Build a Stormraven Part 03: Primed!

Ok, for part 3, I have my Stormraven primed with Army Painter Dragon Red spray paint.   For those used to GW's primers this spray paint is a rather different animal.   Its a thicker paint out of the can and a bit more touchy than GW's.   Make sure the humidity is not above 50-60% when you are painting and also make sure its not too hot or cold out, I'd say no hotter than 85 degrees and no colder than 50 degrees.   Also you will have to spray a bit closer than GW cans, which are generally best at about 6-8 inches from nozzle to model.   Make sure the Army Painter nozzle is about 4-5 inches away from your model.   If you get further you run the risk of the paint drying before hitting the model and this creates a sandpaper like texture.   If you paint on a hot humid day (or on a rainy day), you'll get this same sandpaper texture.

Even with all these high maintenance instructions, I HIGHLY recommend priming with Army Painter sprays.   Their selection of color is fantastic and for the most part, color matches GW's line of paints.  I also used the Skeleton Bone Spray paint (matches GW's Bleached Bone) to prime all my Tau army.

With that being said, Dragon Red is a darker shade than GW's Blood Red.  The closest GW paint is the Foundation Paint:  Mechrite Red.   But unfortunately this isn't an exact match.  So I had to find something else...

The best match I found for spot paint was Vallejo's Rojo Visceral/Gory Red from their GAME color range.  It's pretty "spot on" (:P) and I really like how their containers seal up nice and aren't prone to drying as quickly as glass/plastic pots that GW and other paint makers use (ie. you don't leave the top open when you're painting, you just unscrew the cap squeeze out the amount you need and reseal).   The dropper tip also allows you to be exact when mixing colors in the fact that you can count out how many drops of paint come out the tip.  The paint itself is a bit thinner, and requires more coats when painting but in the long run this is better because your models don't look like you glopped on the paint.

In the next installment I'll show how I magnetized my wings...