How do you undercoat your models?

[Faber]

Hello gentlemen.
I normally use white primer to undercoat my models. There are various advantage in my opinion: brighter colors, easy to cover white with one layer, easy to see details while painting.
BUT
I know many people prefer black primer. There are many top painter (the Captain, Bugsda, StoneColdLead, Spooktalker, the Prof....and more) that appears to use it with great result.
I'm going to ask you, what do you prefer?

[Lowtardog]

Black primer covers a multitude of sins

[TheShadow]

for me it depends what im painting, ie bright colours i prefer a white undercoat, lots of metals etc a black, i do think a lot of it is down to personal preference and painting style though

[joroas]

Tried both and ended up white for most, black for troops in armour and then using a wash to hide my poor painting skills.

[Hammers]

Priming the Blood Way

Cptn Blood taught me this.

[Faber]

Thanks guys. Interesting points of view

@Hammers:



I know this is the third option. I was expecting you to tell it
It seems a interesting way to gain both the benefit of white and black priming.

[oldskoolrebel]

Black primer covers a multitude of sins

Exactly!

I use black for that very reason. I'll maybe paint flesh areas white, after undercoating them.


Cheers
Andy

[Steve F]

White spray undercoat, even if the finished model is to be mostly black.  It shows me flaws I've missed cleaning up and details that I'll paint differently for noticing them at this stage.  Black undercoat, on the other hand, just obscures everything, and leaves me having to scrape off unnoticed mould lines and such when I'm half way through painting.

Your eyes may differ!

[Drachenklinge]

I usually prefer black, due to my painting of mostly dwarves, and also for this sin-covering-thing mentioned above. 

When I want to put more effort into it I use this "black-white"-priming, that is in most cases for heroes, female miniatures and in general special ones or for testing of new techniques, etc. I seldom (mly?) prime pure white, because - hm - I simply do not like it, so far did it only, when my black is empty and didn't like it. However, I know about the advantages/disadvantages of priming either black or white and it really depends about the later miniature and oneselfes "paint likings", e.g. techniques, colours, speed of one's painting, etc.

The black-white-method I stumbled over a few yeard ago. It is a first step black priming, with a slight nebula of white over it (when the black is dry! mentioned just for the protocoll). This method gives a great detailed look of the miniazure and I like it, because I can see "more" of the mini, though it is actually not painted. It helps me to find some ideas or colours for the paint-job to come.

best wishes
DK

[DeafNala]

I do a thin black undercoat; once it's dry, I do a white dry brush. I find I get the deep shadows  of a black base coat, & the brightness of a white one. The added benefit is it makes it easier for these old eyes to pick out details.

[inkydave]

White spray undercoat, even if the finished model is to be mostly black.  It shows me flaws I've missed cleaning up and details that I'll paint differently for noticing them at this stage.  Black undercoat, on the other hand, just obscures everything, and leaves me having to scrape off unnoticed mould lines and such when I'm half way through painting.

Your eyes may differ!

This totally. My eyes just cant handle a black undercoat, even with strong lighting. Painting some Empress zulus at the mo, superb casts, but the mould lines are so fine that its only after undercoating white that I can see them all. I would miss some if they were undercoated in black.

[infelix]

White most of the time for me, it fits my painting style better. I do use grey sometimes  but not very often now days. I try to stay clear of black at all cost, it just doesn't work for me at all, never have.

[Ray Rivers]

Does anybody ever use normal paint as their undercoat?

I used to do this a lot with 15mm. I would undercoat each area with an appropriate color and then finish painting the area. Then I would move on to another.

I'm going to try this again with my Empress minis because I found that when I spray undercoated, too much of the detail got too much paint and made it very difficult to pick out properly.

[6milPhil]

I vary the colour depending on the model and what I'm going to do with it, and undercoat both with spray and by brush. For zombies I tend to undercoat in the flesh tone, for modern Brit I use the base shade for MPT, and VBCW blackshirts aways black.

[Mason]

Another option that I have used a lot is to undercoat in a mid-tone brown and then a dark brown or black wash.
This is particularly useful when painting figures that are dark or have a large flesh area, as it works well as a base.
Also a good base for metals and camo.
I painted a whole Imperial guard army this way some years ago, and it speeded the whole thing up so much.