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Hi guys, I have been gifted two destroyers tank Hunter, but they have been primed white ! I never painted a model primed white...
What's the difference between painting a white or a black primed model ?

White primer sucks. Respray it grey.

Its really a matter of preference. White is easier to paint lighter or brighter colors over without doing many layers or globbing on thick ones, and can more easily do wash/ink/contrast paint style work over. Black tends to be better hide missed spots and gives a darker tone, grey is probably in the middle. I'm not nearly the painter QAR above me is, but I mostly prime white.

With black primer, you add brightness to your models. With white primer, you’re adding darkness to the model.

With white, you can start with your lightest colours and add progressively darker colours to the recesses, whereas with black you build up brightness towards the upper edges.

I prefer working with white primer.

I tried white primer before, and didn't really like it. I'm with QAR on this one, grey is best.

I returned after a 20ish year break from painting and the move to black primer is something I can’t get my head around. Black undercoat kills the colour from underneath(either that or you need so many layers to achieve a decent colour) and these models are small! They need bright colours to stand out! White primer is great for this!

That's one of those questions like, Ford or Chevy? Best Dr Who? Crispy or limp bacon?
Damn near everyone has a strong opinion, is happy to tell you your's is wrong if it doesn't match with their's, and ultimately boils down to personal preference.
Painting on white primer:
Pros. Crisp colors, yellows and reds as deep as you want with very little effort.
Very conductive to making models that "pop", think all the old skool Evy Metal stuff.
Cons. Not forgiving towards missed spots, they WILL show. Can be a downright pain for those recesses like tank treads without a steady hand on washes.
Can be tough to match if the rest of your stuff is black primer.
Personally, I've been really loving a grey/white zenithal prime or a black/white zenithal heavy on the white.
Try em out. See how it looks and feels. Worst cast scenario you can Simple Green em and reprime to your regular color.
Good luck!

I mean, for an infantry model I would paint but two thin coats of green (for example), then a wash of agrax shade then paint the edges with a lighter green. How a white primer would changes this ?

 godardc wrote:
I mean, for an infantry model I would paint but two thin coats of green (for example), then a wash of agrax shade then paint the edges with a lighter green. How a white primer would changes this ?

The green might look a bit more saturated/vibrant over the white primer. It highly depends on the color though.
I have some witch elves that I primed with white, others with grey (I was out of white primer), and I can see the difference on the finished model (it's not that obvious, I need to put them next to each other and pay attention). The flesh (basecoat + wash + highlights) and the hair (which are a bright orange) are a bit different, the other colors not at all. I prefer the ones that were primed white, they pop a bit more (especially the hair).

 godardc wrote:
I mean, for an infantry model I would paint but two thin coats of green (for example), then a wash of agrax shade then paint the edges with a lighter green. How a white primer would changes this ?

You can apply wash over white and then build up color over it.

I've tried priming in white and priming in black, grey is the best of both worlds, go for that.

Honestly i prime with both black grey and white

General concept is that Black allows for richer looking colors and deeper shadows as its already black. and areas you miss will be automagicly shaded black so no need to worry.

White allows for very vibrant colors, several different painting techniques like the new contrast, ink, washing technique. and it allows for easier painting of brighter colors like yellows.

Grey is sort of the inbetween though areas you miss painting will look grey rather than shaded, and colors look a bit desaturated imho.

or you can mix all 3 and do base black, grey 90 degree, zenethal white.

so it all depends on what you are doing.

White primer would be awesome to paint on if most white primers didn’t suck and weren’t so temperamental with temp/humidity.

You can use coloured primers too:
done with a yellow ochre car primer over a pre-existing black & green camo job:


red oxide car primer:


NB - I usually use grey primer too.

So, I painted it as I painted my black primed tanks and I don't see any difference so far. I'll ask my friends Saturday we'll see. It was a pain in the ass the paint the tracks though !

I love you tank ! Is it the camo primer we see through or did you paint it like that ?