Basecoating My Tyranids

[Assimilator]

A helpful member of staff in GW said seeing as i spray my tyranids black i should undercoat all carapace astromican grey then paint white over so black wont show through! It has worked a treat! Does anyone else do this??

[Aux]

You should always pray the tyranids the undercoat. I think they have a gray primer color. matters on the wanted effect and look. I'm doing Hive Fleet kraken but..... I still spray them back because thatsall I have, then I have to layer and ink over them and rid most of the black anyway.

[Assimilator]

here is how i do it spray black---> Paint carapce base coat astronimcan grey----> paint normal scheme.

[shiro]

I just use an airbrush to undercoat which means I'm not limited to using just white or black.

[darkangel]

No one is limited to white or black. Hardware stores sell a variety of plastic safe primers in various colours with which to prime your nids.

[krakenfiend]

shiro said:

I just use an airbrush to undercoat

Nice!...I'm getting one soon....I've got a pile of Baneblades and Shadowswords that need to be painted...I'm holding off until I get an air brush....you should still use primer first even if you air brush your base coat.

Now then...things to consider....priming is another word for undercoating....then there is base coating which is not the same thing. I undercoat the majority of my models WHITE. Now this greatly depends on the tone I want reflected by the model...dark models will get undercoated black...while my lighter colored ones will be primed white...here is the discussion on this topic and why we do it:
(about midway down the page)

thetyranidhive.proboards28.com/index.cgi?board=painting&action=display&thread=1160775900&page=2

krakenfiend

[shiro]

I use Vallejo white primer through the air brush without any difficulties for undercoating, however on plastic I'll often just use normal paint applied in thin layers to both prime and undercoat.

Definitely prime metal models to ensure that subsequent layers of paint are applied properly.

krakenfiend said:

....I've got a pile of Baneblades and Shadowswords that need to be painted...

I'm impressed that you have multiple super heavy tanks. Don't forget to get a masking agent if you plan on a contrasting paint scheme, it will make things considerably easier.