Do I need to undercoat?

[centurion]

Hi all,

I'm not quite sure about painting resin figurines, I'm only paint metal figurines. My question is: Would I need to undercoat or can I use enamels as the first coat and finish it off with oils? Hope some kind person can help me.


Kind regards.

 

[btavis]

Regardless of what the figure is cast in undercoating is really for the paint that is to be applied on top. Undercoating provides the "tooth" for the finishing paint and it should be a good quality spray. I use Floquil but there are others equally good like Painter's Touch or Tamiya. I usually wait a day after spraying the undercoat before applying finishing paint.

 

[tonydawe]

The simple answer is "yes". Undercoating provides a uniform surface to apply your paint to. I undercoat every model, including metal figures, with Tamiya White or Light Grey spray primer. If you want to burnish bare metal for plate or chain mail armour, simply mask those areas before you spray your primer on.

 

[Diegoff]

I would recomend to undercoat. I usually do it with Citadel spray primer.

Neverthless there is no general rules. I was very suprised when, for the first time, saw a wellknown painter to paint metal figures with no primer at all!

 

[1969]

This is an interesting point as i assumed everyone undercoates before painting untill i read Danilo Cartaccis book and noticed he paints straight onto the sculpted figure without any undercoating and his figure look amazing.

Steve

 

[sirhogr]

This is an interesting point as i assumed everyone undercoates before painting untill i read Danilo Cartaccis book and noticed he paints straight onto the sculpted figure without any undercoating and his figure look amazing.

Steve

Are you sure for this Steve? I have Danillo's book, and i see that he uses a grey primer, (Tamiya i think), and gives and instructions how to spray (first pages)!

 

[1969]

Are you sure for this Steve? I have Danillo's book, and i see that he uses a grey primer, (Tamiya i think), and gives and instructions how to spray (first pages)!

Yes George i agree there is an article regarding priming figures and this confused me a bit, by what i gather he does prime some of the commercial pieces but if you look at the original sculpted figures and horses it appears there is no primer. A good example of this is on page 59,80 etc, in particular the subject covered on page 95 through to 100 shows the horse and rider are clearly not primed prior to painting, it seems that Danilo goes straight to basecoating.

Steve

 

[sirhogr]

Yes George i agree there is an article regarding priming figures and this confused me a bit, by what i gather he does prime some of the commercial pieces but if you look at the original sculpted figures and horses it appears there is no primer. A good example of this is on page 59,80 etc, in particular the subject covered on page 95 through to 100 shows the horse and rider are clearly not primed prior to painting, it seems that Danilo goes straight to basecoating.

Steve

Yes of course you're right, i noticed that, but i was referring to the metal pieces, and i thought you ment that he wasn't priming at all! Sorry

 

[theBaron]

I always prime, too, whether metal, styrene or plastic.

I use--get ready for this--cheap automotive primer from Wal-Mart!

(I can hear the collective gasp )

 

[Einion]

You can paint enamels straight onto resin (particularly if you clean the surface well first) but it's usually a good idea to prime first, regardless of medium.

Paint of all types sticks to primer better than metal, plastic or resin and primer sticks to them all better than paint - so it makes the paintwork much more resistant to wearing away from high spots with handling, during assembly or basing.

Einion

 

[1969]

Yes of course you're right, i noticed that, but i was referring to the metal pieces, and i thought you ment that he wasn't priming at all! Sorry

hey no problem George i found this was a bit confusing within the book , to be on the safe side i prime evrything so theres no confusion.

All the best

Steve

 

[TWOMOONS]

My old buddy Philip O.Stearns had some very antique figures in his private collection...and he showed me personally where they were actually starting to deteriorate and "rot" away , because they weren't primed initially years ago.
It's just best to prime everything, no matter what, but I've gone right on top of my own Sculpy pieces with oil paint, and then wiped it off partially.
It gives a "stained" look...almost a pastel effect. It's probably something you wouldn't want with military miniatures, but with whimsey or fantasy, it's striking and looks apropos.

 

[Amphibian]

Does it really matter what is the color of the primer? Because I was searching on the net and I found this little article about professional sculptors putty, so I assume maybe I should use gray primer instead of white? Any suggestion?

'' Gray was specifically selected to be the final mixed color for Procreate. Gray allows fine detail work to be observed more easily and results in less eye strain.