Metallics or NMM for Malifaux figs?

[Minijunkie]

Hi guys,

 

I'm just about ready to paint the first set of weapons on my Malifaux models (the claws on Terror Tots) and I have a bit of painters block. I can't decide if I should do NMM or metallics. Generally I find metallics easier to do but it seems like most M2E models on the net are done in NMM. What do you prefer (just curious about opinions). NMM is nice but I'm not great at it, and it takes me a lot longer to paint.

[dgraz]

Whichever you're better at or want to improve on is what I say. Doesn't matter what anyone else is doing....you be you. I use metallics personally (though I do still highlight them and I have a general understanding of how light and shadow play off of metal...very general....metallics I feel is one of my weakest areas).

[Bengt]

I do NMM on my Malifaux because I don't really like any acrylic metallics I've tried, neither how they behave as paint or the results they give. I tend to use metallics on army scale games though, i.e. 40k and WHFB.

[Jimbobovalsocks]

I don't like NMM personally. If it's a technique you want to get better at, then go for it. NMM is much less forgiving than true metalics and done badly, it just ends up looking grey. I agree with DGRAZ, who cares what others are up to! go for what you like! NMM is commonly seen on painting threads because it is a difficult style to get right so some people enjoy the challenge of it. I think it can work well for display pieces but not so well for gaming pieces where you will be seeing the model from lots of angles so the NMM will look wrong even if done well from certain angles!

[Bengt]

NMM is much less forgiving than true metalics and done badly, it just ends up looking grey.

My experience is that with metallic paint it's almost impossible to make it look like metal. Instead it pretty much always just looks like metallic paint.

[paradoxstorm]

For the newb:  NMM is ?????

[Minijunkie]

Non-metallic metals. Means painting things like armor or swords with grey, white etc paint rather than silver, gunmetal etc metallic paints.

[dgraz]

My experience is that with metallic paint it's almost impossible to make it look like metal. Instead it pretty much always just looks like metallic paint.

I don't know about that.......looking at my Cojo avatar, some people thought that I had done a minor conversion and put a real gold ring piercing on his chest.....it's metallic paint.

 

Any metal is difficult to do because the way light and shadow work on it is different than on almost every other type of material. Looking at pictures of metal and noting where the shadows and highlights are is a must.

[Bengt]

I don't know about that.......looking at my Cojo avatar, some people thought that I had done a minor conversion and put a real gold ring piercing on his chest.....it's metallic paint.

 

Any metal is difficult to do because the way light and shadow work on it is different than on almost every other type of material. Looking at pictures of metal and noting where the shadows and highlights are is a must.

Your avatar picture looks good, but couldn't really render an opinion on how metal like I think it is without seeing it in person. Also, I wrote "almost impossible".

 

My point though is that it's very hard to do metals with both metallic paint and NMM both. Though it is easier and faster get a half-arsed impression of metal with metallic paints but it's in my opinion because it's a less ambiguous signal for the observers to pretend that what they are seeing is metal. Not because it actually looks like metal.

[dgraz]

My point though is that it's very hard to do metals with both metallic paint and NMM both. Though it is easier and faster get a half-arsed impression of metal with metallic paints but it's in my opinion because it's a less ambiguous signal for the observers to pretend that what they are seeing is metal. Not because it actually looks like metal.

I do agree that either way is difficult and I guess I can understand your point......if you don't get it exactly right with metallic paint, the viewer can still *believe* that it's metal.......whereas with NMM if you don't get it right it just looks grey (or brown).

 

It is certainly one of the harder things to get right in mini-painting.

[Jimbobovalsocks]

Boltgun metal and a brown wash looks fine in my opinion! Gold is more fun to paint as you can add silver to the mix to highlight it up. The metalics vs. Non-metalics argument has being going on for ages and won't ever be 'solved'. I don't like non-metalic metals as a personal preferance but others do so each to their own (although the NMM camp are wrong, obviously )

[Minijunkie]

I decided to go with metallics and so far I'm glad I did

[G. Footman]

never really liked NMM, it never really looked right to me.  I usually just paint the metals black and drybrush a few coats of different metallics to get what I want.  but that's just me.

[admanb]

I prefer NMM for Malifaux models as I find metallics somewhat garish, but I also use a pretty muted color scheme so others may not have the same feeling.

[Synthet]

I usually go for TMM on pretty much any miniature but that´s just mu personal taste. I´m not a very big fan of the comic-style and also I suck at NMM;)

[lusciousmccabe]

I prefer NMM for Malifaux models as I find metallics somewhat garish, but I also use a pretty muted color scheme so others may not have the same feeling.

 

I find metallics do look garish if you don't apply some sort of shading to them, think it's something to do with them reflecting light as a single block which a real life scale metal object wouldn't. Any sort of wash or blending for highlights makes them look immediately better, although how well it compares to NMM depends completely on your skill level.

[Requirement]

I have also found great use for the Valejo Metalic Medium in painting and highlighting metals. Plus, you can mix it into colors and have, say, metallic red.

[Pierzasty]

I tried that metallic medium and found the pigment way too grainy. I can however recommend Vallejo Air Steel which is awesome for mixing colored metal. I love my blue-turquoise metal gamins :3

[MrCheeze]

I Love NMM but i have the problem that NMM silvers i paint looks like shaded clothing for me! but im patient and still learning! [Tips and trix are welcome]

but i have no problem with Gold, Copper and so on!

 

I also like Metallic paints but im very picky about the results most of the metallic colors are plain bad!