Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I have consistently base coated my model with Chaos Black spray and then hand painted the base coat. I bought myself a mephiston red spray can and I am unsure whether to spray with the chaos black first and then with Mephiston red or do I just need the mephiston red spray only?

Prime your models. Primer is specially formulated to stick to a surface and have paint stick to it. Paint alone may stick to plastic without primer, but will not stick as well.

A black base coat will give you are darker red. A white base will give you a lighter red. Gray will give you a neutral color. You can buy rust red primer which works well for getting a deep red color.

The added bonus of a primer is that nooks and crannies were you may not hit well with spray kind of auto-shades itself.

When I was still playing puppies, I always just straight primed them with the Fang basecoat spray, and it worked a charm.

Groo_The_Wanderer wrote:
Prime your models. Primer is specially formulated to stick to a surface and have paint stick to it. Paint alone may stick to plastic without primer, but will not stick as well.

A black base coat will give you are darker red. A white base will give you a lighter red. Gray will give you a neutral color. You can buy rust red primer which works well for getting a deep red color.

The added bonus of a primer is that nooks and crannies were you may not hit well with spray kind of auto-shades itself.

All of the Citadel sprays are designed to be sprayed directly on plastic (if you look at the Chaos Black and Corax White, you'll note that they are both simply labelled "model paint" like all the others, none of them is specifically highlighted as a "primer")

I still spray Abaddon Black on (and it's generally been all I've used as "primer" and been 100% fine, even with models with 3+ years use) before Mephiston. It just covers any places you didn't get a full coat of the red on better.

I've used Mechanicus Standard Grey, Caliban Green, and Macragge Blue sprays straight on quite successfully. That said, some models I still prime black before spraying, especially reds. It subtly darkens the color, and adds a bit of preshading to the crevices that are harder to get with a spray can.

If you're looking for an official endorsement, Duncan uses the sprays without first priming the models in several videos. But he also uses them on primed models as well