# Basecoat spray cans



## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

Apologies if these have already been mentioned here, but there are four new basecoat spray cans available, in *Caliban Green*, *Mephiston Red*, *The Fang*, and *Macragge Blue*. 










I've just tried the Caliban Green on some of my myriad unpainted Plague Marines, figuring that if I could at least spray the base colour for the armour it'd make the job of getting all 120+ of the buggers painted far less daunting, and I have to say I'm impressed with it; the colour is exactly what you get out of the normal pot, and the opacity and coverage are both excellent. I know this will probably sound like sales pitch since I work for GW but hey, it's not like I get commission or anything, and based on spraying a squad of Nurgle's finest in my garden shed just now these really do look like a genuinely useful thing, particularly in the army-painting department.


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## jams (Sep 19, 2009)

I was looking at picking up some caliban green for basecoating my salamanders. Did you spray direct onto the minis or did you base with black then spray again with caliban?

Also, any chance of some pics svart?


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## iamtheeviltwin (Nov 12, 2012)

I love the base coats. I am about to finish off my last can of the old Dark Angel's Green from Citadel and I am planning on picking up some cans of the Caliban to replace it. They make painting a large group of similar models much easier. :victory:


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

jams said:


> Did you spray direct onto the minis or did you base with black then spray again with caliban?


Always base with black, no matter what. And while I don't have pics they currently look like green army men, literally - the coverage is very even.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

I'll be very interested in what mephiston red is like. I really like the base paint, and red is one of the more troublesome colours for a lot of people. If the quality is there, there will be a lot of very happy blood angels players .


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Per GW the new paints are identical to their brush on counterparts. 

And you can base in white and grey too. Doesnt have to be black . Rule of thumb, always primer your models regardless of what color you pick.


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## Svartmetall (Jun 16, 2008)

imm0rtal reaper said:


> I'll be very interested in what Mephiston Red is like. I really like the base paint, and red is one of the more troublesome colours for a lot of people. If the quality is there, there will be a lot of very happy Blood Angels players.


Well, I can only vouch for the Caliban Green as it's the only one I've tried to date, but it's _exactly_ the same as the CG out of the pot as far as I can tell.


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## Wookiepelt (Jan 29, 2013)

Got The Fang spray last weekend but haven't had the chance to use it yet. Will probably get to use it later this weekend. Will try to show some results are I finish.


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## Dies Irae (May 21, 2008)

imm0rtal reaper said:


> I'll be very interested in what mephiston red is like. I really like the base paint, and red is one of the more troublesome colours for a lot of people. If the quality is there, there will be a lot of very happy blood angels players .


Going to paint 20 Termagaunts with it on Monday, I'll keep you posted.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Dies Irae said:


> Going to paint 20 Termagaunts with it on Monday, I'll keep you posted.


Sweet!


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## Karyudo-DS (Nov 7, 2009)

Nice, I was curious about these. Seemed a bit pricey for spray paint, but if they're consistent and basically match up with what's in the pot batch painting seems like it would be less gruesome, but also vehicles.


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## Chaplain-Grimaldus (Aug 4, 2013)

I'm dead happy with the Mephy Red. Been using it to base coat some BA.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

Chaplain-Grimaldus said:


> I'm dead happy with the Mephy Red. Been using it to base coat some BA.


Any pics?


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## Achaylus72 (Apr 30, 2011)

Northern Hemisphere release as these paints aren't available on GW Australia's website. The poor Southern Hemisphere gets screwed again.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

I hear that the Mephiston Red is cherry scented, for those of us who enjoy breathing deep from a paper bag to learn the Emperor's secrets. I mean, for $18 a can, it'd damned well better be, right?


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

The can's sides better be ribbed for my pleasure at that price!


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## mutronics (Oct 11, 2010)

Aren't Army Painter's Primers similarly priced though? (£9-£10)


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## elmir (Apr 14, 2011)

You can't have a GW thread without bitching about the rules at least once...

I believe a whine about price is mandatory as per forum rules these days!


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## Chaplain-Grimaldus (Aug 4, 2013)

imm0rtal reaper said:


> Any pics?


Will do later buddy.


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## SilverTabby (Jul 31, 2009)

If GW did Bleached Bone I'd be all over it. The ArmyPainter 400ml spray is £9.99. I don't know how good it is yet, but claims it doesn't need a primer. I'll be tesing when it arrives.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

You know. You could also debase it and get about 30 times the paint you get from a pot of you airbrush. Our hell even brush paint.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

mutronics said:


> Aren't Army Painter's Primers similarly priced though? (£9-£10)


They run cheaper in the US for some reason. May be how they're distributed here. 

I use the Skeleton Bone primer pretty heavily from The Army Painter, and I love it. It's true that you can do the same thing with an airbrush and get a lot more paint out of it, but the army painter takes care of the primer and the basecoat all in one go, which is nice. I never have cared to put primer through my airbrush, even though I realize it's perfectly capable of doing it...


As for price discussions, I mostly just wanted to make a joke about huffing paint, and that seemed like the easiest avenue. I'm pretty over griping about GW prices because we (the community) enable them to charge whatever they want. As long as people pay it, they'll charge it. Simple economics.


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## Dies Irae (May 21, 2008)

Alright, so the spray has been tested, on two blobs of ten Termagaunts. They had all been basecoated in Chaos Black. Here are the results:



Looks pretty good from afar, but actually something screwed up during the spraying of the second blob, I believe the paint dried while in the air and landed on the mini in a fine dust. 

Here is a model from the first unit: 

And here is one from the second:

With a close-up:


The colour is quite dark, so for Blood Angels I think a White basecoat would be best. For my Tyranids this works just fine. I highly recommend spraying in an area with no wind at all, I think that's what messed up the paint in my case. 
Maybe it's just in comparison to Chaos Black but I also think it spreads in a wider arc.


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## SilverTabby (Jul 31, 2009)

Temperature and humidity (of the air and the can) can also affect that grainy effect. As can the length of time you spend shaking the can. Room temperature and fairly dry are the best conditions. If not, try ensure can and air are the same temperature.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Nothing over 60 percent humidity.


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## Dies Irae (May 21, 2008)

I'll keep that in mind for the next time. The weather condition were good though (25-28 °C, 47% humidity).

By the way this made me check the can to see if there were specific instruction and I noticed that the "Warning" section was longer as it now features an "US only" section and an extended Chinese warning. Part of the indications (like the Flammable and Irritant logos) has been moved on the front of the can.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

That's just one of a few things that can ruin primer. There is a reason to I have switched to airbrush primers.


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## Stella Cadente (Dec 25, 2006)

I'll personally stick to army painter, better selection as well, and I've never had a single negative experience


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## Achaylus72 (Apr 30, 2011)

I get better results without basecoating my figures.


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## SilverTabby (Jul 31, 2009)

As I said earlier, when it arrived I tested my ArmyPainter bone spray. It went over nicely without needing a primer, however it is nowhere near a match for bleached bone, old or new. It's more like bleached bone / khemri brown 50:50 mix. So it'll be an undercoat spray for my figures, with Halfords equivalent over the top. 

I don't mind this, as I got it free. It might annoy others hoping it matched though.


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## Jace of Ultramar (Aug 2, 2011)

A friend of mine has highly discouraged using the spray colours and colour spray primers stating that once used they can really mess up the model. I'm not sure why/what happened to state this, but, has anyone else had an issue? Beyond humidity, of course.


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

Jace of Ultramar said:


> A friend of mine has highly discouraged using the spray colours and colour spray primers stating that once used they can really mess up the model. I'm not sure why/what happened to state this, but, has anyone else had an issue? Beyond humidity, of course.


I've not tried the new coloured basecoats yet, so can't comment on those... but I've NEVER had any issues with any of the spray primers from GW with my models. Pretty much the only way you can screw up your models with the GW stuff is if you use it incorrectly, or you apply far too much paint in too heavy a coat, which will of course obscure the model detail.

I'll point out I live in a seaside resort town, so we always have quite high humidity... and that's not caused me any issues yet either.

As for sprays other then GW's.. only ways I've seen those screw up a model is with the rare ones whose solvent base melts plastic... which if you've any sense you'd not be using anyway.

Personally I think that the GW spray primers are great. They are a great way of coating a large number of models all at once, or a large model quickly. Anyone who has ever had to basecoat a model by brush will tell you what a pain in the ass it can be when you have multiple models to do.

So yeah.. either your friends talking out of his ass, or doesn't know what he's doing.


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