Jump to content

Undercoating/Priming and Base coats?


jbizzl3y

Recommended Posts

Hi Everyone,

 

just a had a couple of questions regarding the priming/undercoating of a miniature and the subsequent base-coats of colour..

 

i've always been under the impression that i should undercoat (black,white,grey) depending on the base coat the model will eventually take, usually by using the sprays the GW etc make..

 

however they now make lots of sprays in the colours you might use for your base coat (mephiston red, macragge blue etc) so what i wondered, is if you should still pre-paint the model with an undercoat. 

 

for example i'm going to be starting a thousand sons army soon, and was planning on starting with macragge blue, using this as my undercoat before basing completely over this with Thousand sons blue, so should i still prime this with a black/grey first? 

 

i mainly ask as i know the paints are so opaque that i wonder if the undercoat really does anything other than offer a layer for the base-coat that is covering it something to bond to? i obviously want to preserve as much detail as possible so i figured one less layer of paint would help!?

 

i also should note that i'll be using the rattle cans, and then paint brushes and that i don't have access to (or the knowledge or skill) to an airbrush!

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well a primer is different than a colour spray in that it "etches" ever so slightly the surface of the plastic or resin to have the primer pigments adhere well. So in the end you have a neat coat designed to welcome regular, acrylic-water based paints.

So the formulation of the primer is probably different from the base paints BOTH in pigment AND in solvents used to achieve that. You can see it when you prime too thickly as I did the other day, the details look all clogged up but the end result is better because the primer or plastic "shrink back" once dry. With a base paint it's less lucky when you overdo it :)

 

To me , a primer is required before any base , be it spray or brush.

 

If I'm not mistaken, only Chaos black and Corax white are primers in the GW range, the rest being base paints. So if I were to base with e.g. mechanicus grey I'd still prime with chaos black (I prefer black primer because it's more discreet if you miss a hidden spot when painting ).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isolia has covered the key points.

 

That being said, the practice of using a primer dates from the time of metal models and corresponding acrylic paint recipes. With recent plastic models and newer paint ranges (GWs but also other manufacturers), the line between primer and base coat has blurred and many people use the (coloured) base coat directly on the model - as if it was a primer - and it works pretty well. 

 

A mate of mine has an Imperial Fist army which he has basecoated/primed directly with a yellow spray, and the paint does not seem to flake of during regular use of the models than it would a black/white primed one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An undercoat is simply paint that is under other paint.

 

Primer is what goes on the bare model.

 

Basecoats are the first coat of paint. Some primers can be used as basecoats if they are colored. If you spray a basecoat on top of a primer, the primer becomes the undercoat. If you paint on top of the basecoat, the basecoat becomes another undercoat.

 

If you're asking if you should use primer, the answer is yes. GW basecoat sprays are not proper primers. Although I believe some places use "undercoat" to refer to primer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hmm, it's hard to know what to do for the best, and i think you are right @Tyberos there may be a confusion with 'primer' and 'undercoat'

 

as i've only used paints from gw stores i've always just used the chaos black spray as my first coat onto my bare models and then applied my paints from here.. 

what primers do people recommend using and what do you find the benefits to be? 

 

unsure as to weather i should prime, spray mcragge blue, paint 1000 sons blue, etc etc. Or to just spray the mcragge and go from there, missing out the priming step :/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's what I was explaining. Priming used to be absolutely necessary with metal models (priming is still done nowadays on cars, for instance). It is less necessary on plastic models so you can undercoat directly if you want and it will likely work just fine.

 

Having said that, I myself still prime everything, out of ingrained habit mostly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.