Priming with Gesso

I stopped by a Hobby Lobby this weekend while visiting my parents and picked up some new tools and supplies.  One of the things I picked up was a small container of white Gesso.  I’ve read good things on other blogs about using it to prime minis, and since I haven’t had much luck with spray primers (other than the overpriced GW stuff), I decided to give it a try.  After cleaning off the cruddy primer from my Howling Banshees with a toothbrush and some acetone, I washed them and gave them a coat of Gesso.  It turned out really well.  If I wanted a really solid white I’d probably need another coat or two, but with just one coat out of the jug they are primed well enough to paint on.  I imagine that the black or the grey probably would cover quite well in one coat.

Now of course this does take a bit more time than just hitting them with spray paint, but the coverage is much more uniform and it’s easier to get in the cracks.  Plus it doesn’t stink like spray paint.

Here are the girls all ready for a paint job.