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There's conflict over the best way to prime a miniature, which goes to suggest that people will fight over any damn thing that has more than one option available. And while this perhaps doesn't have the broad, metaphysical qualities of a debate like Coke vs. Pepsi (vs. RC vs. Chek Cola vs. etc.) it's just the thing for the mini-gamer who's sick of the typical: a balanced approach.

The basic choices are paint-on or spray primers and what color to use.

At the very beginning, you ought to clean the mini as well as possible of mold lines and flash. The miniature might as well look good even before paint goes on. Use small files, use dental picks, use emory boards, use rolled-up fine-grit sandpaper, use whatever�s handy, but use something. Make sure all the lines are gone before the primer goes on.

First, you�ll have to choose your medium of delivery. Basic options are paint-on and spray primers, with airbrush priming blurring the lines. One advantage of paint-on primer is an even, regular layer. Still, it�s kind of a pain to deal with in some ways. A spray layer has the advantage of being fast and wide in scope, but there are more things that can go wrong: fuzzy primer, uneven coverage, and obscured detail are among them.

Color is the main sticking point, with various guides professing that the absolute best way to prime a miniature is to use white primer, or on the other hand black primer.

White primer is good for bright final colors as well as colors that don�t cover well, like yellow and red. The main problem with white primer is that it�s tough to cover in an even layer, and you�ve got to paint every bit of the mini.

Black primer gives earthier, more subdued tones. It�s sometimes tough to cover at all, though, let alone cover well, and best lends itself to a layered approach to painting.

Don�t let the fascists get to you, though � there are more options than just these two. . . .

Gray is a compromise measure of sorts, with some of the advantages and disadvantages of black and white. It�s not inordinately hard to cover, and doesn�t interfere quite as much with the final layer. On the other hand, you�ve still got to paint the whole mini, and color interference isn�t always a bad thing � you�ve at least got extra effects to play with.

Brown is another fairly common color, though it�s less used than the others listed above. It can give a warmer finish than black, and you can leave some areas unpainted. It also lends some natural shading, though I find it can interfere strongly with certain colors of paint (blue, for example).

Other colors are easily possible, as well. One good painting exercise is painting a miniature using different shades of just one color (green, say), and beginning with a fairly neutral tone of that color can help get you started. It�s actually a fun challenge to incorporate or overcome the paint job in the course of painting.

And finally, while I�m convinced that primer is necessary (since paint chips easily off unprimed miniatures, particularly plastic ones), there is another truly neutral option: clear primer. Some people used a matte sealer for this, and the sealer naturally does double duty and the end of the paint job. Also, Folk Art produces an item called Glass and Tile Medium that�s used to prime and seal glass (and, for that matter, tile). It provides a good tooth and dries dead matte. It should be available in hobby stores in North America, and sells for around a buck, so it might be worth picking up. Fight the power! Invisible primer forever.

I prefer black spray primers, though. . . .