It depends on the job, but I will either use black, grey, white or red oxide primer, then usually brush undercoat (usually - a big piece that's largely one colour i might spray undercoat too, but that's rare)
If you're applying your paint right, you don't have to worry too much about too many layers. Some of my more time consuming jobs will have dozens and dozens of layers of paint. Just don't slap it or spray it on too thick.
Anyway, getting a bit off topic now, see if we can get back onto the comp.
I can't remember if I've already posted this, but I've started on my acw command group. Got my Generals Armistead, Pickett and JEB Stuart done.
Normally when I'm doing soft plastics, because the material is such a pig to work, I do very little in the way of conversions, maybe the odd head swap, and don't worry too much about cleaning up mold lines et cetera, as you cause more problems than you cure doing this. However, since these are going to be representative of real characters, and since as individuals rather than members of units they will get more scrutiny, I decided to invest a bit more time.
Lewis Armistead famously stuck his hat on his sabre to lead his brigade on the final day of Gettysburg, so I had to model that.
(I've got no camera at the minute so you'll have to take my word for it, but I've robbed these pics of the basic figures from elsewhere)
The guy on the left formed the basis for Lew. I removed the head, remove the hat from the head, impaled it on the sabre, then set about looking for an un-hatted head. Thing is , noone seems to do an acw figure sans hat, so I used a celtic cavalry mans head, which cunningly had a very similar hairstyle and beard to ole' Lew. Since these are going to be more display figures and won't actually be fighting in the line, I based him on 5c piece instead of the usual rectangle of steel plate. He's just ready to prime, but I'm trying to get pics of the unpainted stage before I do.
The mounted officer figure from that pic became my first divisional commander, Pickett. He had his right arm replaced with one waving a sabre, and his head replaced with one wearing a kepi. Then he was mounted on that caracoling horse, which suits the Pickett character just fine.
Another copy of that same figure is acting as my 2nd Div commander, Sam Hood. No alterations to him though, just the stock figure, mounted on a different horse.
In charge of Cavalry is James Ewell Brown Stuart, a flamboyant cavalier type, for whom the guy with binocs in the following pic makes a good approximation;
..once I'd replaced the gauntletted hand with the binocs for one with sabre. He also got mounted on a caracoling horse.
Next to him in the pic, the officer holding his sabre down by side, is the figure I chose for the corps commander, James Longstreet. Again no changes made to this one.
That's as far as I've got. I've got the figures for my other three brigadiers picked out but not done anything with them yet (they will all be stock-out-the-box jobs too) and my artillery commnder, who is the guy with the telescope below;
