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Hello everyone, not really used to using metallic paints, however I'm looking to find a dark rich metallic orange colour that is either in a spray can or that can be thinned and put through my airbrush, does anyone have recommendations of a good brand that would do this type of colour, or anyone had previous experience using a dark metallic orange?

Thanks for any help in advance

In the past I have mixed GW colours to get a metal flake blue for my Libby dreads and whatnot. I would think if you mix Ironbreaker and jokero orange you should get pretty close to what you want.

Some companies make a metallic medium you can add to colours - worth a look?

I take it you'd rather not mix your own paints - which I can totally understand, as you run into issues with consistency.

I can't think of any paints like that off the top of my head, but there are some easily repeatable tricks, such as basecoating in a dark-ish orange, then putting a thin coat of brass/bronze/gold - many metallic paints are pretty transparent. Even drybrushing the metal might be very effective, especially if you follow with an orange wash.

What is it you're painting?

I was thinking of using GW paints to mix, but as John Prins stated you can run into consistency errors which is something I'm trying to avoid. I'm painting up a Tau army for a friend who wanted a dark metallic orange as the base for the scheme.. I'm trying to find a mix between a copper and an dark orange but its seeming fairly hard.. I've seen a few companies that have metallic range of spray cans but all of the orange ones seem very bright.

You could just look for copper and brass metallics. They are essentially variations of orange.

You could also get yourself Tamiya metallic orange spray....

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=tamiya+metallic+orange&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1082&bih=940&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwipmYSEgP7QAhVQPrwKHQ9oCPcQ_AUIBigB

If you have an airbrush you can spray some in to a cup and then spray it through your airbrush. I've sprayed Tamiya rattle can paints through my airbrush, thinned/cleaned up using Gunze Mr Color Sel Levelling Thinner (which is a lacquer thinner but much gentler than hardware store lacquer thinner).

Another option would be find a car that is the colour you like, go to an automotive supplies shop and get them to mix you up some touch up paint in that colour. You just need to figure out what thinner to use, usually something like alcohol or lacquer thinner works.

And use a large nozzle when spraying metallics because they have a tendency to clog airbrushes.

@AllSeeingSkink That Tamiya metallic orange looks close, however when you see it applied to the miniature cars it looks really bright, I'm not able to find any reviews of it to find the exact colour that it produces. The car paint was going to be my final option, but it looks almost like its going to be my best shot.

Thanks for the help everyone

Try Createx. They make a wide range of airbrush paints. I swear by their dark metallic blue for my Night Lords.

http://www.createxcolors.com/airbrushcolors.html

Ghostkeel wrote:
@AllSeeingSkink That Tamiya metallic orange looks close, however when you see it applied to the miniature cars it looks really bright, I'm not able to find any reviews of it to find the exact colour that it produces. The car paint was going to be my final option, but it looks almost like its going to be my best shot.

Thanks for the help everyone

The thing about metallics, it's *really* hard to tell what they look like from photographs, especially those coloured metallics. Photographing them in natural light on a cloudy day gives a completely different look to a sunny day and a completely different look photographing them inside your house. Because the colour is so heavily dependent on how much light is reflected.

You also have "warcolours" that have a range of metallics, they have quite a wide range and if all else fails you can buy a red and a yellow and mix them until you get the colour you want.

I always say don't be afraid to mix, just mix up a big batch if you want the colour consistent across your entire army and note down the ratios you used.

You could also try mixing a metallic red with a clear yellow, I think Tamiya make a metallic red, if not Gunze do, then pick up a clear yellow and start mixing.

Another option is to airbrush a clear orange over a silver or gold basecoat

@Gordon Shumway, The Createx paints look good, might grab the orange and give that a trial run thanks for the help!

@AllSeeingSking, Yeah I see what you're saying! I'll check out the warcolours and possible give them a test too! I usually will just mix a batch up, but I find with mixing the metallic paints the pigments never really mix consistently, I always find when mixing metallic paints there will be some kind of inconsistence, I was considering a clear orange over a gold, that might work!

Thanks for all of the help everyone, really have a few strong ideas to test out! Help is much appreciated

Also if you don't mind enamels, you could check Humbrol and Testors ranges, they have a few options in their enamel ranges and you can often pick them up from any old hobby store (not gaming store, but the hobby stores that sell models planes and cars). I used Humbrol 171 for some dark orange metallic and 54 for a brighter orange. It came out a bit dull when I did it but that's fixed with a gloss coat. I *think* Testors enamels might be a touch glossier out of the bottle, but it might have just been the specific paints I used.

http://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-suspension/375321-brembo-touch-up-paint-2.html

http://www.warcolours.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=77

Warcolours market their paints as brush and airbrush compatible, and do a range of colour metallics. They also colour match if you send a photo or paint sample.

Vallejo Metal Air Copper, with an airbrushed layer of Tamiya Clear Yellow over it will give the effect you're looking for.

Could also use a mixture of red & yellow glazes over the top of a silver/gunmetal paints.

The scale colour Metal n Alchemy range has a Copper that is quite orange and could be a decent match.

http://scale75.com/en/metal-n-alchemy-range/317-pure-copper.html

Tamiya do a clear orange paint. That could work over a silver metallic base. I have a nice P3 Radiant Platinum that is a nice bright warm silver colour, it looks good with washes/tints over the top to colour it up. With clear orange on top of that you could probably get it any shade of orange you want by altering how many coats you do. I got their clear orange and clear yellow paints and intend to try them over this Radiant Platinum (perhaps for some 30k Imp Fists) but I'm working on Alpha Legion right now so I haven't yet tested the results.