Primer

The only acrylic primer I'd try in a spray can is called The Army Painter. It's a resin based  acrilic undercoat and base coat in one. A single pass should do it, it's fairly thick ( thick is not my cup of tea but if it's your only choice what can you do). But the results I've seen and the reviews on it too have been encouraging even on small army figures. It comes in many colors, available at Amazon. You're on your own though because while I've seen good results and reviews and watched videos on the stuff, I've never used it.

If you had an airbrush I'd recommend Badger Stynylrez acrylic poly primer in a heart beat. It's become my favorite primer, it's all I use anymore and all model parts get primed with it..

Yes, priming is very important. I generally would suggest everything Tojo said, and for your circumstances might add the following.

Brush painting takes a lot of practice. It's effective once you get profficient at thiining your paint way down and painting multiple coats. You start to wind up with limitations though. An airbrush is much better for anything that has grades or shading, weathering effects, soft edges on camouflage, and of course acrylic paints. 

I would say think seriously about investing in an airbrush. The tool itself can be had for less than $ 100, compressors are a little costly, but a used one is fine. A spray booth is nice, but esp. if you are using acrylics; painting outdoors works pretty well. You'll also save money on paint in the long run.

I would enjoy seeing someone try to do the hair spray technique with just an airbrush, it would be quite something.

Priming has lots of different reasons for being useful but the most basic is just giving you a solid foundation to work up from. If you start on a single colour background you can get an uniform result over the top of that easier. Vallejo make a great range of acryllic primers you can airbrush or hand brush. I will often use the black to prime a 28mm miniature and paint up from there.

Airbrush priming is popular but it's not the only option. I like rattle cans more than I do an airbrush prime because it tends to be a little thicker and grip a little better. It's never thick enough to fill in details with any of the 3 ways I prime so I use whichever suits what I'm doing better. When I airbrush a primer I find I can damage that coat much easier when handling than I can other coats and I take it into account.

If you're worried about toxicity look into army painter spray primers. They're ideal for spraying outside, very low toxicity and great value for money. Spray outside, leave them a few minutes and there's very little smell left.

Tojo72

Get a good respirator,they don’t cost much and are effective,I never smell anything using the Tamiya rattlecan stuff.

 

I also use the Tamiya primer on kits where I will not be using PE or resin.

Don Stauffer

I also use the Tamiya primer on kits where I will not be using PE or resin.

 

What is the conflict between Tamiya primer and PE or resin?

I've used Tamiya primer with PE many times and it works great. There were no coverage or adheasion problems and I see no reason to avoid it.

If you're going to use acrylics, you definitely need to prime, because acrylics don't adhere to resin or plastic by themselves as well as enamels or lacquers can. 

I use Tamiya's Fine Surface Primer in rattlecans, and you'd be able to spray it outside with no problems.  I find it provides a good "tooth" for my finish coats to stick to.  The surface is very finely granulated, too, which helps finish with a fine, smooth coat.

I also use other primers, though, which you could also use, if you're spraying on a balcony in the open air.  I use Walmart's house brand automotive primer-the name has changed a couple of times, but it's still their brand-and Rustoleum.  I tend to use those more on metal figures, but they both provide a good base, too.  They're a little coarser in grain than the Tamiya primer, but I like using them where I might use enamels for my finish coats.

I also use Army Painter matte black as a primer, for my Maschinen Krieger kits.  In that case, I want the black base to support a weathering technique.  I use the matte black, apply finish colors using acrylic, then use a silicone scouring pad to scuff the paint and reveal the black underneath.

I use each of those primers, whether I apply my finish colors with a brush or with an airbrush.

Hope that helps!

Best regards,

Brad

I'll agree with all above about Tamiya Primer. One small issue- I find that the white kind will "fish eye" a little if the surface isn't really clean. Easy to avoid.

jeffpez

I've used Tamiya primer with PE many times and it works great. There were no coverage or adheasion problems and I see no reason to avoid it.