Can I use regular acrylic base paint as a primer? It's cold and nowhere sells brush on primer near me.

It does not hold onto the plastic as well as with a primer and you risk heavy chipping ... supposedly. I've never tried it myself. Still, you should be able to get brush-on primer by mail for relatively cheap.

This is the stuff that I use, though I haven't purchased from this retailer (I bought mine local before I moved): https://hobbyking.com/en_us/vallejo-premium-color-acrylic-paint-white-primer-60ml.html?countrycode=US&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxNC_vqGS1wIVCSSGCh1ETwVsEAQYAyABEgLf6PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Vallejo surface primer, very thin, shrinks when applied, fantastic. That above looks very similar maybe old label.

Keep in mind that the primer is not only a colour. It is also a protection because it sticks better to the surface than the normal paint. If you prime a miniature with paint from the brush the majority of paint will go into the recesses. If we are talking about chipping, the miniature will more likely lose the paint on the outside where the thinner coat of paint will go.

That is why people put primer from spray oraz from aero. If you don't want to use this technique be careful and wash your minis before painting. There might be some fat on them that will make the paint chip off rather quickly. It is of course not as strong effect as with resin models, but plastic also has this issue especially if you touched it multiple times before painting.

I found some brush on primer and am back to painting. Might just stick with it because it's easier than all the prepping that goes into spraying primer.

1 hour ago, Jukey said:

I found some brush on primer and am back to painting. Might just stick with it because it's easier than all the prepping that goes into spraying primer.

You say that, but when you have 30 to go... It sure is nice to spray batch prime. I didn't use spray at all pre runewars.

Wish I could find spray varnish that didn't hate Toronto though... All still brush on there.

Use a paint stirrer stick and blue tack.

Pop 8 models and prime away.

But always use primer, and if possible in the base color your doing.

I actually use sticky tac and shishkabob sticks stuck in a cardboard box when it's warm enough outside for my spray priming.

cheap airbrush priming here. no fumes, year round, low cost of entry

5 hours ago, Sirdrasco said:

Use a paint stirrer stick and blue tack.

Pop 8 models and prime away.

But always use primer, and if possible in the base color your doing.

Very difficult to do unless you want to commit to army painter and their matched primers which are a primer/base coat. Standard primer is not intended to be your base coat, and can complicate matters of attempting to use it as such.

I just found out that The Army Painter has a brush-on primer. I haven't used it yet, but I think I'll give it a try when my current one runs out (which I'm sure it will once I start priming my 4 core factions). My only concern is that it is grey instead of white. I prefer the vibrant colors you get from painting over white primer.

I need a grey for my elves actually, so that'll be perfect

6 hours ago, Jukey said:

I need a grey for my elves actually, so that'll be perfect

You won't want to be using a grey primer as your base coat grey. Those spray primers are something of a hyrbid.

I've used a gray primer for years and love it. Only time I use something else is a white primer for models that will be mainly white.

I'm using the zenethal highlight method of priming with an air brush.

It's really good for showing where shadows will be for overhead lighting.