Monday, August 18, 2008

Primer II

We used a new bottle of Games Workshop black primer ($10), Armory black primer (5.95) and Board to Pieces black primer (7.99). Not included were Testors, since we rarely have black in stock and automotive primer, which was discounted because the quality was uneven. Usi did our test, our local multi-time painting contest winner.

GW primer had the best results, with an even spray, even coverage that covered the model smoothly and completely.

Games Workshop

Board to Pieces primer had very good results, similar to Games Workshop, with even coverage and smooth, almost glossy coverage. Where it didn't do as well was in multi-model coverage, as the nozzle design isn't as good as what you find with Games Workshop. A single model or two primes fine, but painting a larger array of figures might result in uneven spray as you try to figure out exactly where the paint is spraying.

Board to Pieces

Armory primer went on evenly, but with a chalky consistency. It covered evenly and completely on the model. Armory does well in a pinch, but it's usually my last choice of primer.

Armory

So what do I think? You get what you pay for. I prefer Testors when I can get it, but I use Games Workshop for the most part. For single model painters, Board to Pieces is a giant step up from Armory, with a 20% savings compared to Games Workshop.

I'll try to get some photos.
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4 comments:

  1. BloodwolfAugust 18, 2008 at 4:40 PM

    Uneven my butt.

    This is like the Soviets when they were judging the Olympics.

    Bah, I say.

    Obviously joking for the sarcasm impaired, even though I think your biases are still showing.

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  2. AnonymousAugust 18, 2008 at 7:42 PM

    When is your next painting competition? I'd like to give it a shot. I won Best Army in a tourney (in Sacramento)last month, so I must not be that terrible at it...

    -Josh

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  3. Gary RayAugust 19, 2008 at 7:38 AM

    I've seen your Flames of War stuff; you're very good. We probably should re-visit painting contests in the new store.

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  4. AnonymousAugust 19, 2008 at 1:01 PM

    I have to disagree with you bloodwolf. I did my best to make this as objective as possible. Gary is mearly reiterating what I told him when I brought them into the store, due to my laziness in writing a review.

    The fist thing I noticed was the spray pattern as I got the spray cans prepped. The GW one has a bit of compressed air to release before the primer starts to flow, but when it does, you get a round dot as you spray it against a flat surface. Board to Pieaces sprayed out quickly but had various droplets all around. If I could describe it on a flat surface, it vaguely took the shape of a diamond kite. I seriously did not like the random dropplets.

    Dry times between the two were about equal under the summer sun, but not nearly as quick as the chalky Armory primer.

    If you take a close look at the imperial emblems on the guard models, board to peaces lost some detail. Because of the sporattic spray pattern I had to use a little more to get an even coat throughout the entire model, resulting in an almost neglegible amount of detail loss. This might be fine for the economical casual gamer but not for pro painters.

    This was a very limited experiment using only one sample. Perhaps other nozzles have more corrected flow, but we have yet to try.

    Hope this clearifies a few questions.

    Usi

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