Undercoating. Important or skipable?

[tanagra]

Currently, I prime my models in gray and then put a base coat of abbadon black.

I was thinking I might be able to just pick up a bottle of chaos black primer from GW and cut out a step. Is that acceptable to do? Or am I missing some important thing that a base coat does?

[gigasnail]

a primer isn't exactly (or just) paint. it bonds to the plastic, letting other paint stick to the primer. it also has a different finish than paint.

it is going to depend on what kind of finish the primer has, and what kind of effect/look you want in the finished model. there are a lot of things a flat chaos black primer and no undercoat would probably look fine on.

[dakkathrope]

Yes, and I don't think you're missing anything. The black primer will work just fine and cut out some time and money required to paint your models.

[tanagra]

Thanks for the replies. I now have cans of spray paint to buy ^.^

[alwayswanted2bnids]

There are cheaper alternatives to the gw cans though. I just found a couple of standard cans work fine you just need to look at what the can says so something like black primer to use on plastics will work better and be cheaper.make aure to clean the nozzle and shake though otherwise you won't get much use out of each can.

[dakkathrope]

In reality painting gw models is not any different than painting any other model out there, it just has more potential for the details to look more awesome with appropriate paint on them. Pretty much every trick or cost saver I learned from making model cars when I was younger can and does work for my 40k models as well.

[tanagra]

Another question: I've run out of black basecoat and have a bunch of gray primed models. If I decided to just start painting as is would it effect the way the colors appear on the model?

[tanagra]

*accidental double post. Phone won't let me delete it*

[Macradon]

It depends on the colors used.

[dakkathrope]

^ I concur. Base colors can make a big difference or no difference at all, it just depends.

[yoritomo]

NO! It is never okay to skip the basecoat step. There is a special place in painting hell for people who leave undercoat showing.

I want you to repeat after me (and that means say it out loud to your computer) PRIMER IS NOT PAINT! Primer is physically different that paint and reacts differently, especially when handled for extended periods of time. It may not seem different when you paint, but after playing with your models for a while you'll notice it change and/or rub off. That happens because you're doing something with primer that it was never meant to do.

A spray on base coat (much less undercoat) is never a good idea. Spray cans just can't consistanly distribute paint on a 28mm model. In the end you will always get bare spots in hard to reach places or overspray easy to get areas trying to get 100% of your model covered. A proper basecoat is the only way to ensure that your model has the proper coverage.

The spray it an play it method always produces poor models.

Besides, the basecoat is the foundation that your paint job is built upon. It gives you control of your model's color on the most fundamental level. Instead of being limited to black like you would with a spray (or undercoat) you can paint in dark (almost black) blues and purples, which are far superior to black basecoats anyway. The basecoat also makes life easier when painting over dark areas on your model. Unless your whole model is black you can use a white undercoat and then paint just the dark areas black and paint the red/yellow/orange/whatever colors without having to apply a dozen coats to cover black.

If you're looking to save time, which it sounds like your real goal is, then try the basecoat, wash, and drybrush method. Start with your base coat. Then apply a wash that is one or two shades darker (this is why dark blue/purples is better than black as a basecoat). Then drybrush with a color that is one or two shades lighter than your basecoat. It's quick, it's simple, it makes every detail in the model pop, and it looks great. If you want to make it look even better you can add striping or a blend to the carapace, but that can be done after the whole army has been painted. Give it a try.


And no, if you basecoat your model properly the color of the undercoat should not matter.

[irishbarse]

Oct 9, 2013 23:31:27 GMT yoritomo said:

NO! It is never okay to skip the basecoat step. There is a special place in painting hell for people who leave undercoat showing.

I want you to repeat after me (and that means say it out loud to your computer) PRIMER IS NOT PAINT! Primer is physically different that paint and reacts differently, especially when handled for extended periods of time. It may not seem different when you paint, but after playing with your models for a while you'll notice it change and/or rub off. That happens because you're doing something with primer that it was never meant to do.

A spray on base coat (much less undercoat) is never a good idea. Spray cans just can't consistanly distribute paint on a 28mm model. In the end you will always get bare spots in hard to reach places or overspray easy to get areas trying to get 100% of your model covered. A proper basecoat is the only way to ensure that your model has the proper coverage.

The spray it an play it method always produces poor models.

Besides, the basecoat is the foundation that your paint job is built upon. It gives you control of your model's color on the most fundamental level. Instead of being limited to black like you would with a spray (or undercoat) you can paint in dark (almost black) blues and purples, which are far superior to black basecoats anyway. The basecoat also makes life easier when painting over dark areas on your model. Unless your whole model is black you can use a white undercoat and then paint just the dark areas black and paint the red/yellow/orange/whatever colors without having to apply a dozen coats to cover black.

If you're looking to save time, which it sounds like your real goal is, then try the basecoat, wash, and drybrush method. Start with your base coat. Then apply a wash that is one or two shades darker (this is why dark blue/purples is better than black as a basecoat). Then drybrush with a color that is one or two shades lighter than your basecoat. It's quick, it's simple, it makes every detail in the model pop, and it looks great. If you want to make it look even better you can add striping or a blend to the carapace, but that can be done after the whole army has been painted. Give it a try.


And no, if you basecoat your model properly the color of the undercoat should not matter.

So for example with my model i spray white, paint whole model citadel base mephiston red and averland sunset, then wash model then highlight. is this what you mean?

[Squire]

I used to spray everything black before painting but now I don't bother. With my nids I just basecoat with the colours I want to have showing. Here's a termagant with its skin basecoat



Then once the skin is finished (and the fleshborer which also doesn't require a black basecoat) I'll paint the black basecoat on everything that requires it (carapace, eyes, mouth, hooves, claws, random spikes etc.)

[t⊗theark]

I can understand the view of skipping it, I used to do so myself. I thought my primer and base coast were the one for a long long time and you can tell on some of my earliest models, not because they were painted by a blind monkey during a focal seizure, but because the paint has very easily found its way to chip and flake. Even on infantry is the colour starting to rub off. Not a horrible thing for me because they do need repainting and I don't because I epitomize sloth but if I had more care put into those models I think I would be a little peeved about paying for my mistakes.

[ranmafan]

For mass-produced models I've skipped the 'primer' coat and just sprayed on the base colour before painting. However the colour is noticeably different as opposed to the fully-painted, lovingly detailed models.

For me, I prime with rust-brown, which settles really well into the details and provides a lovely surface with which to paint on. The end scheme appears more layered and 'organic' as opposed to those painted onto a white base, which is much brighter and much too flat.