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So ive been painting miniatures for about a year now, have about 2000 points of painted tyranids. I was wondering why people prime the models before painting. I use the GW paint line and i find that if i do a abbadon black prime and then do a memphiston red base (cause i do hive fleet behemoth) it take two coats to completely cover the black, so normally i just do two coats of red without the prime, it covers it up quite nicely. What advantages does priming give me, I find that its just a waste of paint. Correct me if im wrong, im still a pretty new.

Priming makes it so that it takes less paint to stick to the plastic. It allows you to work with thinner coats and retain more of the detail.

If priming black it also gives you free shadowing if you drybrush making it much eaiser to get a nice look.

I know there are many MANY more reasons to prime, but those are the primary ones.

Ya I hate painting over a black primer.....most of my Tau are primed black and I have to do like 3-4 thinned down coats of Averland Sunset to get a solid layer.

A little tip is to prime in WHITE and then use a slightly darker colour of what you want to use (say you want mephiston red pick up a slightly darker shade of red) you water it down to a wash consistency and wash the entire model that has been primed white.
This gives you darker shadows and creases (in the colour you want) and then it is easier to get a brighter colour and can generally get a solid layer of bright colours in 2 coats in most cases.

Primer spray helps paint stick to models in most cases....why not just get a coloured primer if you don't like black?

P.s Leth what is with your sig??

Priming is about adhesion, not coverage. An aerosol enamel, let alone an actual, dedicated primer, will bind more strongly to the plastic than brushed on acrylic, leading to a more robust paintjob. The primer (or "primer") also has more tooth (tiny texture) than bare plastic, allowing even thin, watery coats to properly settle on the surface and grip it, when cured. This allows for thinner coats, meaning less chance of visible brush strokes and better detail retention.

Utilizing an appropriately colored primer can also be a nice shortcut, if the model has a dominant color (painting desert Tau? Prime them tan. Salamanders? Prime them green. UM? Blue, etc.). Grab a red spray and your two coats of become one, which is also faster to apply.

With styrene kits, priming isn't a strict necessity, but you'll be hard pressed to find anyone with a modicum of experience that doesn't recommend it. Some are more fervent than others ("use a real primer, spray a light dusting, primer =/= basecoat" vs. "just hit the whole thing with spray paint and get going"), but the general consensus is still there, and for a reason.

I prefer grey personally because it isn't as harsh as black or as bright as white. I use a cheap gray primer from Wal-Mart (actual grey primer not spray paint) & it has yet to let me down. Even on my elysians who are desert color I still prime grey then I spray with krylon almond as the base coat.