adding iridescence to wizkids minis

[Bustedknee]

If you're wanting to add a little color and some iridescence to the clear portions of the unpainted wizkids line, the folk art color shift paints do a great job.  They are transparent enough that the clear effect isn't "wasted" while at the same time adding little more life/interest to them.  I was just messing around with the wings on the Aasimar female and was really happy with the results.  Unfortunately don't have a pic (the iridescence would probably be lost in photos anyway) but thought I'd share.

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by Bustedknee

[amuller33]

Interesting I have said minis and Said paint... Can you post a pic?

[Inarah]

I have enjoyed playing with the color shift paints too.  It's best to test them out on various background colors. They don't always come out like you expect they will. 

 

 

[Bustedknee]

amuller33-  The iridescence doesn't really show as much in this pic but I think it gives the general idea.  This is undiluted paint.  1 or 2 coats.  For the amount of effort I was more than pleased.

 

Inarah- agreed. They behave so differently from any other paint I've encountered.  They've definitely been fun but frustrating too. 

[CorallineAlgae]

@Bustedknee That does look like a good paint option for the clear parts. I don't have any color shift paints, but I'll look for them. Thank you for posting that picture. I wasn't at all sure what to do with the spell effect parts. I typically either go with Tamiya clear paints or normal opaque colors.

[Pillpeddler]

Nice effect, I bet it looks even better in person.  

Good paintin'

[Bustedknee]

@Pillpeddler - Thanks.  It definitely looks better in person.  The "color shift"/iridescence is completely lost when photographed.  The hope was that the provided picture would get across the idea that when using the color shifts you don't lose the clear effects on the Wizkids minis.  I've tried several different "clear" paints, some of the GW technical paints as well as various washes and glazes but I wasn't really happy with the results and usually resorted to just using standard paints on the effects.  This was one of the first times I found a paint that really worked well with the clear effects even with a quick and dirty application.  Because of the nature of the paint it almost acts like a recess wash with very subtle coloring of the high points while adding an iridescence to the entirety of the surface.  

[Loth]

Did you think and apply as a wash? I have some golden iridescent paint that’s a little thicker so wanted to hear how you applied?

 

Thank you,

 

Loth

[Bustedknee]

@Loth- I did not intend to use it as a wash, it just kind of worked out like one.  The folk art color shift paints are a very strange consistency and very translucent.  As such I haven't bothered much with thinning them.  My initial intent was to paint all over the wings with the color shift (straight out of the bottle) and then "target wash" the recesses.  However I noticed the pigment concentrating a bit in the recesses on its own.  In the end all I did was paint on a coat, use the brush to reduce the amount of paint on some of the high points, wick a bit out of the recesses and then followed that up with a second application.  

 

I wish I had some experience with golden iridescent paint so i could provide a little insight but I've never used it.  If I happen to see any while I'm out and about tomorrow I'll pick some up and try to report back if the two are similar or not.  I can think of a few things I might wanna try it out on. 

 

Just to verify which # iridescent do you have.  I see they carry a few different versions (fluid, heavy body, OPEN, high flow and a couple different consistencies).

 

[Rigel]

I've had good results with thinned metallic paints, especially if you wet-blend several colors in a gradient along the wings. Will try to find some pictures. 

These look lovely!

[Loth]

I’ll have to look 

 

‘’thanks for the info and I’ll get back 

 

Loth

[Rigel]

Here's an aasimar lady I started a while back with ice-blue, teal, and blue-green metallics thinned out a bit. Colors are present, but the wings still read as translucent. 

 

[Bustedknee]

@RigelThat looks really great.  Which brand of metallics are you using? 

 

Also, thanks for sharing.  My brain frequently gets hung up on semantics.  I always forget that metallics may have uses outside of metals.

 

I had honestly been avoiding the minis with spell effects because I didn't care for my available options (I had to be talked into the Aasimar by a six year old little girl that auto passes most persuasion checks). Now between the color shifts and metallics there's almost too many options.

[Rigel]

Thank you! This lady isn't even close to the best that can be done with metallics; just one I had near a camera. 

I'm just using cheap craft-store DecoArt and FolkArt metallics, watered down to somewhere around 1 part thick paint to 1 part water. Also works well for spell effects, specially several colors blended into a gradient!

Now I need to get my hands on some color-shift paints and see what they can do...those mauve angel wings you've done are glorious.  

[Rigel]

Was making some last-minute ornaments, and took some WIP pictures that might be useful here: 

Seen with light reflecting off the wings...



...and backlit by the evening sunshine. 




Update: thinning the metallics isn't necessary or good on the clear bits; just brush very very thin coats. If you water them down they bead up unpleasantly. Lesson learned.