Favorite Metal paints

[Lowki]

I think it is a well known secret that the Eavy Metal team is not using the citadel paint range to paint metalics (except gold for SCE?), at least thats what I understand. 

So I am wondering what is actually considered to be the best metalic paints around, or what do you prefer yourself?

So far I only used valejjo paints next to Citadel, but not their metalic paints.

 

[sarahmarr90]

21 minutes ago, Lowki said:

I think it is a well known secret that the Eavy Metal team is not using the citadel paint range to paint metalics (except gold for SCE?), at least thats what I understand. 

So I am wondering what is actually considered to be the best metalic paints around, or what do you prefer yourself?

So far I only used valejjo paints next to Citadel, but not their metalic paints.

 

i really like Army painter and p3. I've also just tried using GSW steampunk copper, which i love

[crabking]

After a long journey of try and error I’ve settled with Vallejo Game Colour Metallics

[zedatkinszed]

Vallejo Metal Color for airbrush. These are airbush paints but you can use them straight out of the pot for brush application too. There is nothing to compare it to. I've tried everything and with the exception of drybrushing (GW's metallic base paints are the best for this) the Vallejo Metal Color wins every time.

[Skipsalajan]

Vallejo for the win always

[michu]

Leadbelcher and Retributor Armour.

[JackStreicher]

Scale75 all of them 

[Ointagru]

P3  and Vallejo,  because they last longer. Many of my Citadel metalic paints have their pigments separated after some time (and when I mix them, the quality is not the same as before).  Also, they dry up faster then Vallejo paints.

[Minis by Night]

Depends what color you're looking for, really.

Grey metal (silver, steel...) : Vallejo Metal Color are the very best by far. With a brush it generally covers in a single coat, they're super smooth. They only drawback is that they're very liquid and some time will run off if you apply a bit too much. Scale 75 has some nice muted grey metals. GW Stormhost Silver is also very good.

Brown metal (copper, brass...) : Vallejo Game has a very decent selection, and they're very smooth but rather thick. Vallejo Metal Color copper is nice, but it forms little clumps after a while. I like GW Balthasar Gold, it's a nice color although the "metal pigment" (I believe it's mica) shows a bit too much. Screamer Bell is also pretty unique. Most of the other GW brown metals I've had(which is all of them) have separated after about a year to the point of being unusable. S75 colors are weird, they are either too orange or too pink for my taste, and they barely look like metals. You can spot them really easily, they're very distinctive. It looks like they made them for people who want to do NMM with true metallics. 

Gold metals: GW Retributor armor is great, it's definitely their best metal color, but the paints to highlight it are terrible. S75 Dwarven Gold is pretty much exactly the same, with Elven Gold being the highlight color GW was not able to achieve. Vallejo Metal Color gold is... way too green and doesn't cover well enough to use as a base but it's okay as either a highlight. But if you mix it 50:50 with the copper, you get a very nice light gold. P3 has a very interesting "green" gold called Blighted Gold, if you can find a use for it. S75 Necro Gold is similar.

The real winner: if you want a REALLY shiny and amazing metal, you use Vallejo Liquid Gold/Copper/Silver. They're alcohol based, with actual metal flakes. They're more work, and you need to know what you're doing with them. You'll need to shake the bottle like a madman for 5 minutes every time you want to use them. They don't cover all that well. But they look absolutely fantastic. Silver isn't really that much better than Metal Color, but Gold and Copper are totally worth it.

(Yes, I own all too many paints...)

[Overread]

*warning noob question*

A general question, when I look at how GW paints metals I see that they'll use a range of metallic paints and paints to layer things up. Now when it comes to ranges like Vallejo metal colours they've got fewer options and their liquid gold is very limited. So are you using those as a base and then layering/highlighting GW (or other) paints over the top or are things like the liquid gold a "top coat" type of thing where its one coat does it all? Or rather that trying to mix the different types of paint causes issues with how they vary in display and style? 

[MitGas]

For Acrylics:

If you want your metals to be really shiny, then Vallejo Metal Color are what you'd want. Biggest drawback are that there is only one gold (very old goldish/greenish) and copper for other colors than grey metals though).

if you want your metals to be a bit duller but have NO visible metallic flakes (which is HUGE), then you go scale 75. 

They can also be combined for the best of both worlds, as the scale 75 ones give a very painterly feel to a miniature. But IMHO it's a very sexy effect, definitely better than the noisy textures all other metal paints give (and work great if mixed with Vallejo Metal Color as you could use those for highlights and the shadows are only more realistic if they are duller anyways).

Airbrushing Vallejo Metal Color reduces the noisy texture too, less need for a mix with scale75 if you go that route.

Just my experiences...

Vallejo Model Color Bronze is one of my favorite paints too. Scale75 Necro Gold is a very interest color as well.

That said, I'm not big on vibrant, yellow golds so I always mix some grey metal color with them and most often a tinge of red metals too.

[Minis by Night]

6 hours ago, Overread said:

*warning noob question*

A general question, when I look at how GW paints metals I see that they'll use a range of metallic paints and paints to layer things up. Now when it comes to ranges like Vallejo metal colours they've got fewer options and their liquid gold is very limited. So are you using those as a base and then layering/highlighting GW (or other) paints over the top or are things like the liquid gold a "top coat" type of thing where its one coat does it all? Or rather that trying to mix the different types of paint causes issues with how they vary in display and style? 

Liquid Gold is a one-paint-does-it-all. You'll most likely need multiple coats, but after that you just add a light controlled shade(don't want to kill the shine) and you're done. There's no real need for highlight since highlights are a simulation of reflected light, and Liquid Gold reflect plenty of light on it's own. It might look a bit out of place if you follow the GW style of highlighting every single edge on your mini though.

For example, in the following picture, the hourglass on the Guardian of Souls on the right has been painted with Liquid Gold Rich Gold and a shade of Seraphim Sepia, no highlights. But you can see highlights in the picture, and they're much more realistic than the ones on the lantern on the left, because they ARE real highlights.

[Overread]

Ahh I see so essentially if one were making a scale from A to B the Vallejo Liquid Metal range would be at the polar opposite end of the scale from the "No Metallic Metals" approach to painting. 

With the Liquid metal creating all their own natural reflections and no metallic metals creating all the reflective light from shading and highlights. 

[Lowki]

Thanks all, much appreciated...it definitely gives me a better idea,

I will definitely try out some of the suggested paints, and with the contrast paints around the corner which I am eager to try out as well. It is clear june is going to be a painful experience for my wallet again, even without a major miniature release on the horizon       

On ‎5‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 8:28 PM, Ointagru said:

Many of my Citadel metalic paints have their pigments separated after some time (and when I mix them, the quality is not the same as before).  Also, they dry up faster then Vallejo paints.

Yeah that's my experience as well ( and my biggest concern with them) I am a very irregular painter. I can paint frequently for weeks and then lives happens and I am not painting at all for months or even years. So I usually end up with paints not useable anymore, especially the Metals, and even more specific the bronze/braze range. Obviously this cannot be completely prevented if you keep them untouched for many months, but I think I gonna try my luck with an alternative and see how that ends up. At least the eyedrop bottles will probably a better option to prevent it from happening.

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 7:14 AM, Minis by Night said:

 

The real winner: if you want a REALLY shiny and amazing metal, you use Vallejo Liquid Gold/Copper/Silver. They're alcohol based, with actual metal flakes. They're more work, and you need to know what you're doing with them. You'll need to shake the bottle like a madman for 5 minutes every time you want to use them. They don't cover all that well. But they look absolutely fantastic. Silver isn't really that much better than Metal Color, but Gold and Copper are totally worth it.

These sound really interesting indeed, I noticed them before but didn't know if they are any good, or if it needs a special application as being alcohol based paints

I wouldn't use them for everything,  I prefer often a more matte finish,  but obviously some things need to look like real gold or silver..the kind dwarves  err dispossessed  like so much. So I going to try some of them for sure...Love your models by the way.. they look awesome

On ‎5‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 6:32 PM, JackStreicher said:

Scale75 all of them 

Call me stupid, but somehow I never looked into the S75 range before, never really considered them. Now you, and some others  mentioned them here, I had a better look at them, and to be honest I t quiet enthusiastic about what I hear and see of them, and not just the metal ranges. I always favored paints with a matte finish, and these seem to be the top choice for that. I am only not sure if I am the right audience. It seems that you really need to learn how to use them, and considered more for the real display quality painting then table top, while I am a tabletop painter at best, with the speed of a display painter

[JackStreicher]

2 hours ago, Lowki said:

Call me stupid, but somehow I never looked into the S75 range before, never really considered them. Now you, and some others  mentioned them here, I had a better look at them, and to be honest I t quiet enthusiastic about what I hear and see of them, and not just the metal ranges. I always favored paints with a matte finish, and these seem to be the top choice for that. I am only not sure if I am the right audience. It seems that you really need to learn how to use them, and considered more for the real display quality painting then table top, while I am a tabletop painter at best, with the speed of a display painter

I only have their metal colors so far. Their gold is superb! The "oro Elfico/Elven Gold" is the...most incredible bright gold my eyes ever beheld! I usually call it God-Gold (if even regretted to play Anvils of the Heldenhammer -.- )

[RuneBrush]

On 5/26/2019 at 1:16 PM, Lowki said:

I think it is a well known secret that the Eavy Metal team is not using the citadel paint range to paint metalics (except gold for SCE?), at least thats what I understand. 

Not sure where you heard that?  To my knowledge the Eavy Metal painters pretty much use all citadel colour paints nowadays.  In the past they used to use a mixture, but over the past few years the only non-GW products being used are brushes and palettes.

One thing that is worth noting is that towards the end of 2018 a number of the paints were reformulated, including a number of the metallics (such as Balthasar Gold).  The reformulated paints are significantly more reliable than the previous formulation and coverage and finish a lot better.

[Lowki]

1 hour ago, RuneBrush said:

Not sure where you heard that?  To my knowledge the Eavy Metal painters pretty much use all citadel colour paints nowadays.  In the past they used to use a mixture, but over the past few years the only non-GW products being used are brushes and palettes.

One thing that is worth noting is that towards the end of 2018 a number of the paints were reformulated, including a number of the metallics (such as Balthasar Gold).  The reformulated paints are significantly more reliable than the previous formulation and coverage and finish a lot better.

Oh really? I have seen various ppl mention such thing in general conversations like the rumour thread, at least thats what i think to remember, but tbh cannot recall when or who.

if it is not true, mea culpa...still interested in the alternatives though  😊

[MitGas]

Well, I'd say that the metal colors by Scale 75 simply want you to treat them like regular paints, more so than other metallic paints. E.g. they want to be shaded, highlighted, layered, glazed, all that.

When I think of most people using metallic colors, they simply basecoat, wash with one of 3 shades, extreme edge-highlight. If they painted a normal color, they'd use more steps though. I guess this is down to GW showing to paint them like that.