A Dreaded Sunny Day, So Let's Go . . .

prime some minis.

Leader of the Beastmen.  "Right, where's Ned Stark then?"

I've been priming both metal and plastic minis in flat black Krylon automotive primer the last few years, unless I'm using the Army Painter color primers (Dragon Red for Blood Angels and Platemail for Grey Knights - the stuff works great . . . a quick spray, then a quick wash, then you're ready for the fun detail work in no time).  A black base coat works really well for me - when I miss a spot, I can just call it a "shadow."  And some of my mini's have enough shadows to look like dames from a 1950's film noir.

But, back in the 80's, we primed with grey.  I don't recall if it was an artistic choice, or if grey primer is all that was available back then, but that's what I was taught to use.  Maybe we just didn't know any better.  I certainly didn't.
Here and now in 2014, I spent last night glueing sand onto the bases of thirty-some-odd minis.  I use wood glue on the base, roll it around in a random sand mix, and when it dries I give it a wash of Future floor polish to lock it down.  Not time consuming on a per model basis, but with nearly forty minis . . . well, I've spent more interesting evenings.

Anyway, I woke up this morning stoked to prime, en masse.  I love the smell of primer in the morning.

Since I'm getting back-to-basics in the Oldhammer style, I did what we did in the olden times.  I went out to the corner hardware store and bought a $2.75 can of flat grey spray paint primer.  Then, I went into the backyard and sprayed the entire can out, until I got dizzy from the fumes.  See, we didn't wear masks back in the day.  Heck, we didn't even stand upwind from the overspray.

Later today I'm going for a bike ride without a helmet, just for old time's sake.  Or maybe those are the fumes talking.

Now then, here's the photo series of how I spent my glorious morning:

Chaos Warband.  Broken lawn chairs and old 2x4's make for awesome spray booths.  Just try to avoid the gnats from lodging themselves in the paint as it dries.

Dark Elf Hero.  Still pointing.  Still pointing.

Homemade Hobgoblins.  I totally made their pants baggy on purpose.  Honest.

Rogue Trader era (mostly, sorta) metal figures

"Servitor!  The battle is neigh.  Where are my pants?"

All 15 plastic space marines, in formation.  "They walked in line, they walked in line, they walked in . . ."  Ah, great lyrics, those are.

About 37, maybe 38 minis in all, primed in three batches.

I'm looking forward to seeing how painting over a grey basecoat differs from the black I've been using.  Oh, and to keep with the Oldhammer aesthetic, I'll be doing at least some of the painting with this old set from 1989:

Amazingly, most of the paints are in good condition after 25 years!  Perhaps I'll post a retro-unboxing re-enactment.