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Home » Great Library at Hoeth » Tome of Creation » Painting » Thoughts on Priming White or Black
| Thoughts on Priming White or Black |
| by popatachi |
So now that I've finished with the first 6 Swordmasters of my unit, I've started in on the next 9. I decided to take a different route and prime white rather than black. The decision hinged on time. Since the majority of the model would be in bleached bone, I figured that instead of working up through the (5 after priming) layers, it would be faster to get to the base color, then add the shading and highlights. Here's what I've found and thought that it might be useful to others if interested.
1. Mold lines. They're a fact of life and they should get cleaned up. Since you can and probably do spend a lot of time preparing the model, finding missed spots during the painting process can really mess up a model if you need to go back and fix those areas and start to patch it up again. How does this relate? I've found that with a white primer, I'm able to see all the missed spots before I start painting, clean it up, repaint or reprime, and then move forward with a clear conscience that the model is truly ready to be painted.
Flip side: There's a new trend developing with the black priming cult to dust the model with white primer after the primer has dried. A very, very light dusting will help to bring out the lines of a model without having to cover the entire model in white. This helps, but it won't catch everything. I tried it on one model so my experience with it is limited.
2. Paint planning. When primering with white, you really need to be aware of what you're painting and when you do it. What I've found that works for me is this small guide. Paint in to out, dark to light. Basically, you need to plan what your model is going to look like, paying special attention to what is shaded. Working in to out means that you should start out by painting all those nooks and crannies and areas that cannot really be seen, then work your way out of the corners to the lighter areas of the model. That way, you won't be trying to carefully navigate your brush into all those tiny crevices hoping not to ruin what you've already painted! When painting over crevices, make sure to thin down your paint as sometimes it will bubble and what you thought you painted, really isn't, so be sure to go slowly to make sure that you've good coverage or else you'll have tiny white specks all over your model. Washes can work well in early stages to get shading done but you'll want to be careful that your base color is applied again after the wash to even out areas that might have not have gotten the same coverage.
Flip side: Shading, what's that? Just kidding. Basically, all your crevices are already done. You don't need to be as paranoid, but you should still use the same guide; Paint in to out, dark to light. But to paint light colors, you'll need to layer up to the base color. To make sure that you've got good coverage, thin your paints a little bit and go over the area multiple times letting the coats dry in between. The first couple coats may seem bloachy at best, but by the third, it should be very smooth and won't be too thick. Layering is your friend to be able to get shading and your base color. Then all you'll need to worry about is highlights once you're done.
To conclude, priming white or black has it's own mindset of how to get to get to most from your time and the paint that you apply. It's up to you to figure out what techniques work best for you. I hope that this has helped some of you. It's helped me to be able to write it all down anyway.
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