Need some advice on painting true metallics and skulls

[Paintforfun]

I haven't been painting for long, a few months actually but I found a version of my lovely HQ on youtube, painted for miniwargaming dave.
I felt that the gold on the model was really crispy and eyecatching, eventhough it was painted in metallics.
Not to mention it was painted by a four time golden daemon winner.

So, I'm asking here if anyone that has a bit more insight into miniature painting could tell me possibly what paints and washes that has been used for that particular mini
and how to achieve this really mute look to the mini?

here's a link to the mini
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39t6SL1k0wY&feature=fvst


my other question is about skeletons, well skulls generally, I can paint white skulls but I'd also like to know to to paint darker skulls any mix is greatly appreciated( I don't have acess to any boney colour just white and brown)..

none of my mates are into wargaming so there's nowhere to ask for advice

/dave

 

[MAXXxxx]

gold: looks pretty standard to me. gold metallics, shaded with a medium then a dark brown. maybe some purple/blue thrown in for the deepest shadows. That's all I can gather based on the video.
But the best method: write to worthypainting and ask them directly. Or even to miniwargaming to ask them on your behalf. Then the paints and techniques used you could get first hand.

skulls: well you can use different shades of the white mixed in the brown, but it really makes life easier to get some bone colors (here VGC-bleachedbone, VGC-khaki, VAC(Sand? I don't remember) are pretty standard 'bases')

well if you like the miniwargaming on youtube, I know you'll love:
- buypainted channel
- awesomepaintjob channel

With miniwargaming my only connection is that I have (one of ?) their tutorialDVD, which is while better then GW's (not hard to do) is pretty bad imho. They do a LOT of things that are not needed (makes you work more, but no extra gain) or look wrong.

 

[Paintforfun]

I've been trying to contact them, but no luck there. Just got a reply with how much it would cost to set up a commission.

My gold just looks off, eventhough I paint in many layers, starting from brown mixed with gold and add more gold to the mix for each layer and top it off with a mix of mithril silver and shining gold.
So if anyone has a good formula for painting clean gold, with depth and strong contrast, using metallic paints, feel free to share it.

/ confused dave

 

[Dragonsreach]

Need some advice on painting true metallics and skulls

I haven't been painting for long, a few months actually but I found a version of my lovely HQ on youtube, painted for miniwargaming dave.
I felt that the gold on the model was really crispy and eyecatching, eventhough it was painted in metallics.

Ok my two pence worth is that its not that eyecatching, I do think it's decently painted, but being honest I have seen better 'golds' and to me it looks so muted it's more Brass than Gold.

In order to get really eyecatching gold regardless if its Non Metallic Metals or Metallic paints there are a few things that you need to do.

Observe gold in real life, wedding rings are a help, otherwise its jewellery shop windows or trusting friends. See where and how the shadows are formed ditto the highlights and reflections. See, if possible, how the difference between bright shop light and natural light changes the reflective quality of gold. Shop lights are designed to make gold "Sparkle", natural light makes gold softer and almost "Glow".

Look at your paints, see which is the closest gold colour to the darkest colour you've seen in gold (I'm talking yellow gold in general not red or white variants) and that should be your starting point. If needed a couple of pounds expended on a new paint colour is worth it. Now for my money the smoothest Metallic paints are the Vallejo Airbrush range, but the Gold and Brass are kinda "Weak" in colour so they do need a few touches of additional colours to make them "Pop". One of which is Vallejo Tansparent Yellow. This is an incredibly bright colour an its used so sparingly that I touch the brush to the bottle top and thats all the amount of colour I need to get for dilution.

On to Painting Metallics need loving care when applying them, thin to approx 50/50 mix with water and test. If you get solid coverage in one brush stroke, it needs more water. Thin and multiple coats are better. Try to keep your brush strokes in the same direction where ever possible as this stops "clumping" of the grains. Also make sure each layer is dry before doing the next. Once an even coverage has been acheived is when I use the Transparent Yellow. A thin touch over all the raised points of the Golden areas and the first sparkle seems to kick in. After that its how to mute the shadows, I've used the following colours for varying depths of shadows and muted tones : Vallejo Model Colours English Uniform, VMC Leather Brown, German Camoflage Black Brown. Each one of these colour is much darker than the previous one listed and should be diluted to the consitancy of a wash applying each colour carefully only in the areas needed and not over the whole gold area. With the increase in tonal strength you can build up shadows more accurately in areas such as undercuts on the armour and underneath high details such as the faces on Abaddon's kneepads.
Finally highlighting gold is tricky, in real life on a curved surface you go:-
Reflection, Shadow, 1st highlight , 2nd highlight, Flare (brightestpoint) 2nd highlight, 1st hightlight, Shadow , Reflection.
With what I've outlined above your Flare needs to be almost colourless and close to white adding a touch of Vallejo Airbrush Chrome to the original gold does give a good highlight as does a final touch of Chrome itself.

 

[Moradin]

Well, for bones and skulls, you can add up yellow to your range of colors. Bones can have many colors, from fresh gory ones with blood to the sun-bleached white bone. However, most bones would be a yellow-tan to a medium brown color if they were encased somewhere away from the sun. Even the teeth are rarely pure white, they are mostly yellowish to pale brown, but being shiny compared to the dull color of bone. Good examples of colors would be from images of real mummies and skeletons from ancient burial tombs, these can be found easily on the internet. What gets a bone good looking is the shading and highlighting done after, some areas would be very dark (eye sockets, inside of mouth, etc...) and edges would be very pale, all in line with the basic color you used with the bone or skull. It is a matter of practice, observation and keeping your paint thin enough to really control your shading and highlights. Do use multi-layers of thinned paint rather than a thick one so that you will not drown your miniature details. And practice, practice, practice!:brushlick:

 

[Paintforfun]

thanks for your little tutorial, dragonsreach. I kind of got the hang of it. I've also ordered a few more metallic paints and grabbed some washes from secret weapon washes.
I heard that the wash "golden brown metallic wash" was good for shading gold, if anyone have tried it and could give a review I'd be thankful!

So, for shining gold for example I need to shade with orange and brown thinned down paints, that are almost as thick as a glaze.
The hard part which I don't really get is the reflection, how do I paint that?
Also, doesn't the yellow stand out alot from the gold?

/dave

 

[Dragonsreach]

So, for shining gold for example I need to shade with orange and brown thinned down paints, that are almost as thick as a glaze.
Ok first; Dilute to use.:cute:
The hard part which I don't really get is the reflection, how do I paint that?
You don't always have to do a Da Vinci on the item sometimes its enough to suggest a colour or a shape in a darker colour. If you use the analogy I did of my wedding ring the reflection is a flesh tone on the ring from the little finger and the middle finger. So for example a space marine's shoulder pad in gold could reflect a touch of the lining of the cloak, say for arguments sake a touch of red.
Also, doesn't the yellow stand out alot from the gold?
No as its really diluted. All it does it does is give it a healthy "boost" to the colour.
/dave

Rough Example:

 

[Paintforfun]

I get it, thanks alot for your explanation Dragonsreach aswell as the photo
It helped alot to thinn down both the base colour and the metallics. I bought Tin Bitz and I am amazed of the amount of metallic pigments in the colour!
(before I mixed brown and shining gold and struggled with the shine)
Now I mix tin bitz with shining gold instead and it looks really nice.

I also recommend Golden Brown metallic wash from Secretweapon washes to whoever struggles with metallics

/dave

 

[Paintforfun]

Another thing I've noticed when I paint gold it almost always ends up looking more like yellow brass after a wash or after some shading.
The wash tones the shine down alot for some reason and if I re apply gold over it, it doesnt look good at all.

Maybe it's because I am rather limited when it comes to gold colour (only have shining gold and burnished gold) that this happens..

 

[RuneBrush]

Another thing I've noticed when I paint gold it almost always ends up looking more like yellow brass after a wash or after some shading.
The wash tones the shine down alot for some reason and if I re apply gold over it, it doesnt look good at all.

Maybe it's because I am rather limited when it comes to gold colour (only have shining gold and burnished gold) that this happens..

What colours do you wash it with? Gold benefits from a tiny little bit of purple & green (bizarrely) applied. You should be able to get a good gold with shining & burnished

 

[Paintforfun]

I wash it with Armor wash from secret weapon washes.. it's kind of a brownish black colour

 

[Dragonsreach]

Armour wash isn't intended for gold its meant for iron and steel.
You'd be better off ignoring that wash and making your own with a mix of Snakebite Leather and Scorched brown (or whatever they're called now).

 

[Paintforfun]

Ok, thanks. Well I have brown washes too, but it's a bit tricky to practice painting metals due to the fact that it takes ages to build up and I don't want to paint my fine cast models
and other plastic models before I feel I wont ruin them.


I'm testing out various metallic paints I got from both P3, Vallejo and GW, atm I'm working with p3 paints. My latest attempt was painting it with p3 solid gold and gave it a greenish wash..
it turned out pretty good. The wash being athonian camoshade and purple in the shadows and then glazed it with gw green glaze then edge highlight it with solid gold.

still not sure if this greenish wash is ment for gold but it looks pretty decent.

 

[Paintforfun]

heres how it turned out its taken with android so a bit bad quality

View attachment 16914