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I just started painting my first ever Warhammer 40k miniatures today when my starter paint set came. So far the Imperial Primer is working pretty well. I've primed and finished the armor color of one Dark Angels Marine. However, I was wondering if I could prime with Scar White? Or even Ulthuan Grey? I just want a bit of a lighter base to work from than the Imperial Primer.

Go to your local hardware and pick up some basic black car autoprimer spray paint. It will be tons faster.

 Ifurita wrote:
Go to your local hardware and pick up some basic black car autoprimer spray paint. It will be tons faster.

Thanks for the tip. Ill remember that for the future. But right now I just what to know if I can use those other two paints as a primer.

The other two paints are not designed to prime. The only paint on primer made by GW is the black. Now depending on what army you play the black might be nifty. And I would really suggest you don't paint on the grey surface.

If you have a local hobby store you could pick up some krylon spray which is a great cheaper alternative or just plastic primer.

But to answer your question it is not wise to use your paint to paint directly onto the model and the plastic is not designed to hold paint hence the priming.

Grafeld wrote:
I just started painting my first ever Warhammer 40k miniatures today when my starter paint set came. So far the Imperial Primer is working pretty well. I've primed and finished the armor color of one Dark Angels Marine. However, I was wondering if I could prime with Scar White? Or even Ulthuan Grey? I just want a bit of a lighter base to work from than the Imperial Primer.

Yeah you can start with whatever colour you want. For DA I would probably just grab some dark green spray from Army Painter or the like and base them with that.

 Nafarious wrote:
The other two paints are not designed to prime. The only paint on primer made by GW is the black. Now depending on what army you play the black might be nifty. And I would really suggest you don't paint on the grey surface.

If you have a local hobby store you could pick up some krylon spray which is a great cheaper alternative or just plastic primer.

But to answer your question it is not wise to use your paint to paint directly onto the model and the plastic is not designed to hold paint hence the priming.

That clears things up. Thanks! Ill try to look for spray primer since itll be easier and more time efficient. But I could use a gray or white primer as long as its a primer?

Grafeld wrote:

 Nafarious wrote:
The other two paints are not designed to prime. The only paint on primer made by GW is the black. Now depending on what army you play the black might be nifty. And I would really suggest you don't paint on the grey surface.

If you have a local hobby store you could pick up some krylon spray which is a great cheaper alternative or just plastic primer.

But to answer your question it is not wise to use your paint to paint directly onto the model and the plastic is not designed to hold paint hence the priming.

That clears things up. Thanks! Ill try to look for spray primer since itll be easier and more time efficient. But I could use a gray or white primer as long as its a primer?

You don't need primer for painting plastic, people have been 'priming' in chaos black and skull white for years, neither was a primer. Just wash the models in soapy water before you start, to remove any grease and dust.

Say what you will about the quality of GW's sprays, they certainly hold better than just painting any old colour on as a basecoat with a brush, I've seen people try that and the paint comes off so easily, I would never advise hand painting anything onto plastic as the first layer, but especially not random things that aren't designed for priming.

You will also want to be careful using a white primer because it can be difficult to work with, especially when you are new to painting, Black is much more forgiving for anything but the brightest of colours.