Guide to Choosing the Right Primer for Resin Kits
Priming is the step that decides how good your paint job can be. It is also the step most often described wrongly for kits like ours, because most priming advice online is written for people who run their own resin printer and are dealing with a part that came out of the vat an hour ago.
That is not what arrives in your box. Every Remerlinds kit is printed to order on 16K Uniformation printers in Conjure Sculpt resin, and before it is packed the supports come off, the parts are washed, and the resin is fully UV cured. There is no uncured resin to handle, no curing station required, and nothing tacky to wait out. Priming is genuinely your first job, not your third.
This guide covers how to choose a primer, how to prepare the kit, how to spray it, and what to do when it goes wrong. It assumes you own a brush and some patience, not a printer.
First, check which finish level you ordered
This changes how much of the guide applies to you. Every kit is sold at one of three finish levels, and each one hands you the model at a different point in the prep process.
- Bronze. Supports removed, washed, fully UV cured. Parts are unpainted and ready for your whole workflow. You sand the support marks, fill what you want filled, then prime. The full guide below is for you.
- Silver. Everything in Bronze, plus support marks lightly sanded and any drainage holes that would be visible after assembly already filled. You can usually go from box to primer with nothing more than a dust-off and a wipe.
- Gold. Everything in Silver, plus all seams and joints pre-filled and sanded by us, and the parts professionally primed in black, white or grey. If you ordered Gold, priming is already done. Read the troubleshooting section anyway, then go and open your paints.
If you are not sure which level you have, the full breakdown of Bronze, Silver and Gold spells out exactly what each one includes and who each one suits.
What makes resin different to work with
Why resin needs more care than styrene
Resin holds detail that injection-moulded styrene cannot. Sharp facial features, individual hair strands, fabric weave, the edge of a blade. That same quality is what makes the surface fussy about primer.
- Resin is non-porous. Styrene has enough tooth for most hobby primers to key into. Cured resin is slick by comparison, so primer sits on top of it rather than biting into it. A clean surface and thin coats matter more here than they do on a plastic model.
- There are no release agents on a 3D print. This trips a lot of people up, because older garage kits were cast in silicone moulds and did carry a greasy release film. A printed part never touches a mould, so there is nothing like that to scrub off. What you are cleaning off is your own handling oil and any dust from sanding.
- Neutral resin shows flaws. Conjure Sculpt prints in a flat, unpigmented tone rather than a bright colour, which is deliberate. Raking light across a neutral surface reveals a missed support nub or a shallow layer line long before primer would.
What adhesion actually means
When modellers talk about adhesion they mean how tightly the primer, and everything you paint on top of it, bonds to the resin. In practice good adhesion does three things. It stops the primer beading or sliding off as it lands. It gives your paint a consistent surface so colour goes down evenly instead of blotching. And it keeps the whole paint film from lifting later when you handle the finished piece.
General-purpose plastic primers are not formulated with a slick, non-porous substrate in mind. Plenty of them work fine on resin anyway. Understanding why they sometimes do not is what saves you a strip-and-restart.
How to choose a primer
There is no single correct answer here. The right primer depends on where you work, how ventilated that space is, how comfortable you are with solvents, and how fine the detail is on the kit in front of you.
Primer types
- Lacquer primers. The strongest grip and the flattest levelling of the three. Standard for airbrush and rattle can work. The trade-off is real: the fumes are hazardous and these need proper extraction or open air, not a cracked window.
- Acrylic polyurethane primers. Usually water-based, far gentler to be around, and sprayable, airbrushable or brushable. Slightly softer film than lacquer and a fraction thicker, but for indoor benches this is the sensible default.
- Specialty resin and miniature primers. Formulated for exactly this job, combining strong adhesion with a fine finish that does not choke detail. They cost more per millilitre and they are worth it on a large, expensive kit.
Spray can, airbrush or brush
- Spray can. Fast, even, and hard to beat for covering a big kit quickly. Needs ventilation and needs distance. Held too close, a rattle can will flood a recess and soften detail in one pass.
- Airbrush. The most control by a wide margin. Thin coats, no flooding, and you can ease primer into an awkward angle rather than blasting at it. Costs you setup and cleanup time.
- Brush. Best kept for touch-ups, deep sockets and joints you could not reach with a spray. Workable as a primary method on a small figure if you thin the primer and accept a couple of extra coats.
Colour and finish
- Grey. The all-rounder. Neutral enough not to skew your colours and contrasty enough to show surface errors. If you are undecided, pick grey.
- White. Makes bright and pastel schemes sing, which is why it suits most anime figures. It also hides flaws, so inspect carefully before you commit to it.
- Black. The base for metallics, dark armour and anything you plan to build up with drybrushing or zenithal highlighting. It is also brutally honest about patches you failed to prep.
- Matte over gloss. Matte primer gives paint something to hold and lets you read every sculpted wrinkle. Gloss will flatter the surface and fight your brush. Use matte.
Primer comparison
| Primer type | Application | Best use | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lacquer | Spray can, airbrush | High detail, full kits | Strongest adhesion, levels very smooth | Hazardous fumes, needs real extraction |
| Acrylic polyurethane | Spray can, airbrush, brush | General use, indoor benches | Low odour, easy cleanup, forgiving | Marginally thicker, softer film |
| Specialty resin or miniature | Spray can, airbrush, brush | Resin kits and 3D prints | Tuned for slick surfaces, very fine finish | More expensive per millilitre |
| Brush-on, any type | Brush | Spot fixes, sockets, joints | Precise, no masking, no overspray | Brush marks if applied thickly |
Preparing the kit before priming
Prep is where the paint job is won. None of this involves curing anything, because that is already done.
- Sand the support marks. Bronze kits only. Work up through the grits rather than starting fine: 400 to knock the nubs back flush, then 800 to 1200 to blend the area into the surrounding surface. Sand dry, and check your work under a lamp held low and to one side.
- Test fit before you prime, not after. Dry-fit every joint against the parts checklist that ships in the box. Primer adds thickness, and a joint that was snug bare can bind once both faces are coated. Find the tight ones now while you can still sand them.
- Clear the sanding dust, but do not wash the kit. This is where most guides send you to the sink, and it is not necessary here. Your parts were washed and cured before they were packed, so there is nothing on them to soak away, and a soapy bath mainly succeeds at trapping water in deep recesses that you then have to wait out. A soft wide brush lifts the dust. For the areas you actually sanded, a lint-free cloth with a little isopropyl removes dust and handling oil in one pass and flashes off in seconds.
- Hands off after that. Nitrile gloves, or hold parts by an offcut or a mounted handle. Every fingerprint you put back on is a patch where the primer may lift later.
- Final dust. A soft wide brush or a puff of canned air. Lint that lands before the primer stays there forever under it.
Every kit is inspected twice before it leaves us, once by Matthias and once by Nadya, against that same parts checklist. If a part somehow reaches you feeling tacky or soft, that is not something to fix with a UV lamp at your end. Tell us and we will replace it.
For the wider build sequence around this step, the assembly and finishing guide covers dry-fitting, gap filling and pinning in more depth.
Applying the primer
- Mix properly. Shake a can for a full minute or two, not a token rattle. Airbrush and bottle primers need stirring rather than shaking, since shaking whips in bubbles.
- Keep your distance. Fifteen to thirty centimetres, roughly six to twelve inches. Closer than that and primer pools in the recesses. Further and it goes off dry in the air and lands gritty.
- Thin coats, several of them. Two to four light passes beats one heavy one every time. Move the can, not just your wrist, and start and stop the spray off the model rather than on it.
- Mind the conditions. Aim for 18 to 25 degrees Celsius. Above about 60 percent humidity you will get a rough, chalky texture no matter how well you spray. A cold can sprays badly, so stand it in lukewarm water for a few minutes first.
- Ventilate properly. This is not optional and an open window is not ventilation. Spray outdoors, or in a spray booth with extraction to the outside. Wear a respirator rated for organic vapour when using anything solvent-based, and take the aerosol seriously even with water-based primers.
- Respect the recoat time. Primer is touch-dry in ten to twenty minutes and nowhere near cured. Give it thirty to sixty minutes before the next coat and read the label, because products vary a lot.
- Inspect between coats. Bright light, turn the part slowly. Missed a corner, spot-prime it lightly. If a sculpted crease is starting to look soft, stop, because you are already applying too much.
Test an unfamiliar primer on something you do not care about before you commit a whole kit to it. An offcut, a failed print, the underside of a base.
Common problems and how to fix them
- Primer flakes or peels. Almost always a contaminated surface: sanding dust left in place, handling oil, or spraying over a spot that was still damp with isopropyl. Sand the area back, wipe it clean, let it flash off, and reprime.
- Detail looks soft or filled in. Coats went on too thick or too close, or you recoated before the previous layer had gone off. Sand the excess back gently and rebuild with misted coats.
- Grainy, chalky finish. Sprayed from too far away, or the humidity is too high, or the can was cold. Sand smooth and reprime in better conditions from a closer distance.
- Runs and pooling. Too close and too heavy. Let it cure fully, sand it flat, and go again with lighter passes.
- Primer refuses to take in one spot. A fingerprint, nearly every time. Clean that area specifically with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton bud, dry it, and touch in.
- Tacky patches on bare resin. Not something you should be seeing, since kits ship fully cured. If it happens, do not try to bake or blast it. Get in touch and we will sort it out.
One caution on stripping. Isopropyl alcohol will lift most acrylic primers, but a long soak makes cured resin brittle and can craze fine parts. Use short baths and a soft brush, or sand back mechanically instead. Never soak a thin blade or an outstretched hand for hours.
Adjusting the workflow to the kit
Chibis and small figures
- Airbrush or a light hand with a can. Small parts clog fastest.
- Mount parts on cocktail sticks or tack rather than holding them.
- Rotate under a lamp between passes to catch the shadowed side.
Large and multi-part display kits
- Prime sub-assemblies separately before final assembly so inner faces are sealed.
- Brush primer into deep sockets and contact faces that a spray will never reach.
- Allow longer drying, and give heavy parts somewhere stable to sit while they cure.
Kits with heavy surface texture
Chainmail, fur, scale, carved armour. These are the pieces where thin coats stop being advice and start being the whole game. A kit like the Skull Knight from Berserk, 1/10 scale at 25.5 cm by Nomnom Figures, has etched detail across almost every surface, and a single heavy coat will erase a week of a sculptor's work. Mist it, check it, mist it again. The same goes for cloth-heavy sculpts like the Witch King of Angmar at 1/10 and 22.3 cm, where the whole read of the figure lives in the fold shadows.
FAQ
Do I need to cure my kit before priming?
No. Supports are removed, parts are washed and the resin is fully UV cured before your kit is packed. You will never handle liquid resin and you do not need a curing station.
Do I need to wash the parts first?
No. That step exists in other guides to remove uncured resin or mould release agent, and neither is present on a Remerlinds kit. The parts are washed and cured here before they are packed. All you need to clear is your own sanding dust and fingerprints, which a soft brush and a wipe of isopropyl handle in a minute without putting water into the recesses.
Which primer works best on resin?
Lacquer grips most reliably. With decent prep, acrylic polyurethane and dedicated miniature primers perform just as well and are far more pleasant to use indoors. Pick the one that suits your workspace.
Spray can, airbrush or brush?
Airbrush for control, spray can for speed and coverage, brush for the places neither can reach. Most people end up using two of the three on the same kit.
Which colour should I prime in?
Grey unless you have a reason not to. White for bright and pastel schemes, black for metallics and dark armour. Matte in every case.
What if I ordered Gold?
Then it arrives primed in black, white or grey and you can skip straight to paint. Store it somewhere dust-free until you are ready.
Quick checklist
- Check your finish level. Gold is already primed.
- Sand support marks, 400 then 800 to 1200, Bronze kits only.
- Dry-fit every joint against the parts checklist in the box.
- Brush the sanding dust off and wipe sanded areas with isopropyl. No washing needed.
- Glove up or handle by a mount from here on.
- Final dust with a soft brush or canned air.
- Shake or stir the primer thoroughly.
- Spray from 15 to 30 cm in light sweeping passes, starting off the model.
- Build up two to four thin coats, respecting recoat times.
- Inspect under bright light between coats.
- Let everything cure fully before painting.
- Store somewhere clean and dust-free until you are ready for colour.
People ask me all the time whether they need a UV lamp and a wash station before they can start. They do not. That part is finished before the box is taped shut. Matthias and Nadya check every kit twice against the checklist that ships inside it, and it goes out in recycled bubble wrap and paper with no foam, because foam is a nuisance to reuse. What you get is a model that is ready for primer. The evening at the bench is the part we are selling you.
— Nyx
Safety note: hobby primers are chemicals. Use them outdoors or with extraction, wear a respirator rated for organic vapour with solvent-based products, and follow the manufacturer's instructions on the can. If you have a health concern, that guidance comes before anything written here.
