How important is a complete primer coat?

[PaulinKendal]

I hate removing mould lines - they're hard to see, fiddly to remove and I'm convinced (for my purposes - tabletop wargaming) they're not that much of an issue.

But in bigger models (like this giant), they do need addressing, at least a bit.

My problem is, once I've got rid of them all and done a zenithal prime - more of them magically reappear! (A zenithal prime is brilliant for bringing out the detail in a figure, but also means I can see mould lines I hadn't spotted earlier.)

So I've destroyed my nice zenithal prime in places. What do I do now?

I'll never be able to restore the zenithal highlighting properly of course - not a problem really. In the past, I've slapped on a bit of grey primer with a brush, but it's such a small area - could I just leave it and go ahead with using regular acrylics over the raw plastic? Does that primer coat have to be complete and uninterrupted? What do I risk by leaving it like this?

 

[Ian M]

By 'zenithal' highlighting you mean directly down onto the figure...?
Is the problem no worse than just giving it another go after addressing the seam lines again?
Are we talking rattle cans or airbrush. If its the latter it should be easy enough to do a touch up.
Cool figure by the way.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Yep, a zenithal prime is white ink from above, over an all-over prime of black.
To re-do the zenithal prime would mean an overall airbrush of black, followed by the white again.
If it was a display figure, I'd strip it completely and start again. But it's not, and I'm lazy!

 

[adt70hk]

Sorry Paul, this is not my area of expertise but I suspect Tim might have an idea or two.

ATB.

Andrew

 

[spanner570]

Sorry Paul, me neither.
Being bone idle and rather hit and miss, I don't prime my stuff. I've never found the need to. There again, my stuff goes straight into the loft, so isn't man handled as in war games.

However, I do admire those, like yourself, who go that extra mile to get their work spot on.

No help whatsoever!

Ron

 

[Gern]

If you're going to do any sort of weathering after painting, I would have thought that tiny areas like those you've shown would only add very minor variations in your final finish. Couldn't you explain that by saying it's where he washed off some blood stains from his last victim?

 

[dave]

As the figures are for war gaming from my experience they are more vulnerable than a display model because you know they are going to be handled a lot. Therefore I always prime, paint and two coats of varnish. Having said that it shouldn’t make much difference as I suspect the missed mould lines are in more hidden areas that won’t be reached by fingers.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Agree with Dave here Paul. Just paint over it. It’s not a large enough area to cause issues because the varnish will also give wear protection. My personal technique is prime in black, Zenitel highlight with mid grey at 45 degrees, then white from above. I then paint the mini, gloss varnish (makes the matt varnish stage more reliable), matt varnish, then add final metallic highlights. Any missed spots just get painted as I go along.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Thanks for the replies, folks. I kept looking at the model, seeing more mould lines and scraping at them. Some were not lines, but rather where the two parts of the mould were slightly out of register, creating a 'step'. Scraping those down took significant areas of primer off, not just narrow lines.

It was looking such a mess, and because I've never stripped paint off a model before, I decided to give that a go.

I put it in a strong solution of household bleach. Almost instantly the white ink came off. On reflection, I reckon I could've just given it a quick scrub to remove the white ink, then re-prime in black, then re-spray the white. But I didn't.

And now it's been in for several hours, the black is just starting to come off, so I'll leave it overnight and (hopefully) the rest of the black will come off after that, and I can start again.

It's always good to try new approaches and techniques!

 

[Tim Marlow]

One for the future Paul. Bleach works well, but there are other alternatives. Oven cleaner or Fairy power spray also work well, as will water based airbrush cleaner. However, if you’ve airbrushed the primer and Zenitel, just give the figure another coat. Unless you have really plastered the figure in paint you won’t lose detail. Gaming figures are usually made detail heavy to facilitate wash techniques and easier painting.

 

[PaulinKendal]

I was a bit concerned that the black primer might be degraded by the soaking in bleach. I'll see how it is tomorrow, and proceed accordingly.

 

[stillp]

I was a bit concerned that the black primer might be degraded by the soaking in bleach.

That would worry me too. I'd strip it all off and start again. Dettol is my usual paint stripper, never tried bleach.
Pete

 

[Tim Marlow]

Bleach is great for taking off plastic “chrome”. Not really sure what it would do to primer though. Commercial paint strippers are usually sodium hydroxide based, with added solvents to enhance penetration. Dettol and Fairy power spray probably have similar active ingredients. In fact, any cleaning agent with terpenes probably works. Pine soil is recommended where it’s available for example.