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Hey you pro painters/modelers!

I generally have used darker colors on my armies but for my new project I'd like to change that. I've heard the horror stories of using white and lighter colors showing every little line and need to know how crazy I need to get with sanding my sculpted bits.

My transitions look fine to the eye but do any of you have any advise on how I can avoid priming it and discovering I need to go back and sand teeny line out? I plan on using a pale blue predominantly and almost every bit of it will be over GS.

Are lighter colors really that challenging? Am I just super paranoid I'm going to wreck my stuff? Will these questions never end?

Military modelers frequently use primer for the express purpose of finding those minor surface flaws, sanding coats and reapplying until the surface is flawless. Honestly, I think that's overkill for most flat finishes. I can say from experience that lighter colors show surface imperfections more readily than dark ones, but the only way to be sure whether it will be a problem for you or not is to test it (since I can't be sure how picky you are, nor how bad the flaws are). If the lines show up and bug you, you know you need to get a better finish.

If that's the case, you need to decide the best way to fix it. You could just sand them off, but consider how long that would take, based on the complexity of the shape and the depth of the imperfections. It might be worth painting over problem spots with thinned putty or a surfacing paste (Tamiya putty or Mr. Surfacer) to fill the scratches and cracks first, reducing the amount of material you actually have to remove to erase the cracks.

Whichever method you use, polishing the surface until it looks fresh off the sprue is unnecessary, but even the coarseness left by diamond-coated needle files shows through white primer. A little fine-grit sanding/buffing is never amiss, but I wouldn't likely call it necessary without some significant flaws.

Fair enough, thanks!