Quote Originally Posted by RealGenius View Post
The problem I have with a wash or light base goat is that you never get consistent results, especially if you are doing another wash on top of that. I guess you can guess I'm not a fan of the primer-zenithal-lighting trick. Base coats should be opaque, so that you can start from a consistent color.

Yes, I prime black and then paint black over that, for consistency.
I can see your point but the consistency comes from spraying the zenithal shot on a whole unit at once and , be sparring with it. For that matter there is no such thing as an opaque base coat - you can get close but the primer will always influence the perception of the base coat.