The Importance of Priming
In simple terms, priming is preparing a model for painting. It enables the paint to cling to the surface more effectively, ensures paint has a cleaner finish and is a great starting point for creating shadows and highlights. There are three different ways to prime your model; a simple Black or White prime, priming in a colour appropriate to your model or Zenithal priming (creating highlights and shadows using a dark colour and a lighter colour, typically this is Black and White. However you can use any colour, for instance if you are painting a whole army in green then prime with dark green for shadows and a lighter yellow for the highlights)
Here at Everstromn Hobbies, we Zenithal prime our models using either Army Painter Colour Primer Spray Paint (Black and Matte White) or Army Painter Air Primer for Black and Daler Rowney White Ink in the airbrush.
Once the model is printed, cleaned, desupported and cured, we secure the model to a base (a cork, or piece of wood) to ensure our fingers don’t block any parts of the model (we secure using bluetac for most models, however for the heavier models we also use a ‘pinning’ method which involves glueing a small piece of wire or pin to the foot of a model and shoving it in a cork, and when you are done you just cut off the pin or drill a small hole in the base to glue into). We then apply our first coat of primer. You will want to start with Black to give yourself a solid base colour, this will also start creating your shadows.
TOP TIP: You will want to test your spray or airbrush on a piece of kitchen roll first to ensure you have a consistent flow of paint to avoid applying too much to the model and causing blotchiness or clumping which will obscure the models details.
If you are using spray paints to prime then hold your model roughly 12 inchs for the spray can and apply consistently using a swift sweeping motion across the model. You will then want to rotate the model and repeat. Ensure you cover every area, including the underside of the model. It is a similar story for the airbrush except you won’t have to be so far away from the model.
TOP TOP: When using either Spray Paints or an Airbrush, ensure you are in a well ventilated area and wearing appropriate protective equipment such as a face mask and gloves.
Once you have applied your first layer of Black primer, you will then want to make sure your model thoroughly dries before moving to the next primer colour (if doing a Zenithal Prime) or beginning to paint (if only priming in one colour).
If you are doing a Zenithal Prime then it is time for the White. We use white to help create highlights on the model so it is important to think about where the light is hitting your model. The stronger the level of light from a specific direction, the more white to apply to that part of the model. For example, if you want to light to be coming from directly above the model then hold the top of the model towards you and spray from there. Leave the underside of the model black as that would be in shadow however you may want to lightly spray the edges of your model where the light dapples across it.
You’ll see in the video below, we are directing our light from the front! This helps make the facial features of the character pop.
Once your model is primed, let it dry completely before beginning your main paint job. As a reference, we use Army Painter Speed Paints and Monument Hobbies Pro Acryl Paints.
