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I’m absolutely terrified of it. I’ve tried a couple of times and it turned out awful. Decided that the hobby is supposed to be fun, that there’s nothing to be ashamed of in using metallic paints so
I’ll stick with that for a while. But the question is how scared are YOU of NNM?

I'm not scared of it, I understand the principles and the techniques. What I haven't done is practiced enough to get good at it, that's all. I need to get better at working out where to place highlights created by secondary light sources to sell the effect, and just do it more if I want to get better.

It really isn't essential, though. So don't worry about it if it isn't something that you want to do.

Wouldn't say scared as such, but painting takes me long enough as-is so I'm very much in the Can't Be Arsed camp...

I know it exists, just don’t feel the need to learn.

I use metallic paints and am happy with them. The Pile of Shame takes long enough to get through without advanced techniques. I just paint to a solid table-top level, not competition/display level.

I’d like to give it a shot at some point, but not time or motivation to really sit down work it out.

My NMM is still pretty hit-or-miss, but I've become more aware of lighting and better at blending, which I think has improved my overall painting skills.

I looked into it a bit, took the bits and pieces I liked, and applied that to using metallic paints instead when I can be bothered to even do that much.

Scared? Not at all, no more than I'm scared by wet-blending or airbrushes or slapchop. It's just not what I'm doing, that's all. I do things the way I do and it works just fine for me.

Not scared, it's just not something I want to learn how to do.

It's like OSL. It has a narrow range of uses for me (and when I'm typically only looking at minis from 2'-3', it's not something I'm really going to notice.

Not into OSL nor NMM myself so could not vote (appropriate choice was missing)

Neither technique looks all that realistic IMHO

 tauist wrote:
Not into OSL nor NMM myself so could not vote (appropriate choice was missing)

Neither technique looks all that realistic IMHO

Both are techniques that when done poorly, look like hot garbage. When middling, still look very “meh” but when mastered can generate some jaw-dropping results.

OSL more than NMM. So many examples out there of “look at me! I’ve got an airbrush and some white paint. <ksssssshhhhh>” that’s not how light works…

 Nevelon wrote:

 tauist wrote:
Not into OSL nor NMM myself so could not vote (appropriate choice was missing)

Neither technique looks all that realistic IMHO

Both are techniques that when done poorly, look like hot garbage. When middling, still look very “meh” but when mastered can generate some jaw-dropping results.

OSL more than NMM. So many examples out there of “look at me! I’ve got an airbrush and some white paint. <ksssssshhhhh>” that’s not how light works…

While I'm growing more comfortable with NMM, OSL remains beyond my skill level. Someday...

 tauist wrote:
Not into OSL nor NMM myself so could not vote (appropriate choice was missing)

Neither technique looks all that realistic IMHO

What exactly do you mean by realistic? Because I'd argue that well done non metallic metal looks more aesthetically pleasing(meaning it makes you think you're looking at metal) than some basic metallic paints, which don't actually look that much like real metals at all.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:

 tauist wrote:
Not into OSL nor NMM myself so could not vote (appropriate choice was missing)

Neither technique looks all that realistic IMHO

What exactly do you mean by realistic? Because I'd argue that well done non metallic metal looks more aesthetically pleasing(meaning it makes you think you're looking at metal) than some basic metallic paints, which don't actually look that much like real metals at all.

Let's put it this way. Using suitable chrome paints etc can create props that are used in actual movies. I've yet to see a Terminator movie franchise use a T-1000 prop painted as NMM. Same goes for any of the original Star Wars films which used custom built miniatures. NMM is not the goto when someone tried to make a realistic "model" with metals.

Sure enough, acrylic paints aren't ideal when it comes to metallic looking things.. But there are many ways to skin that cat.

Nothing overly dramatic about this.. I just prefer military modelling approach

A prop t-1000 is 1/1 scale. It doesn't need effects painted on. Those same principles start to change as your subject gets smaller, whilst the goal of creating an illusion of full scale still exists. That's why these techniques exist in the first place.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
A prop t-1000 is 1/1 scale. It doesn't need effects painted on. Those same principles start to change as your subject gets smaller, whilst the goal of creating an illusion of full scale still exists. That's why these techniques exist in the first place.

Sure, the way scale affects light reflections and volumetry is very much a point of study in military modelling. This is why colour modulation techniques like filtering exist.

You can also change the sense of scale by employing various optical lenses in phtography/filmography.

BTW, a 1:1 scale T-1000 prop still needs a heckuva lot of paint on it to make it look worn

The book SciFi FAQ has great illustrations of models used in films, believe me, the work is intricate and involves a lot of painting etc

Of course, but the point I'm making is we do things like non metallic metal, osl etc to replicate effects from our 1/1 scale existence to a 32mm figure, because at those smaller scales light isn't doing all the things it does at 1/1, reflecting, refracting, shadows etc the same way. (Obviously it's not just the scale, the fact that it's painted plastic also effects this). Otherwise all we'd need to do is apply the relevant basecoats and let natural light do its thing.