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Priming: It's a pain. Sprays are (for the novice) a thing of ugly risk, and hand-brushing can be a real pain using regular paints. I used to find that I wasn't all that great at painting... in fact, I rather sucked at it... but then I figured out what the issue was:

I couldn't apply a coat of primer to save my life.

An embarrassing fact to admit? Perhaps, but I know I'm not the only one who has, at one point, been embarrassed by the fact that I couldn't paint a good, high-detail mini to save my life... in fact, I almost went so far as shelling out for a painting service to do the work for me.

And I'm glad I didn't.

Now, let me fill you in a bit on my painting style... I like to do a few pieces at a time, and have found that I can really hit up the detail work when I paint WHILE I'm building... it really saves a lot of headache for me.

So, after poking around a bit, I found out about this amazing stuff called acrylic gesso.

What, exactly, is gesso, you ask? Gesso is, essentially, a priming treatment that artists typically use to prep a canvas surface for painting. It has an excellent "bite", which means it takes paint well, and it has this nifty little ability to grip and conform to any texture or surface you apply it to, without filling in the details. It comes in a wide variety of colors, if you have an art store nearby. And the best part? For miniatures, it's practically idiot-proof.

Cut it 10-20% with airbrush medium, and you can airbrush it on. No compressor? Just put it on your palate and brush it on liberally. You can even prime OVER used miniatures without much worry.

Anyhow, the brand I use is made by a company called Liquitex, and they make both black colored gesso, which I use, as well as a white gesso, which can be colored using inks, or other paints. It gives a good coating, it wet-blends like a dream, and it comes to a workable dryness in about an hour and a half, if you can use a light hand.

Anyhow, if you're not able to use spray priming for some reason or another, I highly recommend this stuff.

I started using it a while ago, and I haven't gone back...