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Just a quick question:

What would be the difference in effect between using a colored metallic paint versus using a metallic basecoat with thin layers of colored paint? EG: What's the effect of painting with a metallic red paint versus adding thin red layers onto a basecoat of silver?

I like using metallic paint with a thin ink wash. Like this one was done with a blue sapphire metallic paint, and washed in blue ink. Very simple, but gorgeous effect.

A metallic basecoat with a thin colored paint though can work well if you like the 'candy coat' look.

You can do so much with a base of silver! I have painted Minotaur space marines, Alpha Legion, Knights, Salamanders, Ork vehicles, Mechanicum, pretty much everything! :-) just learn how the layering of your washes and inks work with the effect you want, I've heaps of examples in my blog if you wanted toi hunt around in there for some ideas :-) good luck!

Hmm, so a metallic color with a color wash makes a more "armored" look while a metallic base with thin layers of color gives shinyness.

I guess the follow up question would be: if I'm getting back into 40k and looking at painting ~100 models, would it take a lot longer to do red over silver basecoat instead of just using a red metallic?

Actually I would look into some of the Golden paints.

Some of the iridescent and interference paints are VERY transparent. If you paint a base coat of the color you want and then put a super transparent silver or gold or copper (depending on the color) over top you get really neat effects and make a metalic out of any color you want. Since they are so transparent you can even paint all your normal base/high lights and then just finish with a shade and a interference and your solid.

http://www.goldenpaints.com/explorer