Priming Minatures

After two decades away from the hobby, I finally plunged back into the world of Warhammer 40K, at least the painting part. Like many returning hobbyists, I started with the basics, a rattle can of Citadel Wraithbone Primer. My goal was simple enough—paint the Leviathan box set from 10th Edition.

I chose Tome Keepers for the Space Marines and Hive Fleet Kraken for the Tyranids, both conveniently built around white‑leaning base colours.

But reality quickly intruded. Between work, family life, and the near‑constant rain here in the UK, finding a dry moment to spray outside became a challenge. I learnt the hard way, a rattle can doesn’t go far when you’re trying to prime an entire box, whilst trying to be careful and never start or finish on the models to avoid splutter.

That kicked off a journey I didn’t expect, finding an alternative that could be used regardless of the weather.

Beyond Spray Primers

Spray primers are popular for good reason—they’re fast, they adhere well, and they lay down a smooth, even coat. Ideally I wanted something I could use indoors without investing in a full airbrush setup.

That narrowed my options dramatically.

After some research, Vallejo Surface Primer kept coming up as a brush‑friendly alternative. It’s not universally recommended for brush application, but plenty of hobbyists claimed it works. So I picked up a bottle of Desert Tan and decided to give it a go.

Desert Tan Vallejo Primer

The advice online was straightforward, shake the bottle until your arm hurts, then dab the primer onto the miniature rather than brushing it like paint, and repeat where necessary.

In practice, Desert Tan behaved more like a wash than a primer.

• It refused to grip the plastic, no matter how well the model was cleaned.
• Dabbing could easily cause bubbles that left pot marks.
• Brushing left a streaky finish due to how the bristles dispersed the primer.
• It pooled around details, softening edges while leaving flat surfaces patchy.

After several thin layers I finally achieved a passable base coat, but it lost some definition in the details. It resisted light handling but scratched easily. The strange part? Once cured, acrylic paint adhered beautifully to it, but didn’t want to adhere to the miniature.

Black Vallejo Primer

When I picked up the Kill Team: Hivestorm box, I wanted to try slapchop, so I grabbed Vallejo’s Black Surface Primer. I hoped it would behave better than Desert Tan. It did—dramatically.

The Black primer behaved like actual paint:

• It had a thicker, more controllable consistency.
• It adhered better to the plastic.
• It only needed two or three thin coats for solid coverage.

The difference was so stark that I genuinely checked the Desert Tan bottle to make sure it wasn’t a knockoff.

Even with better coverage, the Black primer still didn’t match the durability of Citadel’s spray primers. It was usable, but not ideal.

At this point, I realised I was fighting the tools instead of enjoying the hobby. So I finally did what I’d been avoiding. I bought an airbrush.

The Gocheer Airbrush Kit

The Gocheer airbrush kit is a compact, dual‑action setup built around a small compressor that realistically delivers around 25–30 PSI. It’s nowhere near a professional setup, but it’s adequate for miniature priming and basic hobby work. Multiple nozzle sizes, three pressure settings, and a pile of accessories make it a surprisingly complete starter kit.

Reviews are mixed, some people expect studio‑grade performance from a budget compressor, others don’t maintain it properly, but it was on sale, and I only wanted it for priming. So I took the plunge.

Trialling Black

Using the airbrush transformed the Black primer, instead of patchy brush strokes, it laid down a smooth, consistent film across the entire miniature. One good coat was usually enough. The finish dried more evenly and felt noticeably more durable. My theory is that a single uniform coat as it dries forms a more stable shell, even if the primer doesn’t chemically bond any better.

Trialling Desert Tan

Desert Tan improved with airbrushing, but not as noticably. Its thinner consistency meant it still flowed into recesses and pulled away from flat surfaces softened fine details more than I liked. It required multiple coats due to drying patchy and wasn’t as damage resistant, better than brushing, but still not ideal.

A Temporary Solution

For now, I’m happy using Vallejo Black Surface Primer through the Gocheer airbrush. Since I’m unlikely to actually play with the miniatures, the durability is good enough for display painting.

But the search isn’t over. I’ll continue using the Vallejo Desert Tan, but it’ll be limited to my Astartes to maintain consistency.