Metallic Paints

[Thryth]

Hi, me again.

When I got back into the hobby in 2006, I painted two miniatures with metallic paints. Very simple, paint black and drybrush with metallic paint. Fairly poor quality.

I want to try layering with metallic paints, and try for a higher-standard.

My questions are...

1) Any advice on painting this way?

2) Which manufacturer's paints are best for metallics?

Thanks for any help in advance!

[thetang22]

Sorry that I'm not going to add anything constructive to this post, more so just my opinion on the subject. Ever since I've seriously been into painting minis it seems like NMM has been all the rage. It has seemed like most people don't take you seriously until you start doing NMM in your work.

I'll be honest, I've never tried NMM to any serious degree, I've always used metallic paints anytime I want to achieve a metallic effect. I am by no means any authority to say one way is better than the other, but I have to admit that the most impressive painting I have ever seen of people trying to paint metals is done using metallic paints. I find them very difficult to blend and get variation in tone compared to non-metallic paints. That is probably why I am so impressed by the people who get unreal results using metallic paints.

Here is an example of why I think metal done using metallic paints look so amazing when done correctly. I just noticed there is an article attached to it, so that might have some of the info you are looking for:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/index/whatm/Rackham/id/177036

and the article that goes with it (I haven't read the article):

http://coolminiornot.com/article/aid/649

I hope any of this helps. I've tried to edit this post a couple of times now to fix all the text being clumped together, but when I save the changes it just acts as if I didn't put any returns between the parts....very frustrating and makes it hard to read. Hopefully it will work this time.

Heh....months later I come across this post and try to clean it up again and it works this time.

Edited June 26, 2008 by thetang22

[Bexley]

People rarely agree on paints. That being said, one topic where I seem to see the most agreement is metallics, and the consensus seems to be that GW makes the best, with Reaper Master Series being second. And P3 being dead last. Beyond dead last. Hell, they were recalling Rhulic Gold because the pots occasionally exploded. Which is a shame, because I love P3 for everything else, and I really like the colors of metallics they have, but the paints themselves are just really poor quality.

Here's an article right here at Wyrd on the subject.

r2-j1 on Metallics

And here's a forum post by one of PP's staff painters on the subject.

Quentin on Metallics

I like to use a combination of those techniques- I mix metallics roughly 50/50 with a non metallic paint (my favorite gold mix, for example, is GW Burnished Gold and Snakebite Leather), then highlight up to a pure metallic, followed by shading down to a pure non-metallic paint. It's important to highlight first with this technique, to make sure you don't get any metallic flakes in your shadows.

Edited May 3, 2008 by Bexley

[Przemas]

the one thing i`ve found when painting with metallics is that when you apply the first layer it`s best to use a tad thicker paint. so only dilute it slightly, a drop of water will be enough. this way the first layer seems to be smoother and more shiny.

the highlights and shades shouyld be applied normally. i tend to use inks and dry pigments a lot for this.

as for paint recommendations. boltgun metal is for the best basic metallic silver/steel. in this matter i agree with bexley. but i won`t when it comes to golds. definitely p3 golds are the way to go. other manufacturer`s golds have some problems with coverage and doesn`t have funky shades like blighted gold (that being said p3 rhulic gold is still my favourite).

[Moavoamoatu]

I used to drybrush metallic paints on a black undercoat too. But if you want a nice result that's poor indeed.

The tutorial on CMON is the technique I use with metallic paints now.

If you want a quick and nice result don't follow all this tutorial. There is a simple technique for a fast result.

Paint a thin layer of GW metal bolter on the weapon or armor. Then use glazes of black and glazes of dark brown. Highlight with GW mithril silver. I'll post photos later on in the Alkemy thred I started yesterday to show you.

Of course if you want a better result et not a tabletop one you will have to follow the CMON tutorial.

I use Games Workshop Metal Bolter, Mithril silver and sometimes chainmail (you can add black or grey or brown paint to modifiy the colour).

But for gold I prefer the Vallejo paints. The techinqiue is the same for silver and gold effects. Use a "shining gold" as a base and then Tin Bizz, black and brown glazes for shades.

Use another brighter gold paint for highlights, then a mix of gold and Mithrill silver and then final highlights with mithrill silver.

Hope it helps.

[waghorn41]

OK I'm not much of a painter and so far have only used GW colours.

For silver I use boltgun metal then a wash followed by highlighting first with mithril silver then mithril mixed with white or another colour for the required effect.

Gold I used to like the old GW colour as I find the new ones poor quality. Now trying out a base of tin bitz highlighted with other golds which are then mixed with silver, white etc for effect.

It's really a matter of what works best for you, and which method you prefer to spend the time on.

[Ritual]

Sorry that I'm not going to add anything constructive to this post, more so just my opinion on the subject. Ever since I've seriously been into painting minis it seems like NMM has been all the rage. It has seemed like most people don't take you seriously until you start doing NMM in your work. I'll be honest, I've never tried NMM to any serious degree, I've always used metallic paints anytime I want to achieve a metallic effect. I am by no means any authority to say one way is better than the other, but I have to admit that the most impressive painting I have ever seen of people trying to paint metals is done using metallic paints. I find them very difficult to blend and get variation in tone compared to non-metallic paints. That is probably why I am so impressed by the people who get unreal results using metallic paints. Here is an example of why I think metal done using metallic paints look so amazing when done correctly. I just noticed there is an article attached to it, so that might have some of the info you are looking for: http://www.coolminiornot.com/index/whatm/Rackham/id/177036 and the article that goes with it (I haven't read the article): http://coolminiornot.com/article/aid/649 I hope any of this helps. I've tried to edit this post a couple of times now to fix all the text being clumped together, but when I save the changes it just acts as if I didn't put any returns between the parts....very frustrating and makes it hard to read. Hopefully it will work this time.

If you look at what's displayed on the big, serious painting exhibitions in Europe you'll see mostly stuff done with metallics. Metallics is definitely not a second rate technique. And, as you say, getting great looking results with metallics is not easy.

The way I paint using metallics is basically like this:

1. Base coat with a 50/50 mix of metallic paint and a regular, matte, paint.

2. Apply LOTS of glazes using matte paints. You can go crazy here. Try out any paints really. I use reds, browns, greens, blues, purples... you name it. Concentrate the glazes gradually to the areas you want to shade and make sure you add plenty of dark colours here.

3. Glaze those areas you want to look shiny with the metallic paint you used in the base coat, but without the matte paint.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you're happy.

5. Start highlighting by glazing with a lighter metallic paint. By applying thin glazes you'll get good blending. You may have to go back and repeat 2 and 3 again here as well, and if so, also repeat this step too.

6. Add final highlights using VMC Metallic Medium if you paint steel or silver and VMC Metallic Medium mixed with any coloured metallic paint if you paint a coloured metal.

In fact, this method is very close to how you paint NMM, only that you use metallic paints too. But, I strongly recommend using matte paints to shade with instead of, for instance, inks. With inks I find you get light reflections in the shaded areas very easily, and you have trouble controlling where the reflections will be. This makes it difficult to photograph the minis, for instance, and even when you look at a mini in real life, you can be distracted by unwanted light reflections.

[THX_1138]

I don't know whether you'd want to spend any money, but sometime soon the latest Miniature Mentor tutorial will be released and it is on this very subject.

I've got their other releases and I found them useful.

[Moavoamoatu]

Ritual you wrote that you use the base coat with a 50/50 mix of metallic paint and a regular, matte, paint. Which regular paint colour do you use ? Black, blue, brown,...?

[Wren]

There are some tutorials right here on Wyrd, also - http://www.wyrd-games.net/vbarticles.php?do=article&articleid=7 and http://www.wyrd-games.net/vbarticles.php?do=article&articleid=4 and... I know there was another one, a thread with a sort of paint-along tutorial that was done back in the early days, but now I can't find it.

I've taken a few painting classes on this topic at Gen Con. Rich Stedman has a very interesting technique for doing metals. He starts with an ink and a dab of a medium colour metallic. Begin layering that up as you would any paint mix from dark to light, adding more metallic with each new layer. The ink sets the dark shadows, with the layers going both lighter in tone and shinier in metal flake as you layer up. When you get to the point where it's pretty much pure metallic, start adding in a lighter one for the upper highlights. For the very top hotspot he uses Vallejo alcohol silver. You can play around a lot with colour effects by altering the colour of the ink and metallic you use. I used a teal ink and silver metallics on this one and a purple ink with a bluish metallic on this one.

Jeremie Bonament uses matte paints to shade metallics as many people do now, so you kill the shine in the shadows. He uses a lot of coloured glazes, also. He'll start with layering some blue into the shadow areas, and often does a bit of light glazing of yellows on shinier areas, and/or adds glazes with colours from the main mini to suggest reflection. What I found even more interesting is that he paints the metallics onto white primer, using very thinned coats of paint. I think it helps avoid that thick rounded look you sometimes see on metallic painted stuff. He also does the hotspots with an enamel paint (met II? Something like that, didn't recognize the name but I wrote it down somewhere.) I guess water-based acrylics just can't get quite as shiny as other types.

Edited May 3, 2008 by Wren

[Ritual]

Ritual you wrote that you use the base coat with a 50/50 mix of metallic paint and a regular, matte, paint. Which regular paint colour do you use ? Black, blue, brown,...?

It depends a lot on what effect you want and, of course, which type of metal you're painting. I find myself using a mahogany brown a lot when I do steel, for instance. I use a 50/50 mix of GW Boltgun Metal and VMC Mahogany Brown. I find this ideal for achieving a worn look of the metal (not exactly rusty or tarnished, but much used). Of course, if you want the metal to BE rusty you can use more of the Mahogany Brown and perhaps some orange and other browns when you glaze the metal.

On this mini I've used this method.

You can experiment with other colours in the base coat. I find that you sort of set the tone of the metal in question by what colour you use initially in the base coat. When you paint gold, for instance, you can get a rich warm tone by adding a reddish brown (like Mahogany Brown) to the base coat. If you want a more tarnished look instead, try using a blue green colour. It's fun to try different things and see what effect it will have.

[Skya]

Some good techniques listed. The harpy I did for the metallics theme in the first Iron painter was done with the Valleyo Alcohol base paints and a little chestnut ink and some German Camo Black Brown for shadows. I really like their golds. Unfortunately mixing alcohol base paints with water based paints doesnt work so it has to be done in layers and glazes. For silvers I really like the RMS silvers. The pigments are almost as finely ground as the alcohol base paints and they do mix well with other acrylics.