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I was rewatching Excalibur last night and trying to figure out if it would be possible to recreate the ridiculously shiny armor of King Arthur and his Knights.

Beyond grabbing a can of Spray Chrome and going to town on some Sigmar models... I thought I'd ask for advice here first.

There’s a technique called “non-metallic metal” where you paint contrasting values (in this case, dark gray contrasting with white) to simulate the reflections upon the armor. The results can be very impressive, but it takes practice to get good at it.

For instance:

https://youtube.com/shorts/ErrpMmcX7cQ?si=zn_3-Jo99K1dHFkf

Disclaimer - that's so not my work. There's no way I can do that.

I haven't tried it, but I've had my eyes on this from Greenstuff World:

Oh wow.

Can you imagine an Imperial Knight like that?

I used the Green Stuff World chrome paint, albeit in very limited quantities. It's nice if you want to paint something shiny and chrome. Downside, at least for me, is that it's alcohol based. And matt varnish completely destroys the effect, so neatly varnishing the surrounding areas was way too much work for my taste.

 Geifer wrote:
I used the Green Stuff World chrome paint, albeit in very limited quantities. It's nice if you want to paint something shiny and chrome. Downside, at least for me, is that it's alcohol based. And matt varnish completely destroys the effect, so neatly varnishing the surrounding areas was way too much work for my taste.

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Spoiler:

url=https://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/1186365-Bodyguard%2C%20Handmaiden%2C%20Star%20Wars.html][/url]

Gloss varnish seems to very slightly dull the effect. Not sure you'd see the difference without a direct side by side comparison.

Disclaimer: I tried gloss varnish on a small spot of chrome paint I still had on my palette, and the varnish only had two hours to dry. Should be sufficient to tell, but if it looks different tomorrow, I'll add a post to note changes.

Also I should say I'm talking about Vallejo brush on matt and gloss varnishes, just in case that's relevant. I'm not an expert on varnish.

Have you tried adding the chrome after varnishing the rest of the model?

I haven't. I really only gave it a try on a bunch of blasters so far. Do you have any particular effect in mind?

The chrome paint is fully opaque (no idea how it looks when you dilute it), so it shouldn't make a difference what's underneath.

I've heard there are at least a couple solvent based chrome paints which will give an absolutely blinding finish.. but they all require good airbrushing skills and a specific glossy black microfiller/primer for optimal results.

AK Interactive Wax based Chrome paint might be an interesting option. You can buff it wafterwards for getting it to be even more shiny. From what I've seen in videos, these look hella realistic

EDIT: oh, they dont seem to have a Chrome color on the True Metal range.. They do have a product called AK Super Chrome though, which could fit the bill? Never used it though..

Do alcohol based paints even need clearcoat?

What if you paint the model as standard, hit it with some gloss, and then do all the panels with the chrome, and then call it a day? Is that a viable tactic?

EDIT: Ninja'd by LunarSol

Chrome paint does indeed get destroyed if you try to varnish it (and GSW Chrome becomes surprisingly dark).

They also have some difficulty being used with other paints for shading. And some of them can't be handled without tarnishing their finish (making them unsuitable as the main color on a gameplay destined miniature).

Excalibur armor isn't just the product of having shiny armor. It is largely about the lighting on the film set (and to some extent the soft focuses and filters).

To really obtain that look, NMM is the way to go. And yes, that'll be tricky.

The other option is what some people call "true metallics." This is essentially using NMM techniques with metallic paint, so you can simulate the different light sources and reflections like you see in the film.

the simple way to get a TMM look is using white/grey/black shading on the model for the light and dark and going over it with a more translucent metallic colour like the AP Speedpaints, maybe adding a black wash and dry brushing with a bright silver (or white mixed with a little metallic)

 kodos wrote:
the simple way to get a TMM look is using white/grey/black shading on the model for the light and dark and going over it with a more translucent metallic colour like the AP Speedpaints, maybe adding a black wash and dry brushing with a bright silver (or white mixed with a little metallic)

I'd advise against this approach because thinning the metallic paints enough for this can destroy the effect (the flakes don't blend together and instead you get a look like the armor is coated in tiny bits of glitter).

You also miss the reflection colors and more importantly the bounce lighting (where the light hits metal directly is the lightest point, the opposite side should also be well lit by light bouncing back at the object).


But in the end, it is a bit easier to get this 'clean shiny' look from NMM than from True Metallics. You can make either work, but True Metallics default to a darker overall look.

 Geifer wrote:
I haven't. I really only gave it a try on a bunch of blasters so far. Do you have any particular effect in mind?

The chrome paint is fully opaque (no idea how it looks when you dilute it), so it shouldn't make a difference what's underneath.

More of a suggestion to get around the problem you were having with varnish is all. Not looking to use it myself.

Read some reviews of GSW's paint and a reoccurring theme amongst chrome paints... apparently they aren't made for wargame use (aka constant handling).

GSW must be handled very carefully and handled with gloves. Light fingerprints can be carefully polished away.

Maybe the aluminum look on ww2 model airplanes might be easier to accomplish?

 Geifer wrote:
Gloss varnish seems to very slightly dull the effect. Not sure you'd see the difference without a direct side by side comparison.

Disclaimer: I tried gloss varnish on a small spot of chrome paint I still had on my palette, and the varnish only had two hours to dry. Should be sufficient to tell, but if it looks different tomorrow, I'll add a post to note changes.

Also I should say I'm talking about Vallejo brush on matt and gloss varnishes, just in case that's relevant. I'm not an expert on varnish.

Looking at my little test patch in daylight now it's fully dried, the varnish looks like it darkens the silver only a bit, but the shiny reflections are dulled and hazy.

Might still be good for something like Mando's shiny beskar, but is definitely not adequate for Excalibur's ridiculously shiny armor.

 LunarSol wrote:

 Geifer wrote:
I haven't. I really only gave it a try on a bunch of blasters so far. Do you have any particular effect in mind?

The chrome paint is fully opaque (no idea how it looks when you dilute it), so it shouldn't make a difference what's underneath.

More of a suggestion to get around the problem you were having with varnish is all. Not looking to use it myself.

Oh yeah. It won't help with the underlying problem (shaky hands) but I haven't even thought about switching up steps. Not a bad thing to consider once in a while, so thanks.

So maybe the extra mile to varnish, then re-apply the chrome paint?
I think if I did it, that would be my approach.

With BloodBowl minis, I would block color, varnish, highlight, wash, varnish again.
Because you handle them so much & they get put on their sides, I felt the extra varnish helped.
Since I used original Dulcote for that, the metals often needed a retouch after to get them shiny again.

Speaking as someone who's sought after durable and good looking chrome for mecha models, I can safely say it's a bit of a minefield; getting the right balance between "looks shiny" and "doesn't flake or dull if you look at it funny" is hard.

In terms of the paint itself, Revell makes a really good chrome spray paint (which can also be decanted and airbrushed if that's your thing). Likewise, Molotow's Liquid Chrome is an alcohol ink that can be airbrushed with a little lacquer thinner (get the refill tubes for their pens). Both are intended for visuals, not durability though, and even mild solvents in topcoats will destroy them. HOWEVER, I can say that the Gaahleri Kaleido gloss varnish airbrushes very nicely and won't reactivate them at all; in my tests it very, very slightly dulls them (down from gleaming chrome to a very high-shine aluminium) but they'll be much, much tougher than unprotected and it's water-based and pre-thinned so it won't harm even really gentle paints.

There are also chrome enamel-based paints that can be airbrushed (you may need some thinner); I use one from a UK brand called Gilded. These are tougher than Molotow or Revell (or GSW for that matter), however there is one rather big drawback; they take AGES to fully cure. I do toy customizing and when I airbrushed the grey parts chrome on my Legacy Insecticons, they took over a month to be safe to handle, and I personally wouldn't risk topcoating them until fully cured. That said a food dehydrator can drastically speed the process, or so I'm told.

There are other chromes, including Alclad, which is the gold standard for good looking chrome, but it needs to go over a black gloss base in very thin layers through the airbrush and is horrendously fragile, no good for wargaming (though the previously mentioned Kaleido gloss varnish could help there).

I'd highly recommend asking mecha or scale automobile modellers for their advice, as this is more their field than conventional miniature painting.

Hope that helps, and hope your Knight comes out good!

I feel like the three layer option suggested by a few folks would be the best of both worlds.

Paint the armour chrome, gloss varnish it, paint it chrome again. You have a backup layer of chrome underneath for any areas that take contact damage/wear, while getting the benefit of maximum shine everywhere else.

Hm, I'm a bit curious. Is chrome-paints actually consists of chrome? I mean chrome is pretty toxic metal. Any fumes of it can damage your health, me welding CrMo steels for some time and effect not something you wanna get while doing your hobby

 kabaakaba wrote:
Hm, I'm a bit curious. Is chrome-paints actually consists of chrome? I mean chrome is pretty toxic metal. Any fumes of it can damage your health, me welding CrMo steels for some time and effect not something you wanna get while doing your hobby

Fortunately no, to the best of my knowledge chrome paints don't contain chromium. The process for actual chrome-plating for vehicle parts (via electro-plating) is VERY different and uses completely different materials from chrome-effect paint, which IIRC uses extremely finely ground aluminium powder as the pigment (aluminium is used for toy chrome too, albeit it's applied with vaccuum-plating rather than electroplating). Not something you want to huff but definitely not the toxic horror that is chromium, and far safer than some pigments that get used in artist-grade "regular" paints (cadmium, used for really vivid reds and yellows, is INCREDIBLY toxic, so don't lick your brushes!).

Side note, chromium oxide powder is/was used as a pigment in paint, but it produces a green colour and would be far too dense to airbrush anyway.