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For those who use the Citadel color spray paints do you all apply it directly over the plastic or do you apply it over a white or black undercoat? And why?

I noticed that in the Warhammer TV tutorial videos that they use those Citadel color spray paints directly over the plastic. I also remember hearing Duncan Rhodes say in one of his interviews on Warhammer TV's Twitch channel that you can spray right over the plastic. I was going to use Citadel's Mephiston Red spray paint as a basecoat for a color scheme I want to do for an army. I am just unsure whehter to apply it over the plastic or apply it over a black undercoat.

Also, are these sprays any different from using an air brush?

Thanks

I spray straight over plastic.

I spray leadbelcher all over my plastic and then wash straight away with nuln oil.

Have never had any problems.

It's tough. First you take off the rigid plastic cap from the top the can. Then aim in the general direction of some models, hopefully is a ventilated area, and then depress the button on the top of the can. Voila! Paint gets on stuff.

Oh .... maybe that's not what you meant.

Two main ways for me. One, an actual basecoat - multiple coats over primer for even coverage. Two, the semi-basecoat over black primer, for less plated stuff, sometimes I'll leave some of the black primer showing and work off that for shadowing the fig.

In both cases I still use primer unless I'm 100% sure that the spray in question also doubles as a primer.

Orxini wrote:


Also, are these sprays any different from using an air brush?

Thanks

Airbrushes NEED an air source to push the paint out (compressor, can of propellant, inner tube, etc). The paint in an airbrush also tends to be quite thin and multiple coats are required to get a good colour depth.

Rattle cans (so named because they contain a widget for mixing the paint inside them, that rattles when you shake the can) contain their own pressurised reservoir and also the paint mix. They are also designed to often get best results from multiple light coats (You just don't need to carry a compressor with you).

You can get some neat effects with a rattlecan (with the right nozzle - graffiti artists don't tend to use stock nozzles the can comes with and there's a large range of different effect tips out there) that in some cases CAN rival an airbrush but it's comparing Ladas to Lamborghinis.
(Airbrushes are maintenance hogs. You spend 2-3x as long cleaning them as you do using them (and that's not counting compressor maintenance) and are also just as reliant on the same climate conditions as a rattlecan (can't be too hot, too dry, too wet or too cold.)

I also paint straight onto bare plastic with the Citadel cans. I've used Leadbelcher, Zandri Dust, and Chaos Black depending on the model, and it saves a lot of time. The only thing I would say is to make sure all parts have a thin coat. When using Leadbelcher on my GK I have been known to miss a few spots after the first pass (looks very close to the plastic color under some lighting), but with red that should not be an issue. Let the areas dry a bit before you decide to apply more as well since you could spray too much on a spot and hide some of the details.

The spray cans do not allow the same level of control/transitions as an airbrush, and I would not attempt to use them for anything more than a base coat. For me it would be like comparing base colors and washes, two separate applications. You can however base coat your models with an airbrush as well should you decide to go that route.