Thousand Sons, paint schemes and crisis of faith.

So I have had a crisis of faith with regards to my chosen paint scheme for my Thousand Sons.

I know, it is probably not the time to use that saying, especially as it is only in relation to my nerdy hobby, but it still expresses how I feel.

I used to dislike the more traditional variations of blue/gold of the Thousand Sons.  This is what pushed me down the path using the pre-heresy colour scheme.  However as I wanted to see what the Dark Angels robed bodies were like I thought I would paint one up more traditionally.  I tested out some blue, and some gold.  Then at Paul's behest weathered up the robe and used a mega dry brush on the edges of the armour (mimicking edge highlighting).  It needs a weapon, and a bit of tidying up, but the result is below.

Traditional colour scheme with robes.

And this is where I came to my crisis.  I was surprised how much I liked the traditional look, more so than the red I have been painting.  After much soul searching, deep thinking, and random dice rolling, I have finally decided to go with it, and eventually strip and repaint the old red guard.

My final products will be a slightly different blue, as I am going to use the Army Painter Ultramarine spray over a dual primed model.

A few questions now remain.  Should I do the lines on the headdress yellow or gold?  It varies on units and images you see.  And what should my dry-brushed highlight colour be?  I feel the green is probably a bit too alien next to the Ultramarine.

Problematic Army Painter White Primer

I talked to Rob and Paul about my issue with the aforementioned primer when I came up on our first hobby weekend.  They postulated that I may have been doing the priming when it was too hot, and as a result some of the primer was drying before it hit the model, resulting in a granular look.

Paul mentioned it again recently when I posted up my master class WIP.  And at that time I took careful note to ensure I was doing the priming in colder conditions (easy to do in winter...).

I have primed using other AP colours before and the result is smooth.  Heck I have done fifty Skaven now and not had this issue on them.

Given the problems you have seen and the example shots below of some tester models, should I assume that it is not actually my technique but that either this can of AP White Primer is borked, or the White in that complete range is knackered.

Grainy effect from AP White Primer - spray application

So if I am correct in my assumptions as to the sub-par quality of my existing white and my upcoming DG units, can you recommend any particular brands of white primer that you know first hand to have done a good job.  I am leaning towards Tamiya, which would be handy as there is a model shop 500 metres away.