Here’s the thing. If you want, you can do a Google search on model primers and get a host of forums like this one that features 50 people giving 50 different pieces of conflicting advice. In the end, you just have to find the product that works best for you. Honestly, I have found MAYBE one or two primers I absolutely CANNOT recommend, but it’s been many years and I’ve forgotten the brand names.
It is true that Citadel primers are on the expensive side ($10 USD for 11 oz. can [apr 2007],) but I like them. Personally, I’ve never had a nozzle clog issue in any can that I haven’t had sitting idle for months. Any chunky spray issues are not going to be from the can or contents, but the nozzle. Compressed air (spray) cans are standardized enough to allow a new nozzle to be popped on, so this should never be a make or break issue with any spray paint. That being said, if you’re on a budget, go with something like Krylon or Hycote.
Without regard to brand, the primer stage is essential to a cleanly painted model. Any surface debris under the primer layer WILL be seen and affect all paint layers. Once you prime over debris, nothing short of stripping the primer layer and re-priming will completely fix the issue. Before priming I recommend taking a large brush and swiffing the model free of any sand-sized debris…especially bits of undetected flash that are static clinging to the models surface.
The only major decision during the priming stage is light or dark. Knowing your fig’s eventual color scheme is pretty essential here. If you’re going light colors, a light primer makes sense. If your color scheme is darker…you get it. The theory behind that is it takes more paint to cover a dark paint layer. Although, Citadel’s new Foundation paints
may help out with this issue. I’ll have more on those later.
