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I primed half my ork army black and I found that it's harder to paint on primed black but it also hides mistakes well.

Any advice on how you primed your orks? I'm looking at an evil sun's scheme with some deathskulls

I like black for Orks because it provides natural shading and black lining in the recess, there is usually lots of black on the model anyway, and it makes it really easy to dry brush areas. I imagine it would be a little tougher to get Bad Moonz with the bright yellow, but I find the Base shades of red work pretty well over black with two thin coats before highlighting with a Layer.

Presumably you like the black because it leaves recesses and shadows a natural colour. I find it generally more forgiving for that reason.

If you airbrush then you could use a zenithal highlight of a neutral/light grey from above to give a lighter base for the yellow without losing all of the shadows. You could also do that with a spray can from above.

I've tried both black and white, and am currently undecided. One thing I've tried and am fairly happy with is white, but then hit it with a dark wash (agrax, strong tone, whatever) so the recesses are all darkened and the details pop a bit before I start basecoating. Yeah I paint over almost all that shading, but it gives a little bit of the forgiving nature of black to a lighter colored prime.

White looks really weird with my color scheme, they skin comes out looking emerald green...too pretty for an ork.

If you are bad moons, prime yellow, then paint the skin with a base coat of black. Same with evil suns and red. Or use white primer for them.

never prime white. seriously, unless it happens to be the mid 90s, never prime white. I always prime grey. then if you wish you can apply black to areas that need shadow, and lighter grey or white to areas that need highlights. this gives you a base to work your colours over.

Zenithal priming. Best of all worlds.
Prime black for the easy shading, light white from about 15° all around, straight white from straight above.
Throw down a wash to hit the recesses and you're set.
Black shadows, darker in the folds and brighter on top. Try it on a test model, it blew me away the first time.
Good luck!

Zenithal Prime. Thats all i do now on everything.

For my Orks I always used black primer. In my Ork Waaagh Painting Log you can see loads of examples of how to paint over the black and even build up the highlights with another base colour (like bubonic brown or other sand colour) over the black for things you want to brighten on the model.

Good luck,

CB

PourSpelur wrote:
Zenithal priming. Best of all worlds.
Prime black for the easy shading, light white from about 15° all around, straight white from straight above.
Throw down a wash to hit the recesses and you're set.
Black shadows, darker in the folds and brighter on top. Try it on a test model, it blew me away the first time.
Good luck!

I totally agree. I don't think I'll ever go back to using only black. Even if you don't have an airbrush you can still use white spray primer over black spray primer. Apart from the fact that your brighter paints will be easier to apply, it really helps to identify all the tiny details on the model.

Confession time.
I have an airbrush, I love it and use it all the time.
Still rattlecan prime. Never found an airbrush primer I like better than cheap rattlecans. Favorite primers brands is as contentious subject as primers colors so take everything with a spoonful of salt.
I love the dollar cans from Walmart. Smooth spray, thin without being runny, consistent, just the right amount of tooth and durable.