Hi,

While I'm eagerly awaiting my first box full of early imperial Roman legonaries, I'm still in two minds about what color primer to use. I've experimented with black, gray, white and even just Games Worshop Nuln Oil (leaving the metal bits unpainted after that). Black has definite advantages, but how about red in this case? So much of the Roman kit was red anyway, and red on black doesn't work very well. Do any of you have experience with red as a primer? How does it sit with fleshtones? Do all the faces go red like Brits on a beach in Spain? And how about metallic paints on red? What's the effect?

Any experiences and ideas are very welcome!

Cheers.

Never even considered using a red primer. I've always used black and have had no issues with colours not "working very well". For Romans you don't want pristeen looking tunics etc but a more used faded look.

I once bought a partially started project in 10mm where some of the units had been primed red. It was a pain to paint as any mistake shone brightly through. Perhaps it would be less of an issue with 6mm?

Probably better sticking with white primer so colours show up, and painting armour black before going over in metal. There is so much more to Spain than beaches!

What about using brown?  You could dry brush the red over the brown for instant shading.  It would also give that dirty worn look and be OK for the skin tone as well.  You could leave any wooden bits as undercoat and gold would also go over it well.

Another point regarding red tunics. Having spent years in fortresses along the frontier the legionaries red tunics would have been replaced by ones made for them by the local population living in the vicus or settlements that grew up outside the fortress as they were not replaced by nice new red ones from Rome. These new tunics would have been off white undyed wool. The red tunics were more of a deep brownish red, 

I don't think that red primer will work on any level.  Succesful 6mm painting is all about contrast to get effect.  Many would disagree with me, but you cannot beat black as a base to work from in this respect.

Thanks all! I've bought a spray can of Vallejo black primer for now!

I use black primer on everything, I think it works well.

Although I'm wondering whether this is the best approach for 6mm vehicles.

I'm thinking white primer might be better for vehicles as my micro armour looks darker than I'd like it to be and I primed those black.

I tend to use black primer for armies that have a lot of metal armour and also to re-enforce armies that I used black primer on.  (If possible, I prefer to keep a similar look for an army.)  When I start a new army, I tend to use white primer now.

I think that whether you use white or black primer is a matter of personal preference, and how the figures turn out with your painting.  I used white primer on my Austrian and Spanish Napoleonic, and both AWI armies, and am very pleased how they turned out.  On the other hand, I suspect red primer would be more trouble than it is worth.

One trick that you can use with black primer if you are worried about flesh colours, reds, greens and yellows, is to drybush the figures with white after priming.  This isn't such a necessity if you have easy access to new pots of good quality paint.