Lots of White Primer

Why should you use a surface primer?
So, you’re going to paint a model?  Have you ever tried painting a plastic/resin/metal model without priming it first?  I don’t recommend this futile act.  Most plastic, resin and metal surfaces are loathe to take paint without applying a primer first.  Reapers says that you can paint their Bones line of models without priming.  I’ve tried, and unless you’re globbing the paint onto  the model with a spoon it doesn’t really work all that well.  Models need primer, because primer provides your subsequent layers of paint a texture onto which it will grip.  Generally speaking, paint adheres to a model through a mechanical bond (think super glue, not plastic cement – that’s another article).  In other words, paint catches in the micro-recesses on the model’s surface and clings to these imperfections.  The shinier/smoother the model, the worse paint will stick.  So, we want to prime a model to make the surface textured?  Yes, but you don’t want to add a lot of texture, just enough to let the paint grip.

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