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I'm a relatively inexperienced painter and I don't want to screw this up. I've got a Forgeworld Nightwing that's been assembled, primed, and based in Abbadon Black using a Citadel airbrush. I'm going for an Ulthwe theme. I'm also thinking of re-basing it with Vallejo German Grey (which is 98% black) or even going lighter than that because I feel it gives a warmer presentation than pure black.white.

So my question is this: What's the best way to go about putting white on the wings and various other parts of the model given that it's been based a dark black? A zillion coats? I've never done this before and I'd rather not jack up a nice model. Thanks

Get a good coverage grey and give it a couple of coats of that before highlighting up to white. Don't attempt to get a pure white basecoat; it's a waste of time and effort; against a very dark colour contrast does the work for you and light greys will appear white.

I have Vallejo neutral grey and gunmetal grey. And I have Citadel Dawnstone layer paint. Which of these would you recommend? And thinned out?

Probably the neutral grey. Gunmetal grey is actually metallic, so you don't want to use that unless you're after a metallic finish.

Yeah, thin it so it flows properly and do a few even coats. Remember you want the paint to flow from the brush, not run all over the place, so practice your brush control.

Thanks, I'm practicing on an old vyper. I could possibly use masking tape and airgun the grey on but I always have issues with bleeding under the tape... :(

After the grey is dry and I start on the white layers I should probably thin the white out quite a bit right? It's always so chalky... I'm using Citadel white scar layer paint - is that a wise choice or no?

Use blue painters tape or a brand called frog tape is amazing for this. Regular masking has tendencies to bleed through.

chewielight wrote:
Use blue painters tape or a brand called frog tape is amazing for this. Regular masking has tendencies to bleed through.

I tried Frog Tape. When I pulled it up it stripped off a huge chunk of the Nightwing's paint and primer, right down to the resin.

Should have used Tamiya tape. Shame I didn't see this thread in time. It's expensive, but worth every penny.

winterdyne wrote:
Should have used Tamiya tape. Shame I didn't see this thread in time. It's expensive, but worth every penny.

Ugh, yeah. I just saw Tamiya tape at Hobby Lobby today too. :( I'll pick some up and try to patch up this paint job...