Metalic painting

[r2-j1]

A few weeks ago I painted my first tomb maiden here . I mentioned that I might paint another and write a tutorial about it. The iron painter challange gave me the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

It will basically covers metallics and the way I currently paint them. I paint mostly of warmachine minis, and metals are a very important aspect to most of them. I have worked on my metallics more than any other painting aspect over the last few years, and turned what was my biggest weakness in to something I am reasonably happy with.

I suppose I should start off with my thoughts on metallic paints in general. I think metallic paints are just too shiny. There I said it. Seriously, take a look at the metal surfaces around you, very few have the kind of high shine that metallic paints have. And when used in miniature applications, the problem just gets worse as the shine factor doesn’t lessen with size, and is can end up looking off scale on a miniature. So metallic paint often doesn’t look like proper scale metal, it looks like metallic paint. I think this is one of the factors contributing to the rise of the popularity NMM. But I think real metallics can look really nice and natural if you take control of the shininess, and it’s actually pretty easy.

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Step 1 - Alright here is the primary shine control, the base coat. The key is to have a low shine to no shine metallic base coat that still looks metallic. So mix your chosen metallic 1:1 with a regular paint. You can use a similar color paint to keep the same shade of metal, or you try other shades of color and come up with some unique metallic shades. In this case I base coated in a VMC Bronze, VMC Cad. Umber Red, it makes a nice copper and is one of my staple mixes now. Another upside of this technique is that you get much better coverage on your metallic base coats then straight metallics usually give.

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Step 2 - Simple step, I just went back and painted some areas in a silver base. It is VMC Oily Steel + VMC Neutral grey, another staple mix for me.

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Step 3 - OK I screwed up and forgot to photograph the Tomb Maiden after this step. I Got some pics off my current project I hope they get the point across. This is where you wash. A good wash is essential as it is what gives the metals depth and definition. Every one seems to have their own metal wash, and I’m sure you can use any you like, but I’ll give mine. I use Golden Fluid Acrylics Raw Umber I drop + 2 drops of Future + 2-3 drops water. I have grown to love the Golden fluid acrylics especially Raw Umber, they have a nice transparency, and make great washes, you can get them at most craft store art sections pretty cheap. This wash is kind of thick but is works well on metals of all types. It stays in edges and corners very well like a wash should, just be a bit careful and don’t let it pool ion larger flat surfaces. By the way just the gold pieces on this head are in the wash stage, the silvers are finished already.

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Stage 4 - Ok now we highlight and start to add some of the shininess back, but on our terms. Start with the base color and add 1 part lighter metallic, I use GW chain mail usually, but on some golds I use a bright gold instead. You’re going to want to thin this very well so as not to overwhelm your base. This mix will give you a lighter color for a more traditional highlight and be shinier, so you are doing double duty with it. Apply it to edges, rivets, and anywhere you need definition or where light would tend to hit. Be careful here better to under do it on this step than over do it, keep in mind the tomb maiden looks a little shiner than she actually is because of the strong direct light in my photo set up. If you’re after clean new metals you can stop here, but Tomb maidens aren't new so I have to add some age.

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Step 5 - First I created a green Patina 1 part VMC Emerald Green + 1 part Andrea blue thinned very well with Glaze medium and water. I then very carefully painted the cracks on cervices of the mini, again being careful to not over do it. I then did a similar glaze with in a rust color for the steel areas. I also went back with my basic metal wash again and carefully hit certain areas to give a grimy aged look to them. I also did the face now and a little differently. I based IN RMS Shadow steel+ VMC Basalt grey, did very minimal washing and highlighted by adding GW Chainmail.

Here is the finished product. I did a little conversion work on her to make her a bit different from my first one. I hope you like her, and maybe picked up a few ideas for doing your own metals. Feel free to ask any questions, or give me some feedback on the article.

[wiccanpony]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! finally a tutorial, with pictures that I can understand .

[Nathan Caroland]

Darn good tutorial. Thanks for sharing!

[Ritual]

Nice, simple (at least, that's how you make it seem ) and effective! :thumb: Thanks for sharing!