Glowing weapons

[Lady Tam]

how do you do weapons in way that makes them look like they are "glowing" I would dearly love to do a sword that seems to be glowing a pale blue. Any advice on this?

Lady Tam

[Stern Kestrelmann]

LT-

 

All I can say is get the blues...  

 

1. Get at least 3 shades of blue paint.

2. Do some dry brushing and washing with these on top of your base metal.

3.  Ice Blue works wonderfully as the dry brush color, then try washing over this with Storm Blue or Midnight Blue.

 

Experiment on a couple of practice weapons.

 

SK

[Lady Tam]

O.K. So here's a question. If you want the middle of said weapon to be dark and the edges light, would this technique work? Or what if you want it dark towards the hilt/base and glowing towards the tip? And (yes there is a "AND") how would you do other types of weapons, like and axe or hammer?

Lady Tam

[Stern Kestrelmann]

LT-

 

Well, your best bet is to experiment with different weapons, but I'm sure others will post with some ideas too!

 

SK

[Ranger Man]

I'm not sure if this will help. †I use gold, silver, brass, etc. metallics to start. †I try to highlight and dry brush. †I just want them to represent magic or unusual properties. †Keep in mind the purple, green, red, blue, etc. metallics. †Makes for some evil looking enchanted weapons. †I hope this gets you a little closer.

 

rm

[Lady Tam]

Hmm looks like I may have to "experiment" Better write down what I do. Lord only knows I will do something really neat and forget how I did it!

Lady Tam

[Jerry Trapspringer]

Tamiya makes a line of transparent paint: red, blue, green, yellow, and smoke.

 

I paint the weapon etc with either silver or gold and then apply the transparent paint over it. Silver seems to be better for most of them, gold better for red, green, or yellow but it's better to experiment. Surface tension will cause the paint to draw away from the edges and upper surface causing the paint to highlight itself. You can also add shadows to the metallic paint, aka graphite to silver etc before putting down the transparent.

 

I've had good results with it anyhow.

[Lady Tam]

Any pictures I can see? And where do you find the paint at?

Lady Tam

[Kheprera]

drill a hole running the length of the sword and some holes at intervals along the edge.

 

insert one of those microscopic lights.

 

Viola...a glowing sword.  :p

 

PS: No, never tried it, but thought it was worth a shot.

[smokingwreckage]

Ary: put the light in the figure's fist and carve a new sword out of perspex! 4H4! PH33R MY L337 5K1LL2

 

 

okay, I''ve never tried it either. Just a thought.

[Jerry Trapspringer]

Tamiya Colour (as they call it) can be found in the military section of the hobby shop if they carry it. It's imported from Japan, hence the name, Tamiya being one of the biggest and best plastic model firms. A lot of places don't have it but still more do than I'd think.

 

I like the light, maybe even use a small LED?

[CripDyke]

we've talked about pearlescent paints in other threads: i find those as a final wash enhances the glowing effect.

 

Note that this doesn't _replace_ any of the techniques mentioned earlier! Do that technique first (whichever you've chosen) then add pearlescent paint over the top of everything else.

 

And, of course, using gloss coat while the rest of the mini is matte coated will further enhance the effect.

[smokingwreckage]

Okay, I've actually heard of people putting an LED in the figures base and running optical fibre to the glowing bits- but that was eyes on a big freakin' monster and probably hard to even think too much about on ordinary character figs.

[Froggy the Great]

I have never tried this, but i'd probably prime the weapon white, do a strip of black down the middle, then drybrush up through bright blue into white at the edges.

 

I'll try that this week, since I'm at my in-laws all week.

[Mengu]

Here is a bright and glowing subject you will all recognize:

 

 

The key to anything glowing is that it has a blazing white core, and gets darker as you move out from the center of the glow.

 

The best way to get a sword to glow is to make the spine and the line where the sword meets the hilt crisp white, and shade outwards (in any color you want, blue, green, yellow etc). At the tip of the sword you can add a bit of white highlight for an unnatural sparkle effect that really only is captured in photographs due to lenses.

 

If it's an axe, I would stem the glow starting at the joint of the axe blade and the shaft.

 

The rest of the mini can also be painted and shaded with this light source in mind so as to make it more effective.

 

Just as a warning, this technique can create a photogenic miniature (if executed well, which I lack the skills to show you an example), but may look odd in a 3D environment where light comes from all sides.