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Hi dakka, need some Painting advise

I'm hoping to gather as much info as possible before i start buying the minis i want cause i'll just rush into them and ruin them

So, my Marines are going to be white, White Scars white to be precise. I was wondering how to build up to the white using (only) GW paints... from a black primer

I was thinking;
Solid layer of Mechanicus Standard Grey
a watered down layer or two of Warpfiend Grey
then 3/4 watered down layers of White Scar.

Will that get me a solid layer of white? How much should i water it down by? 1:1. 2:1?
I've never watered down paints before, so any advise is much appreciated.

Cheers, Zambro

Yeah, that is about how to accomplish it. Base it grey, then build up to white.

As for how much to water it down, that really isn't a question anyone can answer for you because it depends on how thick your paint currently is. The usual advice is "whole milk" consistency.

But why in the world are you doing white on black primer? You are adding tons of work for yourself, and your army is going to look worse for it. Just for out the 7$ for a new can. If you need areas built up from black base THOSE areas black instead of forcing yourself to build up.

why not buy a grey primer and save yourself hours? Id suggest you use Ceramite White instead of white scar too.

Get some halfords grey primer and some white primer. Prime them grey then 'highlight' it with light bursts of pure white.

Then use thinned bl ack wash to fill in the recesses.

drybrush/Layer over with 50/50 white painit and light grey, then drybrush/layer again with just the white paint

But do not prime in black!

Hmm. ok. White primer it is.

Just a little extra ££.

Thanks for the advise

You mean a GREY primer if you wish to build up to white.

Upon further thought, I agree grey primer is probably the way to go. If you used a white primer you would still have to basecoat in grey if you didn't want it to appear flat.

I used a black primer to paint this drop pod.

You certainly CAN use black primer. I've done so. But you are adding in a lot of time and effort, and risking the quality of the finished product for no good reason. Primer just isn't that expensive.

Save the black primer for models it is appropriate for and get some grey primer for your white minis.

I know you are only aiming to use GW paints but here is how I get an even white coat. I use a lot of Gamecraft paints(their part of Ral Partha Europe I think), and there are some paints in the range that have a high opaque finish. In the case of a basecoat for white I use their powder blue. It is at the the 'whiter' end of the blue scale! Anyway, 2 coats of this and the white covers really even.

Ok, i shall look into grey primer.

Where can i get this from? anyone have any reliable stockists? (in the UK, preferably)

Zambro wrote:Ok, i shall look into grey primer.

Where can i get this from? anyone have any reliable stockists? (in the UK, preferably)

Use the Army Painter sprays, they sell them at gifts for geeks. Which is online in the UK. If not just use a grey primer from Halfords, as previously posted.

Next time I paint white vehicles I will use grey primer. To see how less of work I have to do. It was alot of work to do with black primer.

I've been using black primer for my white-cream-bone colored marines, and while possible, it's really a pain. When I stripped them to give them a new paintjob and sprayed on grey primer, I cut the painting time more than half.

And here you go if you want to start on white primer:




You can also basecoat it with foundation paint, leaving the recesses of grey.

Thanks heart, i watched that video a while back. watching it again has inspired me!

Anyway, which grey would suit me better? Uniform Grey or Wolf Grey?

Thanks!

Zambro wrote:Anyway, which grey would suit me better? Uniform Grey or Wolf Grey?

Can't help you with which one, never actually done a white model myself, but I can vouch for the quality of the sprays, I use the Pure Red for my Blood Angels, maybe get both and do a test model see which one is best for you? Depending on budget obviously.