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The subject isn't very clear, but what I am asking is whether it is necessary to ALWAYS paint black on a figure before painting it the colours you want. A friend of mine told me to do so for canis wolfborne, but he is metal. Im asking about plastic as well as metal. I dont know if this is a waste of your time, but please dont get angry at me if it is, because I'm really confused and besides I'm new to 40k.

You could just spray paint the miniature black first. This is necessary as it keeps the paint from chipping off, and sets the overall tone to the miniature. It is called Basecoating.

You can do white aswell, as they are both great bases for painting, and the gerneral rule of thumb is:

Miniatures in armour, with dark colours=Black (black imo is easier for beginners, and if you dont paint before assembly as the unpainted black just looks like shadow'
Painting miniatures that have lots of lighter colours, such as if you want to paint them bright red, orange, or yellow.

Make sure you are using primer and not just painting it black.

Primer is a special type of paint that has a different composition that allows paint to stick on miniatures better (especially on resin and metals).

They often come in spray cans, but can also come in pots where it's advisable to airbrush them on.

Primers also can come in different colours, not just black!

Although GW only stock them in Black and White.....

I painted Canis Wolfborne in undercoat black instead of spraying him in chaos black. Do you think it will make a difference?


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Oh and thanks

There are two main reasons you'd spay your undercoat rather than painting it on.

Firstly, spraying is a lot faster.
Secondly, if you brush on your undercoat you tend to get a very thick layer of paint that can obscure fine details.

You don't HAVE to spray a base coat on, but it generally does give a faster more even coat.