I was wondering what color or kind of "primer" coat you guys are using? I just finished reading an article on painting and weathering (found on this site). where the guy uses the black as a prime coat. It reminded me of a Hummer I painted using flat black as the base or primer coat, which I read in some magazine on tips, quite a while ago.
As I recall it came out very well. I quess, when I started building again, I just forgot about the flat black.
Recently I've been using MM's grey primer, but after reading that little article, I think it's time to try the black again.
Any thoughts?

I believe the use of a flat black primer is referred to a "pre-shading". It apparently works similar to a black wash. The grooves and nooks stay darker than the the rest of the kit, giving it a shadow appearance.

The color primer I use depends on the color of the kit's plastic and the color I will paint the kit. I don't prime Tamiya kits molded in tan that will be painted sand. Italeri kits that are dark green but will be painted sand will get a primer gray first.

A car kit of a bright color (red or yellow) will get a good primer of gray so the color doesn't bleed through. White kits get a gray primer too.

Hello to all;
I think that´s the best primer is a grey tone color, since you can see better what are you painting, and use the black as Sabot said to a pre shadding weathering effect. I still keep this way and on the other hand you save a lot of paint....
Cheers

Yup, more and more guys are using flat black has a base/primer. I use flat black. Like Sabot said, its mostly used for pre shading. Then I mist in the base coat so taht the black shows trough very lightly.

Oops, sorry about the question. I should have rephrased it. I know what it is for, what I was looking for is "how many of you guys are using it"?

I use a grey auto primer especially on resin One time I didn't use any primer on a Tank Workshop turret and it fish eyed real bad

I use grey myself for priming, I still like using a color wash for shading and that. I guess I need brighter lighting, but I have a hard time priming with black. :-)

HI all;
I wash with dish soap and prime 'all' my kits while still on the sprues. I use the cheapest automotive primer available and mist it on in 2-3 very light coats. I find especially if you are using acrylic paints, they really need the primer to bite into. I have recently tripped over in a Revy home centre (here in Canada) an acrylic primer put out by Krylon and bought a tin. It was a little more ($5.00 CDN) than normal primer but it looks good.
After I try it on a kit i'll post a report on the out come.

Regards

ron

I use Black primer about 1/3 the time, with Grey the other 2/3rd's. Black helps with the pre-shading as has already been mentioned. But the grey really helps me with my final sanding chores. I have also tried the red/rust coloured automotive primer on the tracks and had a pretty good result. (tends to help with the 'impression' of the presence of rust on the tracks without the overt application of the rust colour). My problem is controlling my weathering after that.
Also, depends on the medium the kit is made from and the quality of such. I've had some resin kits (not armour) that had questionable exterior detail, so I VERY lightly prime those so I don't lose any of the already minimal detail

Tread.

Oh, P.S. Just my opinion, I have read on many DG's armour & other's about the quality of the primer not being important. But allow me to throw this into the ante. Many years ago an automotive painter I used to know (he was of the 'old school') showed me the difference between using a cheap primer on a car paint job he was doing, and using a high quality primer on HIS car he was also repainting at the time. The difference, when you're shown what to look for, is remarkable. I don't know about you fella's, but I'm usually going to put a substantial amount of time into my kit, what with basecoat, colour coat, cloud coat, highlight coat, pre-wash, main wash, weathering, pastels, dry brushing, etc, etc, etc.
Think about it, ALL that work is ON TOP of a cheap, badly filtered primer??? :-

Let me correct my earlier reply regarding primer.
When using primer that is 'not' intended for plastic models sometimes the less expensive automotive is the way to go. I agree that when buying primer intended for modeling you aim to get the best you can but, if you are using automotive primer the best is going to contain more of the solvents that love to eat plastic. In my experimentation over the years I have found that to be the case more often than not. Many a Wal-Mart special car kit has given itself to the cause of finding the best primer.
In my opinion (for what it's worth) I have found that the more inexpensive automotive primers do the job just fine as they don't have the volume of 'hot' solvents that the top name brands do. I have never had a bad prime job using them and they provide a good tooth for acrylic paints to adhere to.
Just my .02 CDN worth.

ron