So having posted for the first time a few weeks ago, after what seems like ages, I'm all fired up the post new content. So I figured the best way would be to start from the beginning... with priming.
So the first thing a lot of you would do when your prepare a model would be to grab the black primer or the white primer. Some of you would use grey primer. In my opinion black primer creates an overall dark model and dreary looking model. Whereas white primer creates a much more lighter and color vibrant model. Grey primer is neutral so it could portray both vibrate and dark and dreary models. This of course doesn't mean that you can't create a lighter and vibrant looking model using black primer or vice versa. This is just my opinion.
Reasonings this is based on (again my own opinion):
1. Black primer tends to absorb the light.
2. White primer tends to reflect the light.
3. Grey primer tends to be balanced because it neither absorbs or reflects the light.
Now let's talk about the different ways of priming. The most common way of priming would be to use primer from an aerosol can or primer could be applied using an airbrush. I guess an airbrush would be the most controllable as you can prime the model exactly where you would like. But for some strange reason I prefer using the aerosol can instead. Maybe it's because I just started with it and am just used to using it. I do however use an airbrush once in awhile but not often. Anyway, depending on how you want the final look of the model will determine what color primer you use to prime the model.
I tend to use only pure black primer for tabletop gaming models. This is because I'm not too worried about spending countless hours on shading and highlighting. If I miss a couple of areas with the shading steps, the black primer tends to cover up the shading since it is dark. Also just like mentioned above the black primer will absorb the light through the painted layers can create an overall dark miniature. I rarely use pure white primer but there is the occasion that I will paint miniatures that will not have very dark shading. (No dark browns or blacks but just a darker shade color of the base paint used). But since I'm not a huge gamer and I don't paint a lot of miniatures to create armies and I tend to just paint models for showcase, i use a combination of both black and white primer.
The reasoning for using a combination of both the black and white primer instead of pure grey is this..... I need the primers to do both absorbing and reflecting at the same time. By only using grey primer, the overall color with be balanced and I would have to use alot of steps to create those darks and lights. This means more highlighting and shadowing with white and black paint mixed into whatever color you are using. But rather than do that I let natural light do the work for me. Since the paints we use tend to dry translucent, we are able to see the lays below. Well if WE can see the difference than so can the light hitting the object. And based on the theory of what light does when it hits dark and light.... you see where I'm going with this.
So as I mentioned I use both black and white primer. What I do first is prime the model using black primer. Mostly from the bottom of a miniature where all the shadows would be, but you can prime the entire model if you like. Next I use the white primer and hold the miniature roughly 12 inches away from the nozzle and spray very gently. Don't go too heavy on the white primer, just a light dusting will do. This will create both your light and dark areas, but plus as a bonus, will create the grey area in between where the black and white primers blend together. In my opinion this method allows you to get the advantages of all three without penalty of using only one primer. Please see the attached image.
Please comment and let me know what you guys think and if you disagree also please comment as to why you disagree. There is no wrong and right way but what works for us as individuals. Give my method a try and see if you like it. I know I do :)
Thanks for taking the time to read this post and happy painting!
