I have noticed that some people use a gloss black primer when painting a silver coat for say a mustang or Thunderbolt or the like. Is there a benefit to using black as opposed to gray?
Thanks.
it adds depth to the paint. if it is a real metallic paint, there is no pigment in it. It is clear with tiny flakes of metal suspended in it. A certain amount of the base coat will reflect through the finish. A black base coat really makes it “pop”.
Many finishes are based on undercoating, like candy apple finishes; transparent tinted finish over silver.
ok thanks! So it is for metallic finishes mostly? for example if I was painting a Wildcat or some other USN plane gray would be ok?
yeah, pretty much. i try to use a white primer if I am painting light colors just so it doesn’t take as much to cover and the coat of paint is as thin as possible.
Make sure you let your primer dry for at least 24 hours (48 is best) before spraying metal flake over the primer. The primer will bleed off solvent underneath your metal finish.
The Tamiya white primer is great but it stinks like hell and is expensive. I usually warm the can before I spray it so it improves the performance. Warm (not Hot!) tapwater in a bowl and stick the can in it for a while. It will spray a much finer mist. That works with any spray can so you get a finer spray with less build up.
I agree with Hatewall. It’s generally the metallic and translucent colors that are really affected by the color of the primer. Most other paints are generally opaque and not affected to a great degree by the color of the base or primer.
I built car models years ago, and used a lot of candy and metal flake paints. The tonal difference between using a silver and gold base is huge for them.