Using Vajelllo Airbrush Metalics

[Lord Maggot]

Hi everyone,

I've seen a few people mention how great the vajello airbrush metallic paints are. Stupid question but does this apply to using them with a brush instead if airbrushing? Why do people find them better to use than normal metallic paints? Looking for a way to improve my metallics.

Oh and if anyone could help what colour is Gryphonne Sepia (The GW wash).

Thanks

 

[Dragonsreach]

Hi everyone,
I've seen a few people mention how great the vajello airbrush metallic paints are. Stupid question but does this apply to using them with a brush instead if airbrushing? Yep 'Normal' (?whatever 'Normal' is aropund here) Sable brushes are what I and several others use.
Why do people find them better to use than normal metallic paints? The simplest answer is far finer metalic particles giving easier and smoother finish. You'll still need to dilute them just as with something like GW's metallics but the results I find far better. Word of warning though, I'm not that impressed with the Brass/Gold Airbrush metallics as a colour, but since they mix with standard metallics with ease I can live with it.
Looking for a way to improve my metallics.

Oh and if anyone could help what colour is Gryphonne Sepia (The GW wash). Sepia.. a soft brown with a tendancy towards the warm red end of the spectrum. Devlan Mud tends to be darker, "colder" with a tendancy towrds a blue-ish tone to my eyes.
Thanks

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[Lord Maggot]

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Brilliant thank you that explains everything. I have £5 cashback award with maelstrom to spend so I'll grab a few of gold and silver ones to try out.

I have the old inks and saw a few tutorials using the sepia wash but I didn't know what the equivalent was.

Thanks again!

 

[Avelorn]

I wouldn't use the old ink in place of the new wash, very different results. The washes are definitely worth investing in btw.

I use Vallejo Airbrush silver as a final highlight on my metallics with great results. However if you use GW metallics right now you can achieve great results with those as well, so if you want to improve your metals it might be a question of changing/refining the technique you are using.

 

[Lord Maggot]

@Avelorn: I have two new washes and I am impressed at how much they changed since the old inks. May invest in a few more then. With my metallics I don't feel they've improved as much as my other painting. I'm blending away quite happily but find most attempts at metallics end up with me just dry brushing over. I've tried the tutorials on the J Rune-Neilson site to no avail. Any other good tutorials or guides you recommend?

 

[Dragonsreach]

'm blending away quite happily but find most attempts at metallics end up with me just dry brushing over. I've tried the tutorials on the J Rune-Neilson site to no avail. Any other good tutorials or guides you recommend?

Lord Maggot try looking at this article: http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/649
In the article Automaton (Sebastian Archer) has given a very good way of taking the metals further. It's worth a try even if you don't stay with his method in the end it will help you a lot.

 

[magno]

Inspired by this thread on ture metallics, I decided to try a little experiment.
I took one of my painting holders (a wide platic bottle cap with a metal washer glued to it, and I use magnets on all my model bases as I transport them on metal sheets).
I cleaned the washer with steel wool.
I used masking tape (lightly pressed to one side) and primed one side with Tamiya white, then masked the other side and primed the other half with Citadel Skull white as I've found these to be the two best white primers.
For the metallic paints I brushed across the two primers. On the top half was GW Chainmail and the bottom half was VMC Gunmetal.
So three different painting applications as noted in this photo.
1. Dilluted the metalic paints with water only to a 50/50 ratio and did a couple of layers.
2. Straight out of the pot with a damp brush so the paint could spread evenly across both primers.
3. Using Vallejo Metal medium.




This photo is at an angle so you can better see the reflective nature of the paints. The GW paint is less sparkly than the Vallejo. For more realistic metals I would go with the GW paints for the base metal coloring. I don't know about highlights, I haven't studied that far.


The photos aren't as nice as I'd like them to be but this is my impression of the different paints on the different primers. GW is smoother, applies more uniformly and doesn't suffer from the metallic build up when dilluted by either water or the Metal medium.
Notes on the Primer.
Tamiya is more vibrant white, but also a little more glossy and water repellant. You'll fight with applying dilluted base coats a little more that with the GW primer. I've found from working with Tamyia that the primer has less chance to skunk out on you, but if you ensure low humidity, ~70degF temps and shake the holy bejesus out of any primer can, you'll reduce the chances of skunking.

Hope this helps. I don't have a tremendous amount of experience with true metallics (I've tended toward NMM) but I'm going to try True metal on my next project and this was a test application to see which one of these two I'd use. I'm going with GW dilluted with both water and a little Vallejo Metal medium.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Magno:
That's a very good attempt at showing differences, but to be honest Vallejo Model Colour and GW metallics are to all intents and purposes the same paint.
It's the difference between Vallejo AIRBRUSH metallic paints and other metallics which is the real eyeopener.
Plus for metallics to really have a better 'shine' they need to be on a dark basecoat.

 

[Lord Maggot]

@dragonsreach - Very nice tutorial. I'll give it a go next time I paint.
@magno - Also very interesting guide.

 

[Avelorn]

Yeah, I'd choose GW over VMC metals and I'd choose Vallejo airbrush over GW if I had too chose.