Need Base coat painting technique advice

[WorkingStiff]

Don\'t know if I\'m making a simple painting technique harder than it needs to be, but here\'s my question:

Say I what to strive to paint an 7 to 8 scale level mini. When applying the base coat on the primed mini, should I really be careful making sure the base coats don\'t overlap on parts of the mini that they don\'t belong? Will it make a subtle but significant difference?

Or is OK to quickly slop on a base coat and clean up the seperation between parts up later? (I always thinned my paints as recommended) Do you Pro painters\' out there sweat the initial base coats on your minis, then tighten up on the brushstokes afterward?

Just trying to see if I have to improve my painting disicipline starting at the base coat stage
???

 

[Corvus]

It\'s okay to correct mistakes afterwards, and most of the time this isn\'t a problem, except maybe for white over black

 

[Legacy Account]

It doesn\'t matter as long as the coats of paint are nice and thin and lump/texture free.

 

[No Such Agency]

Originally posted by WorkingStiff
...When applying the base coat on the primed mini, should I really be careful making sure the base coats don\'t overlap on parts of the mini that they don\'t belong? Will it make a subtle but significant difference?

Or is OK to quickly slop on a base coat and clean up the seperation between parts up later?

I\'d say that care in the initial stages always pays off, but it\'s not essential and EVERYONE ends up fixing errors later on. Sometimes it\'s smart to know what matters though - as mentioned, it\'s good to avoid getting dark paints on parts that will be light-colored later on. Trying to paint yellow or white over black is a pain in the ass.

 

[Klute]

I say care should be taken from the moment you start cleaning the figure.Ultimately it will tell if you slap the bases on and clean up.If you take care going over wont be needed and this can only make for a better result.

Not a set rule of course,just the way I do it.

 

[Wolf_Fang]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie
It doesn\'t matter as long as the coats of paint are nice and thin and lump/texture free.

i think lump\\textured looks good sometimes! lol .... ie when trying to do wool and stuff

 

[tidoco2222]

I always try and take care with my basecoats though it is inevitable that sometimes mistakes need to be corrected.
Care at the beginning always pays off at the end IMO.

 

[Equus]

Ditto to all the above. I agree, care in the beginning makes things a wee bit simpler in the long run. Makes it easier to do good blacklining or whatever else. I tend to slap paint on for the basecoats and not be careful enough, and it does sometimes cause time-consuming mess-ups.

 

[EricJ]

I also think while not essential, as everything is going to get many more layers of paint and there will be pleanty of time to touch up later, it is a good habit to get into.

It saves time in the short run (on the mini you\'re working on as you don\'t need to touch up nearly as much), and also in the long run, as you get better at applying base coats carefully, you\'ll get better are being more exact while doing this increasingly quickly on future minis. It\'s just another form of practicing brush control, which is never a bad thing!!!