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Aluminum is my favorite out the set because of what you can do with it and with contrasts now things get wicked fun.... first up gold. Will do more later today...



VMC Aluminum + Citadel Snakebite Contrast (one of my favorites).



VMC Aluminum + Citadel Darkoath Flesh... copper yay!

I need black still... local stores have been out of it since launch so no dark iron yet.. can show off a blue and an aqua in a bit. This one isn't even dry yet.

More please.....
I just bought some Vallejo metals, and some contrast paints to look for colours for my ultramarines, thinking aluminium and leviadon blue. I’ll be watching this thread.

 Blocka wrote:
More please.....
I just bought some Vallejo metals, and some contrast paints to look for colours for my ultramarines, thinking aluminium and leviadon blue. I’ll be watching this thread.

Checking.......

I present.. Blue Steel



Errrrr.. wait..

Here we go.. Leviadon Blue Contrast. Unthinned. I think thinned it would work better. I will get a shot of that later. It's quite dark but still has a metal quality to it.

Those look great, I really like how warm the colors are.

I will have to try this with the Tamiya metallics I have.

Racerguy180 wrote:
Those look great, I really like how warm the colors are.

I will have to try this with the Tamiya metallics I have.

Post the results. I went with the VMC because it covers in one coat (by brush), is alcohol based, and is so "thin" and "smooth" that even after about 6 coats on that head armor.. you can see the eye detail isn't even clogged like it would be with a GW paint, or really, most other paints.

I'd love it if someone produced standard paints that functioned like the VMC, even if they were alcohol based I'd probably switch over immediately and round file the thick acrylics.

Next up will be Talassar blue as soon as the VMC coat dries (it does take a little bit longer than other paints). I was trying to remember what I used to paint with long ago that was how the VMC are.. it paints like the OLD 1980s Testor's Enamel Metallics.. only even more thin.

These could be a really neat way to do metals for 15mm models! 2 layers achieving what might take 3 or 4 of regular paints

VMC Aluminum+ Talassar Blue

Its really.. umm.. blue.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Two colors, front:Terradon Turquoise back half Akhelian green.
Terradon works for you Alpharius types. Though I think it looks better if you got 2:1 Terradon to Akhelian as you get that more subtle blue-aqua shift you expect for we are all Alpharius. Akhelian? No idea, its blue enough to be a blue stand in.

the silver flashes you see in the contrasted parts are not where the paint is missing, it is the Aluminum Metallic showing through the contrast and reflecting the light. It is one of the differences between these really intense metallic paints vs the Citadel/P3 type metallics.

 meatybtz wrote:

Racerguy180 wrote:
Those look great, I really like how warm the colors are.

I will have to try this with the Tamiya metallics I have.

Post the results. I went with the VMC because it covers in one coat (by brush), is alcohol based, and is so "thin" and "smooth" that even after about 6 coats on that head armor.. you can see the eye detail isn't even clogged like it would be with a GW paint, or really, most other paints.

I'd love it if someone produced standard paints that functioned like the VMC, even if they were alcohol based I'd probably switch over immediately and round file the thick acrylics.

Next up will be Talassar blue as soon as the VMC coat dries (it does take a little bit longer than other paints). I was trying to remember what I used to paint with long ago that was how the VMC are.. it paints like the OLD 1980s Testor's Enamel Metallics.. only even more thin.

I use the Tamiya thinner to basically get the results I want in 2ish coats of their metallics. I also have an old jar of chrome silver that's basically 90% dry so I can take as much of the metal flakes as I want to get the tone I want.

The blues look almost exactly like XXth. I'm gonna try some Warp lightning over chrome silver and post it up. Now I'm just trying to decide if white or black primer would be best.

Racerguy180 wrote:

 meatybtz wrote:

Racerguy180 wrote:
Those look great, I really like how warm the colors are.

I will have to try this with the Tamiya metallics I have.

Post the results. I went with the VMC because it covers in one coat (by brush), is alcohol based, and is so "thin" and "smooth" that even after about 6 coats on that head armor.. you can see the eye detail isn't even clogged like it would be with a GW paint, or really, most other paints.

I'd love it if someone produced standard paints that functioned like the VMC, even if they were alcohol based I'd probably switch over immediately and round file the thick acrylics.

Next up will be Talassar blue as soon as the VMC coat dries (it does take a little bit longer than other paints). I was trying to remember what I used to paint with long ago that was how the VMC are.. it paints like the OLD 1980s Testor's Enamel Metallics.. only even more thin.

I use the Tamiya thinner to basically get the results I want in 2ish coats of their metallics. I also have an old jar of chrome silver that's basically 90% dry so I can take as much of the metal flakes as I want to get the tone I want.

The blues look almost exactly like XXth. I'm gonna try some Warp lightning over chrome silver and post it up. Now I'm just trying to decide if white or black primer would be best.

The VMC covers so completely.. these are all over an... hehehe.. random overspray from my airbrush primer. Undercolor has zero impact on the color of the VMC metallics. In fact I've just been painting over each contrast coat.

Ok.. I like to experiment. I like to learn. So I've gone further afield in this contrast+VMC.. what can we do with it....

Now.. We are ALL ALPHARIUS...

The right (viewers right) shoulder pad is a well known technique to get some awesome Alpha Legion looks.. it is two coats of technical paints over VMC-Alum. Soulstone Blue base then Waystone Green. This creates a blue-aqua-green 30 layers of Lacquer (like old school car paint) effect. But the downside? The gem paints are hard to handle.. goey if you will but they are also THICK and you need a THICK coat of them. The result is undeniable and beautiful. But it's fiddly.

So.. this is a GW Contrast thread.. so I've been seeing if I can substitute other methods.. paints...

The viewer's left pad is contrast. This is where it get's interesting. I don't have shots of my "attempts". This thread would be filled with my failures. Lots of failures but I learned a lot.

I learned about things like GOLD + Terradon Turquoise (thinned) is pretty cool. It would work for Alpha Legion totally.

Silver + Terradon Turquoise (thinned) is a little bright for alpha but you can have some fun here.

Silver + Akhelian Green (thinned) works for Alpha Legion on the bluer side of the spectrum (yes it says green.. but its aqua).

None of which actually got the result I wanted which was to gimmick the gemstone paints with less "thickness" and perhaps a little less "fiddly".

So.. what did I end up with (besides a fiber in the paint as you can see)... was way more complicated than the gem method but it's more detail friendly.

VMC Aluminum
Talassar Blue (thinned moderately)
Terradon Turquoise (thinned, light coat)
*but you are still not there... the result is still too blue without those strong Serpent Scale Green shimmer you want*
So on top of that add a coat of waywatcher green glaze
then seal with a gloss varnish like ardcoat or vallejo gloss varnish.

So.. yeah.. lots of steps...

Honestly I think the next step is to use the airbrush because the contrasts do a whole new thing out of an airbrush (tint).. which may save me effort and steps and allow me to batch paint alpha legion.

= VMC Alum+ Talassar + Terradon = = VMC Alum+Soulstone+Waystone = *you can totally stop here if this is what you are after. This would work for an Alpha Legion contrast painted army.. I just wanted something a little different*



=VMC Alum+Talassar+Terradon+Waywatcher Green == VMC Alum+Soulstone+Waystone =


=VMC Alum+Talassar+Terradon+Waywatcher Green +VA Gloss Varnish == VMC Alum+Soulstone+Waystone =

Thats a great scheme for Alpha Legion.

FOr colored metals i usually find airbrushing the Tamiya Clears over the metal colors gets just enought tint, but still leaves it metal.

If you have them, maybe try a comparison of that vs the contrast vs a regular wash.

So use like Blue wash over metal vs
Contrast paint over metal vs
Tamiya Clear airbrushed over metal vs

 Dynas wrote:
Thats a great scheme for Alpha Legion.

FOr colored metals i usually find airbrushing the Tamiya Clears over the metal colors gets just enought tint, but still leaves it metal.

If you have them, maybe try a comparison of that vs the contrast vs a regular wash.

So use like Blue wash over metal vs
Contrast paint over metal vs
Tamiya Clear airbrushed over metal vs

I don't know if it's just the nature of the VMC or not but washes just slide right off it. Including the GW ones (Waywatcher, gulliman blue). The Army Painter Quick Shades do as well. Mind you the GW Shades seem to work as does thicker plaints like the contrast and the gem paints. Secret Weapon's wonderful inks also slide right off like it's glass. With some fiddling you can get em to stick but that's why I put something else down on the VMC before I used the Waywatcher Green.

But might work better through an airbrush.

I need to get the Tamiya clears and give them a go.

I think the next step is airbrush once I clean off the pads and give em a few more go rounds so you guys can see the differences.

Just had an idea. It could be because the VMC is alcohol based. I have some alcohol based inks available to try, just yellow and blue, but that should be enough to mix and get the layered colors I want. Maybe.

I've used Tamiya clear colors for almost 20 years and use them exclusively for lenses, filter effects & anything I want to deepen and enrich the underlying color.

the smoothness of the undercoat is definately a major factor on how the successive coats cover. I'm gonna pick up some krylon silver metallic spray and see how it reacts.

Had some issues with the warp Lightning going over tamiya chrome silver but I think it was me not shaking the contrast enough.

one note on contrast is add stainless steel agitators to aid in the even distribution of the components in the paint.

Needing clarification.

Vallejo Metal colors are arcyllic (the one that has like 10 different shades).

Are you using the Vallejo LIQUID metal Alcohol based stuff or the V Metal Color Acrylics?

https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/categoria/hobby/liquid-gold-en/

https://www.micromark.com/Acrylicos-Vallejo-Metal-Color-Aluminum-Dope-Paint-Set?gclid=Cj0KCQjwvo_qBRDQARIsAE-bsH-CLRVkPlL_uQRI2NA9u5Uu79u4YQS0MAAzYcMO5cCI-E_f6kdYMXMaAt-vEALw_wcB

See the difference?

 Dynas wrote:
Needing clarification.

Vallejo Metal colors are arcyllic (the one that has like 10 different shades).

Are you using the Vallejo LIQUID metal Alcohol based stuff or the V Metal Color Acrylics?

https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/categoria/hobby/liquid-gold-en/

https://www.micromark.com/Acrylicos-Vallejo-Metal-Color-Aluminum-Dope-Paint-Set?gclid=Cj0KCQjwvo_qBRDQARIsAE-bsH-CLRVkPlL_uQRI2NA9u5Uu79u4YQS0MAAzYcMO5cCI-E_f6kdYMXMaAt-vEALw_wcB

See the difference?

Argh, got me wires crossed! good catch. Liquid metal is grand too. No using the water base. For some reason I thought the Vallejo Metal Colors were alcohol based because I cannot easily clean the brush with water... We are using VMC, not Liquid Metal.