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I just recently picked up Warhammer 40k assault on black reach and have only played one game so far (GW store with the owner). I really enjoy painting the miniatures but am limited to the paints that came with the space marine paint set (plus two flesh tones). This particular model I have been working on and have not finished but I am at the stage of highlighting and cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to highlight the silver and gold paints. As it stands now it is simply gold or chainmail washed with badab black. I would love to know what colors to pick up to highlight these metallic colors but have no real idea what is best. I do not want to simply buy different colors and hope.

I apologize for the fuzziness of the picture, it was taken with a cell phone. As you can see the model is not finished but I am slowly working on different sections and just so happen to be on the metal areas. What would you guys suggest? I want to make it pop somewhat.

That is pretty nice. To highlight gold, you can mix in a bit of the Mithril Siver. To highlight chainmail after it's been washed, highlight with just a touch of Mithril Silver

Thanks a lot. I will pick some of that up. My biggest regret about this model is that when I bought the set I asked if I needed primer. I have not painted a mini since I was 14 so my knowledge was limited. The place I bought it from (not GW) told me I needed primer and handed me a can, it was rough coat... needless to say I realized something was terribly wrong when it came out looking like runny oatmeal. I wish I had heard about simply green before I started painting. Too late now.

With whatever handicaps that primer may have done it looks like you have an excellently painted model on your hands. Good luck with the highlighting!

For future reference... what can anyone suggest to maybe lighten up the armor? Mordian blue seems very dark and I looked at enchanted blue but it seems too bright. Sorry to switch topics in my own thread but these paints are foreign to me and I hate to waste money heh. I love foundation paints though, makes fixing mistakes so so easy.

Bleached Bone is a good general color that can be used to lighten up anything. It's light, but not white, which will turn your base color into pastels.

Do you just mix in a little bleached bone to lighten it up? Sorry for all the questions. I am starting to think I like painting them more than I will playing with them. Instead of buying washes I am just using badab black and then, like the white apron, watering down skull white and washing it over the badab until it becomes light gray. I really appreciate all the advice you guys. Google is a great resource but nothing better than asking people that actually do this stuff on a regular basis.

dvdmks wrote:For future reference... what can anyone suggest to maybe lighten up the armor? Mordian blue seems very dark and I looked at enchanted blue but it seems too bright. Sorry to switch topics in my own thread but these paints are foreign to me and I hate to waste money heh. I love foundation paints though, makes fixing mistakes so so easy.

Ultramarine Blue is the next darkest shade after Enchanted Blue in the Citadel paint line. Ultramarine has the virtue of covering as well as just about anything.

I just mix in a little to lighten it up. You could also use a little bit of Rotting Flexh for more green based colors. I do more painting than playing too. IMO, the wash set is one of the best investments you can make. For robes, I like Dheneb Stone followed by Devlan Mud, highlighted back up with Bleached Bone and White.

pzbw7z wrote:

dvdmks wrote:For future reference... what can anyone suggest to maybe lighten up the armor? Mordian blue seems very dark and I looked at enchanted blue but it seems too bright. Sorry to switch topics in my own thread but these paints are foreign to me and I hate to waste money heh. I love foundation paints though, makes fixing mistakes so so easy.

Ultramarine Blue is the next darkest shade after Enchanted Blue in the Citadel paint line. Ultramarine has the virtue of covering as well as just about anything.

Thanks, does it need to be watered down as well? The first few marines I painted look like they were raked over and over again with a comb because I did not realize how thick the paints were.

And thank you Ifurita. I am going to look up that wash set right now.

Most people recommend watering down your paints to thin them a bit. I put a drop of water on my palatte and use that to draw off a bit of water to thin the paint on my brush.

dvdmks wrote:

pzbw7z wrote:

dvdmks wrote:For future reference... what can anyone suggest to maybe lighten up the armor? Mordian blue seems very dark and I looked at enchanted blue but it seems too bright. Sorry to switch topics in my own thread but these paints are foreign to me and I hate to waste money heh. I love foundation paints though, makes fixing mistakes so so easy.

Ultramarine Blue is the next darkest shade after Enchanted Blue in the Citadel paint line. Ultramarine has the virtue of covering as well as just about anything.

Thanks, does it need to be watered down as well? The first few marines I painted look like they were raked over and over again with a comb because I did not realize how thick the paints were.

And thank you Ifurita. I am going to look up that wash set right now.

The main thing is to use just a little paint at a time. If you don't have much paint on the brush, you can't screw it up very badly.

The thickness of the paint can be controlled by the amount of moisture in the brush. I find too-thin paint more of a problem than too-thick paint. Paint can be too thick, but if applied sparingly, one can usually brush it smooth. If it's too thin it just makes a mess.

How thick or thin the paint should be depends on the technique; dry-brushing or over-brushing benefits from dryer paint, blending needs thin paint, layering works okay with either. Large, smooth surfaces require thinner paint, preferably applied via some sort of spray! It's just difficult to get it smooth with a brush.

GW paint gets thicker as it ages, but it's still usable. You just need to keep your brush clean and moist and work with the proper amount of paint.

One thing you will always find, the less paint you work with, the neater your result will be.

Sterling effort for a first try, well done sir.

Very quick way of highlighting metallics is to do a heavy black wash followed by a light drybrush of the original colour (or a lighter one), gives definition on fiddly things like imperial eagles on chest etc.

As a fan of metallics, I reccomend using different colour washes for different metals, instead of just black wash.
Enchanted blue looks good on bright silver, if it's very thin.

GW makes two shades of gold, by the way; Shining and Burnished.

I generally use one of the brown washes on gold.

One can also darken gold by starting with a mix, Scorched Brown is usually used here.

On small objects, a wash is often enough. On larger items, either start with the mix, then over-brush the base and then highlight with the lighter shade or mix in Mithril with your base for a fine highlight; or you can start with the base, wash, and then highlight.