Painting: Metallic Silvers

Metallic paints are great, and that is what this post is going to be about.  I won't be exploring everything, but this should be a solid foundation

With metallic paints, you can go from really easy to really intricate in your techniques and recipes.  How intricate depends on how much effort and thought you put into the process.  Let's jump right in, shall we?

There are two basic types of metallic paints: silver and gold.  For generalization purposes, bronze/copper go under gold, steel is under silver, et cetera.  I'll start with the silver stuffs and cover golds and rust/weathering in their own separate posts.

Silver Basics

• GW Paints: Boltgun Metal, Chainmail, Mithril Silver 
• Best basecoat: Black
• Washes: Badab Black
• Basic recipe: Black basecoat.  Boltgun Metal.  Mithril Silver highlights.

 Note that the Neophytes got a Badab Black wash on their silvers, but the recipe is the same otherwise. 

A slightly more lengthy recipe, better for larger areas:

1. Black Basecoat
2. Boltgun Metal
3. Badab Black wash, evenly applied
4. Large, broad hightlights of Boltgun, essentially reblocking it in to restore some brightness
5. Mithril Silver highlights

I don't have pictures for the above recipe, but with the following modification:

• Add a highlighting step between Steps 4 and 5 with a mix of Boltgun and Mithril Silver.  You're blocking out the brighter areas, setting up for the final Mithril Silver highlight.  

Next week we will dabble in a bit of gold.  Leave feedback in the comments so I can respond in another post!

Cheers all,

Consadine