Metallics

[Adenosine]

Is it a good idea to thin metallics? I ask because I have issues with them looking cakey because I cant thin them. I have read that thinning them will cause loss of flake pigment bond. Is this true?

 

What is the best way? I like them on certain lines of mins is why I ask all this.

 

Thanks guys

 

Adenosine

The new guy

[smokingwreckage]

I tend to thin them. Although I've just been using Reaper master Series "Shadowed Steel"- it's a wonderfully smooth, smoooooth paint. You sould be able to control cakeyness with a little thinning and careful control of the quantity of paint on the brush.

[ixminis]

I shade metallics with standard paints... and pearl white or bright gold. It's a balancing act between maintaining the right level of flake vs. smoothness. I personally go for smoothness and add layers to achieve the right level of "flake density". It's much easier than trying to figure out how to get rid of the caking (not really possible)...

 

Rgds,

[Sergeant_Crunch]

I thin my metallics with my regular gunk, but it usually takes forever to get a good even coat with enough flakes to make it look right.

[eastman]

I use primarily Reaper Master Series metallics, and I always thin them for use. They go on smoother that way (I use a gunk mix with flow improver, retarder and water in it). I also use it when wet blending metallics.

[Patrick]

This is a fun topic because I recently started experimenting with various metallic techniques too.

 

My process is very similar to Eastman's. I thin the metallics like any other paint. I do, however, basecoat the area with regular color before applying the first coat of metallic. Usually MSP Clear Yellow & Oiled Leather for golds and Ghost White & Twilight Blue for silver/steel. Then I shade with normal colors, like Muddy Brown or Walnut mixed with a gloss sealer and then highlight with the brightest metallic also thinned with flow improver and gloss medium.

 

I also gloss up the metal areas with a shiny sealer afterwards too.

[Painfully]

I don't think Reaper makes any, but I use a glaze medium from Vallejo Model Colors range. It is great stuff.

 

Glazing makes colors more transparent. Think of it as a clear paint. Mix it 50/50 with a color, and what you get is a more transparent color--not the same as just using gunk or water.

 

Used with metallics, it thins the concentration of the metallic flakes, which results in a dimmer look, and is usually more appropriate for the scale of the minis. Without it, all my metallics would come out looking too bright.

 

What you also might want to try is mixing metallics with a transparent black/brown, like VMC smoke. This is good for shading metallics (and most other dark colors too actually).

[Sergeant_Crunch]

Ooops, forgot to mention that I am still using my craft metallics except for MSP Gunmetal Blue. I can only afford so much paint at a time.

[smokingwreckage]

I especially like to undercoat my golds with colour. Seems to do wonders. For steel I undercoat black and use drybrushing with Vallejo Metallic Medium for highlights.

[Jabberwocky]

I also thin my metallics. I typically use them like standard paints. It can be difficult to see the transitions with metallics. Sometimes I will spray the mini with a thin layer of dullcoat. It takes the shine off and allow you to see the transitions between layers easier. I'll then go back over the area and liberally wash the area again with thinned mid tone--honed steel for steel/silver to blend those areas that look a bit rough. I also will basecoat with black (for steel/silver) or brown (for gold).

[Kormydigar]

I usually thin all metallics (and I must say that the MSP steel triad rocks!!). For me the trick with shading and highlighting metallics begins with the undercoat. I use white primer for most minis because it is easier to shade than to try and get brightness out of a mini that is primed black. On the metallic parts I paint a basecoat of RPP Blue/Black (you can also use MSP Blue Liner). I used to paint this as an even basecoat but recently I have started making the basecoat thinner toward the highlights.

 

I will start with a standard basecoat mixture and paint only the shadowed area of the metal. Then I add a little gunk and paint all but the highlights with that. Finally I add yet more gunk to the color and paint the highlights. At this point the consistency of the paint is more like a thick wash applied to the primered area allowing a bit of white to show.

 

After the basecoat is dry I apply thinned metallics as usual. I use shadowed steel on the dark areas, honed steel on the middle area and polished silver on the highlights. To smooth out the transitions I simply glaze with the RPP Blue/Black .

 

A similar technique is used for gold colors with a dark brown color substituted for the RPP?Blue/Black

[Wodanson]

Just adding a non-metallic wash (say black or so) to create shadow on a metallic area doesn't work then I take it? I tried this once on a sword and the result was zero, no shadow to be seen

 

I ask because I am at the point of starting on a new figure with a lot of 'iron' like chainmail, helmet and sword, and don't feel like messing it up

[Painfully]

A black wash works for chainmail just fine IMO. But, you'll eventually have other techniques at your disposal and will want to try them.

 

I think until you've tried EVERY technique you can find, or make up yourself, you are still at a stage where it is your job to mess up, if only just to discover what does and does not work.

 

Don't worry about messing up. Even the pros mess up. The biggest difference comes in how well you can fix your mistakes. I'd even go so far as to say that the difference between pros and amateurs is that the pros have made many more kinds of mistakes, and learned how to fix them. So, make every mistake you can sooner, and you'll get better sooner! At least, that's my theory.

[urion]

I do a lot of minis using metallics, in fact I think it's my strong point. I would suggest using a wash over the metallic and then using either a mix of metallics, such as a dark silver and a light silver, to highlight or a mix of a non-metallic and metallic, such as white and silver. There is a painter by the name of Jakob Rune Nielsen who does incredible metallics and washes. He has a great tutorial on his website: http://www.jrn-works.dk/

[smokingwreckage]

A wash with some Flow Improver in it should work. I've had good results from repeatedly washing (black) and drybrushing (GW chainmail). OF course you have to let it DRY between each step.