A good metalic paint?

[Thorbrand]

Hi everyone

I'm interested to find out what you recommend for a good metalc acrylic paint? I mainly use Revell and Humbrol because they are the ones on offer at my local hobby store. However whilst the colours are quite good i find the metalic silvers and steels to be a little underwhelming.

Any recommendations for a really decent metalic steel and aluminium paint, for brushing not air brushing?

[Guest]

Although I've come to hate the AMMO by Mig brand - and especially for brush painting, I've found the metallic paints behaving quite different.
I've got aluminium and brass and they both brush well, and they look pretty good!
I've not tried to brush a large flat surface, but the details I have painted look better than Tamiyas metallic paints, and I love Tamiya paint. (although I mostly airbrush...)

I'm no expert in any way, but if you fail to find anything then you can try AMMO's aluminium and see how it works for you? AMMO metallic bottles need violent shaking before usage. I'm talking about minutes of vigorous shaking!

[Mr Bowcat]

The tamiya x11 chrome silver is pretty good.

[Guest]

Citadel paints from games workshop.
They have the finest metalflake of any metallic I've seen making them ideal for model kits and the 'out of scale' effect that others give.
They also brush better than any acrylic paint I've ever tried.
The colour names are weird being made for the tabletop gamers with fantasy figures but
Mithril silver - Aluminium
Chainmail - Steel
Boltgun metal - Gunmetal
Having said that the names have been changed since I last got my pots, not sure on them all but I think boltgun metal is leadbelcher but if you look at a colour chart online or go into a GW and ask they'll tell you the new names.
They also airbrush nicely when thinned with tamiya x20a but not IPA and water i hit and miss for spraying but a good thinner for brush painting.

[yak face]

Having said that the names have been changed since I last got my pots,

Not just the names Mike , theyve changed the formulation too , the new ones are terrible - they brush awfully , patchy and see through ,its as if they are designed only to be used over a suitably coloured base coat. As a single coat brush paint theyre nowhere near as good as the old ones. Try the Revell aqua colours Alex, their metallics brush great with a little thinning with water ,just be careful not to overthin them though. cheers tony

[Guest]

That's a crying shame, not sure what I'll use when mine are empty, I really do like the fine flake and pigmentation.

[Guest]

Mr Hobby Super Metallic and buffables are some of the best around

[Guest]

AK true metal is pretty spectacular, imo. plenty of colours, and can be buffed up for a high polish. needs varnish over it though, but brushes on surprisingly well!

[Mr Bowcat]

I agree with John about the AK True Metals, didn't mention it in my earlier post as I'm not sure if they are classed as acrylics (wax based)??

[Guest]

no, not acrylic, but pretty speedy drying, and smells pleasant enough (which is why I mentioned it) and the finish is fantastic!

[Mr Bowcat]

Totally agree John (even the smell ).

[Guest]

Not just the names Mike , theyve changed the formulation too , the new ones are terrible - they brush awfully , patchy and see through ,its as if they are designed only to be used over a suitably coloured base coat. As a single coat brush paint theyre nowhere near as good as the old ones. Try the Revell aqua colours Alex, their metallics brush great with a little thinning with water ,just be careful not to overthin them though. cheers tony

I've done a little more digging out of curiosity re the citadel colours, unfortunately what they've done is created lazy paints, their range is now separated into base colours, (thicker, normal paint), layer, (thinned to a glaze consistency), air, (airbrush ready), dry, (drybrushing) and several others, the problem is that all the coulours aren't available in each range and the only metallic in the 'basecoat' range is leadbelcher which I believe is boltgun metal of old, so at least that one should still be ok to use as gunmetal.

[yak face]

That explains it , i got a tin of the mithril silver replacement and its see through , nothing like the old one. I thought they would only change the packaging and names but it looks like theyve changed the whole shooting match! What a shame , their old paints used to be so nice , i used to use them a lot after gaining a boxful when my son stopped doing the warhammer figures.

[Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds]

I go with Mr Metal Color ( buffable Mr Hobby range ) you can brush or spray them, then you can either leave them as is or buff them to create the effect you want.
I ordered some Model Master Sealer for Metalizer to seal them once buffed as the paint will always come off otherwise.

The only time I use anything else is for Iron Man builds and I use only Alclads for the high shine they give.

Adrian

[Thorbrand]

Thanks for all your suggestions, I'm going to get Ak True metals and try out the Revell Aqua colours metalics I think. I'm pretty sure I'll end up using all of them anyway. I'm going to post up some pics soon of the exhausts on my Eurocopter so you can see what I mean when I say the Humbrol metalics are underwhelming, hopefully there will be a notable difference with a better quality product