That's an amazing compliment... coming from someone whose work I respect and admire tremendously.
Thank you!
Dan,
The base coat on mine was nothing but Krylon sandable white primer. It depends on the look you're going for... some say white, some say gray. If you opt for the gray, I've been told that Camo Gray is the color to go with. It's the color I'm going to use for a commissioned buildup I'm currently working on.
When I used the white Krylon, I scrubbed the model afterwords with 000 steel wool to get a metallic sheen.