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I'd like to do something a bit different for my tyranid army (particularly as they'll be coming out in January-ish and given the power creep everyone will probably want some). Looking at real world insects, I found this little guy:

http://www.easttennesseewildflowers.com/gallery/var/albums/Beetles_Bugs/Copy_of_Beetle_Metallic_green1.jpg?m=1348908620

I'm wondering how to go about painting some 'nids to match, and if anyone had tried the same. I've done something similar in the past using a black basecoat, mithril silver overbrush, green was and gloss varnish, but this isn't really -vibrant- enough. Thanks to Christmas, I now have an airbrush, if this would help.

Any advice dakka?

Try alclad gloss laquers. They have a colour like that bug.

You can paint the bug silver and then put a coat of Tamiya's clear green acrylic on it. I used the green on clear rods to make them look like large emeralds and it looks really good.

Ends up being done in one of two ways normally.

Simulated, in the same way people simulate metals using NNM techniques or being done using specialty paints like iridescents or candies.

Alclad has some nice ones - but they are a hot lacquer, and while a favorite of mine...definitely not user friendly.

There are several brands of acrylic paints which offer similar paints as well as pearl and iridescent top coats which can be used in order to get the color flipping appearance. You will want to figure out the specific look you want though as the combination of paints can change things greatly. A dark base coat with a green flipping top coat will give you something like what that bug is showing.

Tamiya, Createx, Parma - as well as a number of craft paints have assortments of combinations. Like I said though - it can take some getting used to, as you need the right base with the right top coat to get the right morphing color result.

Humbrol do a really great metallic range, I recently did the face plates of some mechanicum thallanx with their metallic black and it looks great.

And brother you have given me inspiration for the new nids which I will definitely put to good use....at some stage!

Try a metalic silver base layer, then a thinned light green layer or wash then i high gloss varnish..!

If you prefer paint-on varnishes, you can get flat, satin, and gloss varnishes from the Vallejo Game color range that will do a very good job. They paint onto the models like any other paint would, and like all Vallejos, are very cheap. I have all three and love them- I paint the canopies on my Eldar tanks a super dark blue, and then I'm able to brush on a glosscoat to just the "glass" leaving the supports dull..

If you have a airbrush you could do a base coat with withril silver and then use Badger's Miniatare Ghost Tints to paint the green and that could work.

Also thinking of painting the underbelly in the new nurgle rot technical paint, show some dripping slime from the beasties!

Kustom Kolour paints are color-shifting iridescents, those would look pretty good. Put down a black undercoat, spray the Kolour on then give it a varnish to smooth it out.

To get the iridescent color change effect of the beetle, you are probably going to need one of the color change paints. Here are some examples. No Idea how these paints will scale down to 28mm minis.

This Blue Emerald looks pretty close to your beetle.
http://www.alsacorp.com/products/killercans/sfx/spectrafx.htm

Multicolors
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quart-Custom-Chameleon-Flip-Flop-Color-Changing-Pearl-Motorcycle-n-Car-Paint-/281146792381

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/mirage/

The non-iridescent option would be airbrush both green (top) and blue (sides) candy paints over a silver or gold spary basecoat.

tim