External black primer?

[Born Again Modeler]

Maybe things have changed up a bit, but when I was involved in modeling (back in the day), it was considered a cardinal sin to apply light colors over darker ones. That said, I've noticed that modelers are using black paint or primer on the outside of their illuminated models to check for light leaks. Once done, a coat of either flat white paint or primer is applied.

Won't the darker undercoat affect the outermost color? If you spray white over the black, would think that you would wind up with a color that is slightly darker than one applied over a white basecoat. But this doesn't seem to be the case. Why not?

[Kylwell]

Depends on how much of the lighter color you put on.

[Wug]

Most hobby paint doesn't have any problem covering black, particularly if you use enough. If you use less than an opaque coat it is a form of preshading. This is popuklar with some people who build gaming figures.