White Vs. Black Primer (what ido you use?)

[leopardpixie]

I see a lot of Cmon-ers wips, and they are mostly done with a white base.
Personally when ever I use white, I can not even make it look right. So now, all I use is black.
What are you preferences?
And why?
What are your likes and dislikes about each?

 

[Grizzix]

i always use black. i must admit though that i have never used a white undercoat. i figure ill get my painting skills a bit higher and then try it.

 

[EricJ]

I use a white primer for a very simple reason, if I want an area with a black undercoat I\'ll just paint it black over the white primer before building up layers of the color. If I primed it black and I wanted a white basecoat area, it would be MUCH hard to get the white to cover, and would take many many layers and lots more work.

Usually how I work is I prime white, then paint most or all of the areas I want to start with a white base coat, then carefully paint the rest of the mini with black, and then paint those areas. It works for me

 

[No Such Agency]

I don\'t know how people work with dark undercoat when there\'s going to any light colour on the mini. I find that even with a less-than-perfectly-uniform white undercoat, colours like yellow and light blue end up uneven.

 

[supervike]

neither...

I converted to the bland side a while back and now use Grey primer almost exclusively.

I had real trouble \'seeing\' details when I primed with stark white, and the same with all black. Grey gives me attributes that I like of both.

 

[Anaughtybear]

BLACK!!!
That is, when I can actually find black primer. I hate spray primer, and pretty much all that is on the market is white. Filthy savages

 

[Trevor]

Both.

But mainly black, because I have developed a style around that. I can work pretty much the same from white, but I use extensive heavy ink washes to get the first shading in (if you put ink on thick enough it looks nearly black anyway).

My Druuchi anointed was done with a white undercoat, whilst nurgle terminator was done with black.

 

[Gin1906]

I\'m with Vike here, for much the same reasons, I like grey because I can see the detail much better than white, and I dont get confused with my white spray paint (did that once, had to strip 8 minis cause the paint did\'nt stick)
So mark me down for Grey!
Gin

 

[Equus]

White, pretty much for the same reasons as EricJ. Aesthetically, I tend towards birghter colors. Must be all the shiny anime I watch.

I\'m experimenting with grey now, but it\'s pretty dark stuff (Duplicolor sandable primer). I have a weird feeling I might end up putting down white base anyway out of habit.

 

[marineboy]

I\'ve always primed black and have struggled with the usual problems about red and yellow as a result. For the mini-exchange 3 I\'ve primed all the minis white irregardless of what color schemes I\'ll be using...exciting to see how the result is.

I think that I\'ll end up with a mix -- parts primed white, others primed back, easy enough since I brush on the prime coat.

Grey does sound interesting, though.

 

[frenchkid]

Depends, but usually it\'s black, make outlining much easier. But if I have some bright colors on my mini, or if I run out of black primer I\'ll just use white, it also works for me

 

[philologus]

Black

For the same reasons as FrenchKid. I find it easier to line between blocks of color.

 

[Corvus]

I\'ve recently used black, but I try to avoid it as much as possible. Things like painting fleshtones over black is a real nightmare IMO. Even after 3 layers it still doesn\'t look smooth

But anyway, I know this is somewhat of a religous discussion for mini painters, and there is no better of the two.

 

[TAB Studio]

White...Liquid Vallejo will not go back
I used to use gw but the consistency in the humid south is not dependable. I used a black with the white over head spray thus giving highlights before I even started but it bumped etc. and now I have been taught, light primer then wash darker.

 

[MalleusMiniArt]

for years I`ve used black. i think that when you get used to it , it makes painting much faster than on white - it makes outlining easier, it forgives you some errors (if you leave some small part unpainted there`s a high chance it will look like shadow). white requires super neatness - you have be very careful when painting.
that being said I must admit that currently I use mostly ZENITHAL BASECOATING - the best of 2 worlds .

 

[Corvus]

faster ???

when basecoating flesh I use two layers of skintone on a white primed mini, and four on a black, so you make the calculation

or maybe I\'m doing something wrong

 

[NetGuru]

I think it depends on your own personal style, my style is quite realistic and gritty and so i use black undercoat.

 

[Klute]

It totally depends on the figure,what colours are to be used and the final look I want for the figure.
I started black,then moved to white,then white spray primer.
Now I use white spray and black spray,both GW.
I find black hides the detail for me but gives a more contrasting final look,where white has a more subtle final look.
White skintone always gets a white undercoat,black a black one.
NMM,gold or silver gets a black undercoat now.
If a figure has both I will spray white and do selective black undercoat areas.

 

[MalleusMiniArt]

Originally posted by Corvus
faster ???

when basecoating flesh I use two layers of skintone on a white primed mini, and four on a black, so you make the calculation

or maybe I\'m doing something wrong

yes , faster. it depends on the approach used, but i`m able to get really good looking face on black much faster. also i haven`t much problem with yellows over black. the trick with black is to use good base colour.
I agree with Klute that black usually gives you much more contrasting model tough.
I don`t want to tell that black is better. No, I don`t mean that. I mean that it is up to personal preference.

 

[Fizl]

White for me - I\'ve tried black once on a gnoblar trapper and I felt like I couldn\'t see a thing detail wise! Plus it seemed to take ages fro me to cover it. I suppose I\'m a creature of habit, I like the clean white undercoat

Shaz