Random question about priming. For zenithal highlights, does it have to be white? I was planning to prime rebel troopers in black and hit them in a khaki for the zenithal, but I usually see it done in white.

This would be easier if I invested in an airbrush. But more models > a loud compressor that might wake up a sleeping baby.

Well just like everything else with painting, I wouldn't think that it HAS to be white. I think that its more about having your 2nd color spray being a lighter shade than your first one. So IMO I think your example is correct.

What I was originally replying to your topic about however, is that I would be very careful with your spraying if you don't have the airbrush. I just did a few stormies yesterday using Sorastro's technique with the priming, (Mech Standard Grey + White zenith) and I definitely feel I lost some detail in the helmet area. Less is probably more with this technique using cans.

I'll probably end up using the Grey prime and just base coat with white.

9 minutes ago, Galahax said:

Well just like everything else with painting, I wouldn't think that it HAS to be white. I think that its more about having your 2nd color spray being a lighter shade than your first one. So IMO I think your example is correct.

What I was originally replying to your topic about however, is that I would be very careful with your spraying if you don't have the airbrush. I just did a few stormies yesterday using Sorastro's technique with the priming, (Mech Standard Grey + White zenith) and I definitely feel I lost some detail in the helmet area. Less is probably more with this technique using cans.

I'll probably end up using the Grey prime and just base coat with white.

Agreed with you regards answering the OP and interesting regards the 2 sprays a la Sorastro...thought it might be a problem myself.

Think im just going to spray white, one layer. Shade and highlight manually possibly.

I don't see why not, especially if your base color is Khaki.

3 hours ago, player2801864 said:

Random question about priming. For zenithal highlights, does it have to be white? I was planning to prime rebel troopers in black and hit them in a khaki for the zenithal, but I usually see it done in white.

This would be easier if I invested in an airbrush. But more models > a loud compressor that might wake up a sleeping baby.

Making assumption ...

If you are using brown hues ... earth tones ... consider a DARK brown primer and, then, hit with the khaki zenithal? Keeps everything in same general spectrum

If not using Earth tones ...

The khaki will work with the black. Not as vibrant as the white and the underpainting (what will show throw) will bring down the shade over top of it to a lower point, whereas, the white would be far more crisp. It will, though, work

You can use the zenithal two ways, as a guide while painting with the full attention of completely over painting it - hence white to see it better, or to have the over lay colors be thin so the dark/highlights come through - match colors as best as possible.

If you are doing stormtroopers, prime, off white coat to cover primer texture, zenithal with white, plaint black areas german grey, use wash sparing on recessed areas and black areas, paint gun, done. On rebel troopers, well the zenithal is going to be more of a guide since all of that will get painted over with some many different colors.

I guess it depends on what color you're planning to use for your basecoat. If your plan is the Khaki itself, then no, you're not going to get the highlighting effect of zenithal out of it or at least not a strong one. The benefit of the zenithal technique is a that your base coat will appear brighter on the white then it does on the black creating a blend of light khaki and dark khaki that looks like a natural shadow. If you just zenithal spray Khaki on the black you'll get dark khaki into black, which is kind of a shadow, but at best a really, really dark one.

If you're using another color as your basecoat, it doesn't have to be white. White is used because its as much of a contrast as you can get and separates the different shades as much as possible. If you use another color you'll just get less contrast, but that's not necessarily a problem. You can probably replicated an airbrush alright if you start black, zenithal white, then do a third spray of the Khaki. Most painting techniques are a result of happy accidents after all. I know the first time I did a "zenithal" model myself was just because I primed something black realized while trying to paint it red that I could never build up a bright enough color on it, and tried to prime the red part white again. Don't be afraid of making mistakes; I assume every popular technique was at one point the result of someone trying to make the best of a prior mistake.

4 hours ago, player2801864 said:

Random question about priming. For zenithal highlights, does it have to be white? I was planning to prime rebel troopers in black and hit them in a khaki for the zenithal, but I usually see it done in white.

This would be easier if I invested in an airbrush. But more models > a loud compressor that might wake up a sleeping baby.

I feel like you’d get better results out of a brown base coat and khaki zenithal. Black will get you strikingly different colors, not just a simple gradation — would think, anyway. But I’m no expert.

That works too. The important bit is just that you actually use a primer paint. There are definitely color options, but there's definitely not as many color options in primer than their are in other paints.

Tabletop minions on the subject:

I use rattle cans for zenithal highlighting and call the technique derpithal highlighting because I derped it up when I started off and got minis that looked like 2/3s of an Oreo cookie.

Anyway it took me a little while to get used to it, and cans from different brands work differently, but I've gotten the hang of it and have used it to get the both results Mep talked about to pretty good effect. It's not as precise as if I'd used an airbrush of course, but I wanted to see if the concept would make the investment in a better tool worth it for me personally. I've come to the conclusion that it will, I'm just waiting to dump my cash into Legion and then work my way through the cans I bought when a FLGS had Citadel sprays on some preposterous discount.

Black primer will make colors darker, white primer is better, IMHO and experience, to make the actual colors pop. I prime black for lots of 'metal' armor like for Chaos Warriors and Chaos Dwarves, but use white primer for Empire and most troops with flesh that needs to be painted. A good bottle base paint will cover black primer, but that is an extra coat of paint needed

I never use black for primer, IMO it darkens the model too much and also makes it difficult to see the details when painting. Not to mention applying bright colors on a dark base is a pain

I use grey, various shades if doing zenithal or simply a plain medium or light grey depending on what base colors are going on.