Black or White priming for Napoleonics

[davbenbak1]

I usually prime my figures with flat black paint but recently tried some infantry with white to see how the shading would work out with all the white belts, straps and piping that so many Napoleonic uniforms have. After I had all the base colors painted I went over the figures with a black wash then went back over the white parts with a white highlight. I have posted the outcome in the gallery forum.

I like black as a primer because it helps to hide my mistakes when I don't get the colors close enough which also adds some definition and helps with shading.

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Beano Boy]

All my Napoleonics are painted in Enamel Paints.
So I found this question on priming figures of interest. Painting onto black undercoated figures resulted in double vision for me. So to cut down on eye strain I resorted to painting white paint first by mixing White S Matt,and White Matt Enamel paints together. Both new tins were tipped into a pot and mixed,and then poured back into the tins ,it only took a couple of minutes to do the job.This gave me a far superior paint that I could use on my Napoleonic figures as both a primmer ,and for other work too. It dried hard and was not chalky at all ,but skinned the models well giving them a good start to the painting process. This type of mixing was such a success, that I now combine all my Matt and S Matt paints together. People in the shop remarked that they had done similar but saw no marked difference. Believe me I could,and model figures painted 15 years ago using this painting system having been handled many times have over have kept all the paint on them,and without the use of varnish.

For the first time this year I used Acrylic Paints and both Primmer Spays and paint pealed off the figures even before I had time to finish painting them. They were all cleaned before painting.
So my collection of acrylic paints I now use to make up Colour Washes for use on my plaster of Paris Castings. Which is a good use made of them,rather than trashing them. BB

[Mr. Andrea]

With some rare exception, I always go for black priming as it adds more depth to colors; I use cheap matte black spray bottle from hobby stores. Never had a problem with colors pealing off.
I understand your question with nappies: with all that white in uniforms , white primer may save a lot of time. I had the same issue, I keep on using black, but I am seriously tempted to go white.

[Little Ted]

I have started to undercoat white and once it is fully dry I put a wash of GW Nuln Oil over it and it runs into all the detail so I can see it much better to paint. I wipe off the wash over the highest points when I put it on and so it gives depth but has the benifit of the white undercoat for th colours

[Emperor]

How about priming them gray, and after priming them and before painting base color covering them with brown wash...Some guy did that it gave a nice result...

[davbenbak1]

@Little Ted
Thanks for the idea and as I'm new to this and willing to give anything a try, here are some Hat Chasseurs I used as test subjects. I figured if I didn't like how they turned out it wouldn't matter much as I was going to paint them over in mostly blue anyways.


I like the effect so much that I think I'll give it a go on some Austrians I've had sitting around for a long time.


Thanks for a great that will be leading to a new WIP post.

[Peter]

I work the same way as Little Ted, but with a sepia or grey wash!

[Marvin]

With some rare exception, I always go for black priming as it adds more depth to colors; I use cheap matte black spray bottle from hobby stores. Never had a problem with colors pealing off.

Me too. I use a cheap can of black primer spray. Never really had a peeling problem.

[Little Ted]

I have started to use this method on all my figures it really brings out the detail for painting. If you gently wipe off the wash with your finger/thumb over the high points as soon as you have washed the figure the wash will just stay in the detail, gently does it though.

[Ochoin]

White. It makes the top coats brighter & Napoleonics is all about colourful uniforms.

donald