Good evening, my readers. Another night of gaming, so no actual progress on any of my miniatures projects. But that does not mean that I have nothing for you - quite the opposite, in fact. Tonight, we're going to talk about Primers. Why you use them, what they do, and the most in depth part - what colors to pick? No pictures, though... It's late, and I'm not going to go digging for figures that I've primed in different colors (or trust to my memory to recall which is which).
So, why should you prime a miniature? Well, there are a few reasons to do this - you get a baseline color to work from (or you have the majority of the base coat finished before you've really started); the primer allows the paint to adhere to the miniature better, particularly when painting plastic or resin miniatures; and, with the proper techniques, you can get a much more dynamic color range without adding a lot of different colors to your palette.
So, now that you know why to prime and what the primer does (helps the paint stick to the mini), what color should you use? What colors can you use?
You have the basic neutral colors: Black, Grey, and White, and you have the myriad of colors to choose from. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks:
Black primer is excellent for beginners to work with. It is very forgiving, as most mistakes will be interpreted as stray shadows, and it gives figures a deep, rich color if worked correctly. However, it is quite difficult to work with bright colors on a black backdrop.
White primer is excellent for creating bright, bold colors that really catch the eye, and it's easier to pick out details on the figure without applying paint to the figure first. However, it is fairly unforgiving, requiring a lot more precise work or a few overall washes to look good, as any primer left unpainted will draw the eye right to it.
Grey primer is the red-headed stepchild between the two, neither as forgiving as the Black, nor as brilliant as the white. What it does do, however, is keep the colors true to what you expect from looking at them in the bottle, and makes it much easier to see details than the Black or the White.
Brown primers are best used for figures that will look dirty, as the color peaking through will give everything a somewhat dingy tinge. Otherwise, see Grey primer.
Finally, colored primers are best used in cases where the bulk of a figure is a single color. This will let you get a nice, even coat on the figure without putting much effort in, but it can tinge the other colors on your pallet in a way that is not entirely pleasant.
Once you know what color(s) you'll be using, you'll want to take the figures out and prime them. I prefer spray primers, as they let you prime several miniatures all in one go (as you've seen in previous updates), but others prefer brush on primer as it gives them better control over where the paint goes.
In either case, you'll want to get a nice even coat of the primer over the entirety of the model before setting to work on painting it. If you're using spray primer, this is best done in three layers - with the model standing up, with the model lying on its back, and with the model lying on its front. I have found this to give overall solid coverage when priming figures.
Ah, you may ask, what about my priming technique? I personally use a Halo technique, which involves using a Black base, then spraying on Gray from the sides and finishing off with White from the top/front. This brings in a nice interplay of light and shadow that emerges naturally from the miniature, helping me when I paint the miniature. I follow it up with a wash to blend the three colors together and pick out the details before I set to work on painting the miniatures.
What's a wash, you may ask? Well, tune in tomorrow, and I'll talk about some of the ones I have used.
Until then, paint on!
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