Priming

Priming is the step where you cover a bare miniature, usually plastic, resin or metal, with a thin coat of primer before any color goes on. Primer is formulated to bite into the material's surface and give paint something to hold onto, unlike bare plastic which paint can slide off or flake from once it dries. Most primers come in either spray cans or airbrush-ready bottles, and a light coat over the whole model is enough, thick coats hide detail and create texture problems later.

Without priming, acrylic paint often beads on smooth plastic or resin, leaving patchy coverage that needs several extra coats to fix. Primer also gives you a consistent base color, usually black, white or grey, that changes how later colors read. Black primer deepens shadows and works well with drybrushing, white primer keeps colors bright and true but shows any missed spots, and grey sits in between and is a forgiving default for most painters.

When choosing a primer, look for one rated safe for the material you are painting, resin needs a different formula than metal in some ranges, and check that it can be sprayed thin without clogging fine details. Common mistakes include priming in cold or humid weather, which causes a rough, sandy finish, holding the can too close and pooling primer in recesses, and skipping mold line cleanup first so every flaw gets sealed under the primer coat.