Primer Directive: Krylon Camoflage Ultra-Flat

Product Review

So recently  I ran out of primer. This is, for anyone, quite a problem if you are any type of mini-painter, but for yours truly, it's a CATASTROPHE! You see, I don't live near civilization per say. I live 30 mins drive from the nearest town and over an hours drive (1hr 12 mins to be exact) from the nearest hobby store (which it actually barely qualifies as... God I miss my old store), so running out of anything is a bit of an issue. In addition to that, I'm not legally able to drive (it's a long story.... Also part of the reason I live where I do. Short form: bad injury = No driving), so I must rely on the kindness of others to get stuff for me. Lastly, Ordering primer online is a pain because it takes a while to get to me.. and with the nice weather we've been enjoying here lately, I can't wait on snail-mail and risk loosing prime-priming-time.
SO! due to all of this, it's a bit of a problem when I run out of my beloved, far too expensive GW White primer. This has forced me to look for alternate products, preferably at a lower price point. Enter Krylon Fusion Camouflage Ultra-Flat spray primer.

THE CHALLENGER!

Now, as I've stated before, I've tried a few different primer types. Automotive primers generally are not suitable for model priming. They either go on too heavy and fill in detail, go on too slick and water-based acrylics slide right off, or just plain melt the plastic model!
Anyways, as I've been stripping old metal models lately I figured this was a good time to test some of the newer primers I found at the DIY store and give them the ol' model treatment. Let me tell you, I found a real winner!

Krylon Fusion Camouflage Ultra-Flat Spray Primer (try saying that 5 times fast!) is, simply put, fantastic! It goes on nice and smooth, doesn't fill in detail, dries fast (about 7 minutes until it's slightly tacky, 10 mins for a perfect coverage), and does indeed dry with a flat finish. It's dirt cheap ($6 CAD per can), so it's definitely easy on the ol' wallet, and it comes in a variety of colors so it'll work for most projects. My only complaint would be that it doesn't come in white, my preferred primer base color, only typical Camouflage colors such as Black, Sand, Tan/Khaki, Olive Green, Forest Green and Brown. As such I've tested out the Tan/Khaki and will be trying the black spray next (I'll keep you all updated as to how that goes).

I'll let you all decide on the outcome:

A batch of Rogue Trader era marines freshly primed in tan, amongst other Simple Green refugees.

The Tan spray beside a GW white spray (behind view)

The Tan spray beside a GW white spray (front view)

As you can see from the pictures, the spray has almost the same consistency as the GW white primer does once dry and even has the same matte/flat finish. It's quite wonderful to work on from a painting stand-point, and it doesn't chip easily either. To show you another example, the following models were painted using the Tan spray as a primer as well:

Lord Razzle El'Dazzle!

The Gladiator (WIP)

As you can see, the Krylon Primer works a charm and I'm quite happy with the results I'm getting.

So there you have it, another review for a great product I've found, as promised (I did promise that I'd do more product reviews of things I've found that work well right?) at a bargain price: You can buy 3 cans of this for the same price as GW Primer here in Canada. Let's just hope the Black primer stands up as well as the Tan did!

Until next time,
Get your lead collection primed!
Bean out~