This blog is about the world of gaming miniatures, as seen from my perspective. I've been collecting and painting for over 30 years now, and while my primary focus is miniatures for D&D, I also enjoy many other games that use minis, so we'll be covering those as well. Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Priming With Gesso

So I was bopping around on Frothers and stumbled upon Under The Mountain, a blog that is new to me. Lots of resources and info, including a massive list of mini companies/manufacturers. I noticed a category at the top of the nav bar entitled "Gesso" - it sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it, so of course I had to click on it and see what it was all about.

You may already know what I now know, but as it turns out, Gesso is a surface prep compound used by artists (the kind of artists who paint on canvas, that is to say). The article in question details Gesso as a brush-on primer for miniatures. There was quite a bit of info to digest, but it is a good read, complete with pictures. You can practically glop on the stuff straight out of the bottle and about two hours later, it has shrunk and dried, with nary a detail lost in the process! It sounds promising, so the only thing left to do is actually give it a try myself and see what happens.

Anyone out there use Gesso as your default primer? I'd be interested in what others have to say about it.

5 comments:

xredmenacex said...

I have never used Gesso on a miniature but I've used it many times on canvas or board. I would definitely water it down for priming a miniature as it can be fairly thick.

Anonymous said...

Hah, you will be interested in my article for the OSFMapa then!

I'm just beginning to try out gesso (haven't really had time to paint in months though). I hope to get busy on it this summer.

Ghola Scale said...

Definitely too thick for most miniature applications, even when thinned down. Spray will give the best adhesion to a nice clean resin or metal surface.

Gesso would be great for priming terrain, or anything where texture is of benefit, most 'gesso' products are quite thick. Great articles though from Under the Mountain (same title as the terrific New Zealand show from childhood!)

Blackwarden said...

I use Guesso quite frequently due to the high humidity where I live. I simply glob it on without thinning and it does quite well. In fact, priming with Guesso leaves a wonderful starting canvas to begin painting.

Here is a review I did a few months ago about my adventures with Guesso. The photos show that painting it on thick without thinning definitely works.

http://blackwarden.blogspot.com/search/label/Guesso

Good luck with your Guesso use!

TopKat said...

@Mike - Great work on Journal #2! I have some of those little Heritage paints in my Panzertroops boxed set. I wonder if they are still good? If the primer pot smells funny, I might be in luck. Let me know when you give Gesso a try.

@Ghola - I didn't know that Under the Mountain was a show. Now I'm going to have to read the book!

@Blackwarden - Thanks for the link! Very informative and well-written article. I'll post my own results once I give it a try.