The Ship Model Forum

New to the boards, so my apologies if this has been asked (several thousand times) already...
I am getting ready to put on a primer coat on a Revell 1/720 USS New Jersey. What are people's preference when it comes to primer color? I have Tamiya gray and white. My concern is that gray primer may make painting the different shades of gray over the primer tough to see/distinguish. A white primer base would be easier to see where I'm putting the paint down on it, but does it lighten up the paint so that more has to be laid down in order for it to not look washed out? Or does it really not matter what color one uses?

Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

I've used the common light grey primer available at my local hardware store without any problems. I overpaint that with mostly enamels (WEM colourcoats). Now this covers my vast exterience, all 6 primered models so I am by no means an expert.

Bob

Thanks, Hawk! I'll maybe take an old model and test this out and post the results here.

First off, the difference between spray paints formulated for models vs hardware store rattle-cans is that model sprays are designed not to hide small detail.

Second, grey absorbs light, while white reflects all of it. As such, it is easier to control the color saturation over a white base vs a grey one.

However, since grey absorbs light, it's easier to spot imperfections and pick out small details.

For my part I prime everything. I use Floquil "Figure" primer as it has etching qualities so it sticks to PE...