Prime or Not to Prime ?

I think it depends on what color you want to paint it, and what type of paint that you prefer to use. If I were to paint a car black with model master enamel, I would prime white plastic a dark gray as to keep a deep shade underneath the paint. This would serve as a back up color if I didn't get as great of coverage or I polished a bit much, in one spot. Then the whole job would not be ruined. Now if it was a bright red!, I might not prime but I would think about a third or fourth coat to keep an even depth of color after polishing. Now that is what I would do given those colors, but you may need to think more about color, brightness and depth when you decide this step. good luck, hope I helped a bit and not give you too many more questions

Happy modeling

Drew

1. A primer coat can help fill any small voids (dimples) that are too shallow for spot putty.
2. Lighty wet sand the primer coat with 220 - 800 grit to give the final coat something to grab onto and level  the above voids.
3. A primer paint compatible with plastic can seal the plastic against a final paint that might otherwise have an adverse effect with the plastic.
4. Primer can also help with 'shading' of the final color coat.

• Light colored final colors would do best with a light colored primer (white or light grey).
• Dark colored final colors will work with any, but a darker primer would be best (grey or ruddy brown).
• Translucent final colors work best with a gold or silver primer coat, gold for a darker hue, silver for a lighter finish.

From my limited experience, I prime for metallic paints, especially on light moldings such as white. Haven't had that problem with armor for none of them are metallic or molded say in white.

Hey Guy's

                    Ya'll have got good points on priming. I'll take everything here and try to put it to good use. I have learned a lot. So,my thanks to all of you. Sorry I took so long to get back,been under the weather for awhile.

                                                                                                                                                    Tango - Yankee,

                                                                                                                                                                  papa

My issues with not priming are two:

1) If I don't, it seems like I always miss some bump or dip or other flaw in the surface, which I then have to fix and paint over again anyway. Nothing seems to scream "fix this!" like a coat of light gray primer.

2) While superglue generally takes paint without that part of the model looking different or funny under the final finish, different kinds of putty and filler can give you uneven results which can range from "Nobody's going to notice this" to "My God, what was he thinking?" 

Bottom line, while priming may be an extra step, I think that most of the time, you end up saving time in the long run.