Primer and White Modulation with Vallejos before Hand Painting

I started painting miniatures less than 2 years ago ( March 2012 ) and I am still learning so much on how to work on metals, basing materials and hand painting. So although I am tagging this post as a tutorial, I think I cannot post this up at my tutorials page as I am far from credible in doing tutorials for miniatures as of now.

I am enjoying this hobby so much as I find hand painting after long work hours ( 11am to 8pm ) more relaxing than sanding and sniffing plastic dust. I still love working with Gunpla, but I prefer to sand, scribe, cut and modify plastic kits during weekends.

So I hope you get used to my Warmachine and hand painting posts from now on.

Anyways, I just want to share how I prepare my Privateer Press Warmachine ( metal ) models before I hand paint them ( still learning to hand paint though ).

I use Vallejo Surface Primers ( Polyurethane ) for all my priming needs these days. They dry nice and smooth without obscuring the delicate small details. Vallejo claims that their primers adhere to metal, plastic and resin surfaces, so it is an all in one primer for most of your priming needs. Vallejo also offers clear primers ( have yet to get my hands on them ). Clear primers should be great for some toy repaint projects.

Vallejo Surface Primer

I primed these metal models with Russian Green ( I run out of Grey and Black Primer ). It is very important to note to allow 48 hours for the primer to cure for best adhesion.You could paint the models after a couple of hours but very careful on handling the model. Painting after a full 48 hours ( or longer ) curing time will be best as the Surface Primer has cured by then.

I shoot the Vallejo Surface Primer undiluted with my .3 nozzle siphon fed airbrush at around 25 to 30psi. You can dilute the surface primer with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner, but less or no dilution means stronger or better adhesion to the surface. Notice that the primer dries smooth even without dilution and the beautiful details of the models are well preserved.

Vallejo Premium Paint and Zenithal White Modulation

White Modulation is a nice "pre-paint" / " pre-color" step that gives you nice subtle color gradation during painting. Most colors ( specially the bight colors - reds, blues, greens, yellows ) are semi-transparent and shading your models with dark color ( Black, or in this case Russian Green ) and White gives you a nice base that would produce subtle tonal blending once you paint most colors on top.

Unlike Gunpla were you pre or post shade the edges with black or dark greys before painting the colors, They call it Zenithal Priming / Painting on miniature models.Zenithal Priming / Painting is painting the highlights based on the source of light. I always shoot 90 degrees on top of the models with white paint leaving the crevices and the shadow parts dark. This technique makes the details pop out even more once painted.

After Zenithal Priming / Painting, my Warmachine models are ready for hand painting! Sometimes I shoot the main color with an airbrush if the model has a dominant color, but sometimes I just hand paint everything if their is no dominant color.

I thought of using a different range of Vallejo paint for the white modulation this time. I used Vallejo Premium Polyurethane Acrylic White Paint for the modulation. Vallejo claims that their Premium range is the strongest acrylic paint they have. Vallejo Premium was designed for outdoor use. Premium paints are for painting motorcycle helmets, RC Cars, RC Planes, Guitars or anything you need to be super strong.

I will be experimenting on using some Vallejo Premium paints on Gunpla ( for the moving parts - internals ) soon... and if they are as strong as Vallejo claims once cured, I will never ever need to paint with toxic lacquer and enamel paints on Gunpla moving parts ever again.

I did not dilute the Vallejo Premium Paint for use on my airbrush. I did shoot at 30Psi and it worked like a charm. I cleaned and disassembled my airbrush with Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner right after use.

Well that is about it! Now all these models are ready for hand painting. I will be sharing more Vallejo paint experiments soon! Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)