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Base Colors to Enhance Primary Colors MRH forum help
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Regular poster 361 posts PennCentral99 Regular poster 361 posts
PennCentral99

I have wondered about this for a while, and a comment in another thread sparks re-interest. When painting, which base colors bring out the best of the primary color? Other than black, gray or white, what works better with certain colors? As stated in another thread, a silver base seems to bring out the best in yellow, I also heard that silver is a good base for red.

This isn't about the application process (brush/airbrush/roller), or thinning or acrylics/enamels/lacquers.

Terry

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David Husman dave1905 MRH Author 9,892 posts
David Husman dave1905

Base

I try to use a light grey primer for lighter colors (yellow, white cream) and then medium gray primer for medium to darker colors.  For rocks, dark grey or black makes a good base. 

Dave Husman

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nbrodar Frequent poster 546 posts
nbrodar

Silver or Grey

I use a silver base coat under bright reds, yellows and oranges. I use primer grey under dark reds, greens, blues, grays and white.

Nick

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Modeltruckshop Prolific poster 1,050 posts
Modeltruckshop

One more for that

Terry, I use grey primer most of the time.  Red primer if I am going to want some worn effect where that will look good as a base for.  
  For heavy pigment colors like red yellow etc.. I occasionally  use white primer under those. But normally I am weathering the piece and it won’t matter. 
  The only time I find I need silver as a base is for metallics, candies and real light colors. 

I bet if 50 people reply there are 50 opinions. So far everyone is on the same page at least. 
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