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Back to black

Posted by Ochoin on 10 Jan 2025, 08:30

For Xmas, I was given, amongst other things, a bottle of black primer.
I haven't used black primer for decades &I'd forgotten how much I hate it.
Still.

donald
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Ochoin  Scotland
 
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16 Jan 2010, 04:00


Posted by PaulRPetri on 10 Jan 2025, 16:00

You know it is kind of funny Donald that when I started painting miniatures in the late 1970's,(I think 1977 for metals) we used this toxic green colored metal primer from Floquil as we were told all of the metal figures would eventually rot so we needed to protect them from that. Then white primer became the rage and then in the late 1980's or early 90's the black primer rage took over my neck of the woods in middle America. Then it was black prime and white dry brush. Now it appears to be bone colored or grey primer. Fads are fads I guess. Saying all this I did just black primer some orcs.... But mostly I use beige or grey primer... Kind of...
PaulRPetri  United States of America
 
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 10 Jan 2025, 16:57

I don't have any strong feelings either way when it comes to priming, depending on my frame of mind, sometimes I don't bother. I prefer black if there is going to be a lot of metal, and white if there are a lot of colours.
The armoured polar bears I'm working on at the moment are causing all sorts of problems. There is a lot of armour but there is also the white fur, which is quite a major feature and I want that to stand out.
I brush painted a black undercoat then dry-brushed the bejayzus out of them with several layers of white. All that white means I can use a slap chop style for some things like hardened leather, and some quilting textures, but it's throwing the metals all over the place. I think I need to redo the armour plates with a solid dark colour before I get serious with the metallic.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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20 Jun 2010, 19:56

Posted by Santi Pérez on 10 Jan 2025, 20:09

Donald, I used to use black primer when painting 2 and 6mm figures, as the black itself marked the boundaries between the different areas of the figure. :-D

As I have not painted such small miniatures for a long time, I haven't used it again, although I'm thinking of doing it again when I can paint 1/72 figures in which dark or metallic colours predominate (such as the Spanish Royal Guard musicians of the band I'm preparing or Roman legionaries that I also have in the waiting list). ;-)

Santi.
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Santi Pérez  Spain
 
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28 Aug 2016, 19:42

Posted by Ochoin on 10 Jan 2025, 23:01

The issue for me is how black primer dulls - subtly - the upper coats.
I'm a bright, colourful chap & I like my figures to also be

Aren't we are a broad church, though? Thankfully, no-one tells us "we're doing it wrong!". At least, not here.
Suggestions are always welcome & I have used the expertise of members of this forum countless times.

I still hate black primer, though. :-)

donald
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Ochoin  Scotland
 
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16 Jan 2010, 04:00

Posted by k.b. on 11 Jan 2025, 21:25

I personally tried black undercoating figures in the mid 80's donald, when it first became popular, but like you, i always felt it subdued the colours i applied afterwards. At that time i painted exclusively in humbrol enamels but even so, i often felt i needed one or two more layers to get a good green, blue, yellow or white. Maybe it was great for those who liked the black outlining technique made famous by the Wargames Foundry and games Workshop painters of the time but as i wasn't a wargamer and liked to look at my figures up close and not on a wargames table where i think the black outlines helped to create a very impressive contrast between the different items of clothing. For me a white or grey basecoat is much easier to paint over - especially now that i am using oils but when need to i am not adverse to adding a black or dark grey line for extra depth, especially to distinguish between different items of white clothing that are worn next to each other such as in a French Infantryman, wearing a white waistcoat, white strapping, white breeches and white gaiters. In this situation extreme measures are needed and even if i use different tones of white, i tend to use a dark grey line to seperate the items.
k.b.  Brazil
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