharging us, they aren't selling primer. I still love their games, but come on guys...how about a little support?


Anyway after checking some different sources and a few varied recomendations I discovered "Touch and Tone" household spray primer. This appears to be a propriatory product line for the automotive store Autozone. It's available in a gray and a black and only runs $3 a can.
I tried it on a few Black Reach nobs and it's working very well. It coated well and sprayed evenly. So far its provided a better base for painting and using the gray has helped see the defination in the modek better then the GW spray did. The paints going on easier and better so far. It's a good product. The price is right and it does the job well. I haven't tried it on metal yet, but so far so good.