While modeling activity with me has ground down due to the Christmas work Blitz, my ole chum Spanky Dave (At the moment Desert Dave, due to his deployment loc) has been hard at work in the sand painting and constructing. In order to get the most out of his limited kits and figures he has been experimenting with trying different base coats to find what works best for him in painting. Above the white base coat. All figures Italeri German Elite Troops.
And again the same with a black primer.
Once again with green.
Hmm I don't know about the green, the detail seems to fade, maybe it's because the black is missing from his footwear.
The black looks better, I have used black for years now an am happy with it, a few weeks ago I tried green but did not like it. Perhaps a wash would have improved them, but I have never done one so it's hard to tell.
Green again, better with the black I think.
These black ones remind me of my painting, I tend to leave alot of gaps in the detailing to give them some depth and shadowing. Over all I think the Black and white win out. But to each their own.
I reckon the black is the best, brings out the details better.Still nice looking figures though which ever undercoat.
ReplyDeleteIn the words of mick Jagger, "I see a bare bod and I want to paint it Black", well, not quite..I changed them a wee bit:-) but I reckon Black basing is the best...it suits all colours of plastic .The italeri elite troops..they´ve got a touch of the old esci ones, especially the MG and mortar ones..or is that just me?
ReplyDeleteCheers
Paul
I usually airbrush the main uniform colour on as an undercoat (of course I use a clear undercoat laquer as a primer underneath that). Despite some minor colour variation caused by the different colours of the plastic, everything evens out after a wash is applied.
ReplyDeleteDimitri
Black looks the best.
ReplyDeleteI Also like the White. For my DAK I use also , tan or an ochre as base color that works wonders.
ReplyDeleteNice thought provoking post
ReplyDeleteWhite seems to give the brighter colour, but I think it makes your painting harder as the coverage counts down into the cracks
I have to say I am relatively non-plussed with the green
Dark black is still the best of the batch, if only for the way you can save time and effort with the black-lining/shadow effect
I would only like to add that for my 20mm British (metal Platoon 20) I used Dark Brown as a primer (Games Workshop Scorched Earth and Anita's Acrylics I think). That was in part due to my running battle with WWII British Khaki, to make the green look brown.
http://exiledfog.blogspot.com/2009/10/note-to-self-british-infantry-painting.html
I prefer a white primer because they're more bright and have better look at the tabletop :)
ReplyDeleteNice work on not so fine figures. For priming, black is best for wargaming, makes for quick and easy painting, white is best for bringing out detail. Personally I'm using grey right now.
ReplyDeleteIf you can find some, I would totally recommend both the Vallejo and the Games Workshop washes. It only adds a couple of seconds to the time taken to paint each figure, but adds a lot of depth. It almost feels like cheating, it's that easy.
ReplyDeleteFive for Black, seems to me black is a winner. Some good comments on this post and advice on washes.
ReplyDeleteCheers Paul
I make a difference wich figures I want to paint. For Germans (Europe)e.g. I use Army Painter "Black", for U.S. Infantry or Figures for the africa theatre I use Army Painter "Fleshtone".
ReplyDeleteGreetings, Mork