Metallic Purple Paint

[Sakurafire]

Howdy,

 

I'm currently working on a present for my wife. It is a conversion piece to look like Yvonne Craig's Batgirl from the original Batman TV series.

 

I wanted to do something special for it (besides the sculpt) and have glittery or metallic purple paint for the costume. For those who may not know, her costume is very glittery (shown in the attachments).

 

If anybody has any suggestions, I would be very appreciative. There is still sculpting work to be done, so I have time before I put the brush to the figure.

 

Thanks!

[djizomdjinn]

Paint figurine black. Acquire purple and/or blue interference paint. Thin and apply.

 

Being a bit less facetious, check to make sure the grind is rough/smooth enough for your scale. I use Golden's line of interference paints, and I find the Fine grind to be perfect for ~30mm scale minis. If you definitely want the sparkle effect, you might look at the normal grind. I've never used it on minis, and it's been years since I've used it and I don't have a bottle handy, but it's an option for you to consider.

 

Otherwise, you could use mica flakes mixed into the paint to get the same sparkle effect. Again, check the grind to make sure the sparkle is in scale too.

[OneBoot]

You could check out some of the craft paints available if you want super sparkly. I'm not familiar enough with other brands of mini paint to offer any suggestions there, sorry. I can tell you, though, that Reaper's "Sparkling Amethyst" will NOT give you the look you want; having used it before, I can say that it's much more of a subtle shimmer than glittery sparkle.

 

Huzzah!

--OneBoot :D

[Qwyksilver]

Some brands of artist paints sell iridescent medium, which you could use to give the sparkly sheen that Batgirl's costume has.  Then you simply have to mix the color of purple you desire.

[Sakurafire]

I was thinking about the "sparkling amethyst". Tough to see the end results based off of a swatch on the internet. Craft paint is looking to be very thick and doesn't take to the tabletop well. I tested a paint that rubbed right off the mini. I'll be using the figure for Heroclix, so I tend to keep the paintjob flat to match the stock miniatures.

 

I used to have old GW paint that I mixed up (Silver with slightly thinned Purple and some micro-glitter) for a Dark Elf army, but that dried up about 15 years ago. I was thinking about trying again, but I'd hate to waste paint. I'll take a look at the mica flakes and iridescent medium options.

 

I'll give some of these a try, though. Thank you for the suggestions.

[tiniest rhombus]

Americana craft paint has a pearlescence medium with a pretty large grain to it, more glitter than smooth pearl. RMS Gem purple looks to be a good match for the purple.

[Arc 724]

You could try and make your own shade of purple: I would recommend a good RED paint and Reapers 09126: Gunmetal Blue ($3.29)

Edited July 6, 2015 by Arc 724

[mikem91]

Valejo has a metallic medium I've used to make assorted demi-metaillics.

[Sakurafire]

I completely forgot about Valejo (I've never used their paints because they are pricey). I'll take a look. If not, mixing my own would be an idea... I can add some really fine grain glitter, too.

 

Thanks for the replies. =)

[Goblyn]

pft  easy

 

craft glitter paint

 

glitter nail polish

 

glue+ glitter dust

[buglips*the*goblin]

I know exactly what you need to match that costume shade if you can get it:  Coat D'Arms Deadly Nightshade.  This is a pretty dense pigment, so if you mixed it with a purple and almost any kind of metallic you could easily adjust it to match and it should look just about perfect.

 

I'd start with a 1:1:1 ratio of silver metallic, purple, and deadly nightshade.  That'll give you two normal paints to one portion of the silver, so ought to keep the metallic glitter effect you want in sufficient quantity while negating the silver color itself.  You may find you'll have to adjust the ratio of purple, because Deadly Nightshade will probably overpower it, but it shouldn't be much adjustment.

 

I can even test this out if you like, because I have all the ingredients here. 

[Bruunwald]

On a related note, hubba.

[Sakurafire]

Hubba indeed. =)

 

Thanks, buglips. Looks like I'll have all my avenues covered by the time I get home from work! lol

[BLZeebub]

My favorite batgirl!  Commissioner Gordon's daughter was a beauty, and it was neat she wore a wig to become a superhero...  I digress.  All I'm seeing is interference and adding glitter and specific grinds.  My advice (not saying it's the best, just...throwing another option out there) is to mix your deepest purple with a bright metallic miniature paint (Reaper, Army Painter, and GW have excellent varieties--I'm sure there are other excellent miniature metallics out there), like Chrome Silver (GW), Honed Steel (Reaper), Steel (Reaper), Chainmail (maybe GW...).  Practice on something disposable to get the mixture right.  Then repeat with either lighter purples or magentas (depending on your highlighting tastes) while maintaining the mix of metallics.  The flecks will line up in different directions each layer, effectively creating interference.

 

On a further note, like that Buglips fella said.

 

On a further, further note, hubba indeed!

[DocPiske]

Purple permanent ink over a silver metallic would be my recommendation.