Richard-368268 Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 Hi,I normally prime my planes grey, but I was wondering for planes like my Lancaster and Halifax etc, well apart from the very top, the underside and body are all black in most cases. Would it save me time to prime them black? Ie would I then have to paint fewer or even hardly any coats for the body and the underside? Then would the brown and green camo on top still be paintable with a black primed spray? Does anybody have any advice, tips or tricks? It's just that obviously with these bombers there is a lot of surface area to paint black. What do people recommend? Thanks very much,Richard :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 No, you don't want black under the camouflage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailorman Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 Grey primer allows you to see all the blemishes and hence you can fix them before you apply the colour coats. Black as a primer wouldn't do this. Grey is very easily covered by virtually all shades except maybe white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 No, you don't want black under the camouflage. The black basing enthusiasts might take issue with this statement! joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 No, you don't want black under the camouflage.The black basing enthusiasts might take issue with this statement! joy What's the point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 The point? To give depth and shade without overworking with washes and post shading. You can also overlay a black base with white/grey marbling to get a weathered effect. Personally I have no issue with applying green and dark earth over black, but it presumes that you’re using an airbrush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 Paul, to me those techniques are utterly pointless. The marbling makes no difference when over-sprayed with colour. Black as a primer is only good for metallic and Alclad spray finishes. Fashionable rubbish in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard-368268 Posted October 14, 2023 Author Share Posted October 14, 2023 Hi guys,thanks for all your replies, much appreciated. I'm a fair way off doing my Lanc and Halifax (I don't have a Stirling yet and my US RAF heavies I'm doing as day bombers) at the moment (for I want to be really good before I do those) but I just got the most recent Airfix Hampden that I think I should be able to build without much trouble, so your opinions are all very welcome. I'll stick to grey, and I might be getting an airbrush soon anyway which could make painting large black surfaces a much faster process - although I've now found after a few planes that my painting skills have sped up a lot now I'm more confident and have a method and practice (vaguely know what I'm doing - holding the right end of the brush was a revelation). Also painting large black areas isn't difficult, I can just get some tape out and a big flat brush and go for it. All good. Thanks very much for all your help. Much appreciated, all the best, Richard :)Oh and PS for a plane that is majority white I'm assuming that priming white is okay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 Yes, white undercoat is best for white, yellow and orange finishes (not exclusively). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 Paul, to me those techniques are utterly pointless. The marbling makes no difference when over-sprayed with colour. Black as a primer is only good for metallic and Alclad spray finishes. Fashionable rubbish in my book. If you take a look at some of Chris McSheffrey’s builds you can see for yourself that marbling works when oversprayed with subtle overcoats. It’s perfectly legitimate to use black as a primer, not just for metallic finishes and what for you might seem fashionable rubbish is a means for others to achieve certain effects. Seems to me you don’t like it because you never tried it. wink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 If you take a look at some of Chris McSheffrey’s builds you can see for yourself that marbling works when oversprayed with subtle overcoats. It’s perfectly legitimate to use black as a primer, not just for metallic finishes and what for you might seem fashionable rubbish is a means for others to achieve certain effects. Seems to me you don’t like it because you never tried it. wink I see Chris' work. I cannot see how the marbling works, I can see no evidence of it, therefore it's a waste of time to me. I know others share my view and others share yours. Each to their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 I’d have no hesitation priming an RAF bomber in black, with the caveat that I’m airbrushing. The 262B below had a black primer that was retained for the under surfaces and engine nacelles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard-368268 Posted October 16, 2023 Author Share Posted October 16, 2023 Hi Peebeep, (and Ratch further down),thanks, that's really helpful, I don't have an airbrush yet and my hand-brushing skills are getting much better (I've got the hang of it now and feel confident, can get the results that I would like for non-blurred line techniques), I've only just started the hobby, so I'm not too much in a hurry to get an airbrush just yet. Maybe when I get on to bigger planes or I'm after the blurred line technique. I will be getting one, maybe soon or maybe after new year. I've just started the most recent discontinued Airfix Handley Page Hampden. It's the biggest plane I've done so far. For this one, I'm just going to prime it grey and hand brush it (airbrush and power pack plus black spray, for the moment, is money I could use better elsewhere), but as I say, I will be getting an airbrush soon, so when I get on to my Lanc and Halifax I might just use the techniques you've shown. Thank you very much, much obliged, cheers very much and to everybody who has replied. I'll just experiment and work out what suits me best - and thanks to Ratch for the info about priming white and yellow aircraft. I have a skua that I'm doing mainly white with a light grey top and I'm going to get a Tiger Moth and paint it yellow, so that's really helpful to know. Cheers guys, all the best,Richard :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now