Don't sweat it, Jay.

Try it both ways and see what works best for you and your preferred painting materials and techniques.

As for myself, I've been building armor models non-stop for almost 50 years, and I never regularly prime vehicle models.

I do always wash my builds before I start painting - ordinary liquid dish detergent, warm water and a soft water-color paint brush. This removes sanding dust, swarf from sawing and drilling, and other building "schmutz" along with oils (I use a lot of 4x0 steel wool) and mold release agents, etc.

I only use acrylics (mostly Tamiya, but also other brands) and have absolutely no problems with paint adhesion even for models that are decades old. Zero, zip, nada - no problems at all.

(For example, I have a Italeri Pz I with "On the Mark Modeling" PE, built ca. 1988, an IPMS Nationals first place winner, that hasn't lost so much as a flake of paint in all these years...)

I am very careful in how I handle and how much I handle my models as I'm painting them. I always wash my hands before I sit down to do any painting and deliberately try not to handle things more than necessary. (Greasy pizza finger prints, dirt, etc. on your hands will leave blemishes in your finish. Even if you think your hands are clean, they probably aren't clean enough to handle a painted model...)

Having said all this, though, I always prime my figure models with Tamiya flat white before hand brushing the acrylic undercoats, but that's entirely because I want to ensure that I get the exact colors that I want on these undercoats.

If you find that you're rubbing the paint off your models as you finish them, then maybe you need to prime or handle the models less. If you find that the paint stays where you put it, then maybe you don't need to prime. If you find that you need so much paint to get good color coverage that you're hiding the details, then maybe you need to prime so that you don't need so many extra color coats...

I'd say, when or when not to prime depends more on you than on what anyone here says.

HTH,

A big +1 from me on the last few posters Jay.

If you ignore the bickery stuff there is some really great advice on here for and against priming

As Mike, myself and others have said; try it out

Modelling is about experimentation. Forums can give you pointers on what to try and how, but when it comes down to it you really only find out by application on real models on your own bench

Try a few things; good luck, and let us know how you get on. Preferrably with pictures

I like to use the Tamiya grey rattle can primer .

Its cheap , and very fine .

Light coats , let it dry between .

This.

Yeah, man. Experiment. I've never used primer, but it looks like it helps with the recessed areas of the model-around hatches, deep depressions, etc. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

As far as McKeever goes, by his own admission:

"I consider myself firmly in the intermediate stage, with lots of room for improvement"

nuff said

Way to take things out of context. Know who usually passes the ny bar--those who feel a little uncertain about it afterwards. Humility more often than not proves to be most beneficial in the endeavours of men.

Context? You're the one who claims that priming is a necessity and considers non-use "Unfathomable"

Keep reaching for the Thesaurus!

Is priming a necessity? No, but it usually helps. That being said, I've had instances where it seems that oils in the plastic leached through the primer and affected the paint. I usually prime but not always. I've airbrushed Tamiya acrylics without primer, you just have to take care handling it. The same goes for Vallejo Model Color as both paints are pretty delicate.

To prime, if I'm building a tank, I usually find a spray can of red oxide primer. Tracks and any other subject usually receives a coat of the appropriate color of Krylon Fusion. I've applied everything from Tamiya acrylics to Model Master enamel to Tamiya lacquer rattle cans over Fusion with almost no problems (one issue on a Fujimi model with MM enamel Classic Black and I'm pretty sure it's something to do with the plastic).

No thesaurus for me. I actually have a classical education. I'm washing my hands of this.

Yeah, and make sure your modelling area is well ventilated. Seems like you've had a bit too much primer.

How about sticking to information and drop the baiting. enough already

Mein Apologies

Does primer help when painting faces on figures? I try to use artist oils and it seems like they tend to want to clump a bit.

Thank you all, it is gonna take me a while to run through the whole thread with all the information.

jay

Thank you Joe

On the subject of figures and primer I have never primed figures before but having read through this thread it would seem to be a good idea.

Jay, if you do decide to try a primer, you may want to give one of the colored primers a go, or use a darker primer to your advantage for shading. In other words, instead of adding another layer of paint as just a primer, use the colored one as a primer/basecoat or a shading base.

I never used primer on armor until I tried out the Vallejo acrylic primers. Prior to that the only time I primed was for a high gloss finish (auto's) or figures...and I still use Tamiya fine in the spray can for those. The Tamiya is excellent except for the odor...which is why I never primed armor

The Vallejo primers, for me, serve a few pluses:
Gives me an idea if the build is ok for the top coats.

Brings the styrene, PE, resin, aluminum, etc. to a uniform finish.

My top coats seem to go on thinner and smoother.

In short...when I didn't use primer I didn't have any issues with paint adhesion, when I started using primer I felt that the finish came out just that little bit better.

Just my 2 cents worth.

For faces and figure, I use Black spray, usually Testors. I find for me it gives a dark base to help with the shading.

What's primer?

Joe,

Check out this thread about painting figures with artist oils:

Armorama::Italian Ariete Tankers North Africa

If you have some more questions about it, maybe think about starting a new thread. This one has about run its course, and the topic of figure painting would be a large divergence from general priming.