Gold Paint Advice

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cultofkhaine
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Gold Paint Advice

Post by cultofkhaine »

So I am looking to start my Slaanesh army shortly and the majority of the armour is going to be gold. I did a test model up on the weekend with one of my Darkshards using the current gold paint I have and it turned out ok but thought it could be much better.

What is everyone using at the moment to paint their Gold with?

I'm currently using Balthasar Gold as the base with a layer of Genenna's Gold and highlights using Mithril Silver or Golden Griffon.

The new Sig Marines look pretty shinny these days - a nice bright shinny gold is what I'm chasing.

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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Shadowspite »

The gold on my original Slaanesh troops was Dwarf Bronze highlighted with Shining Gold (or was it Burnished Gold? Anyway, it was the very yellow one, not the greenish one - I can never remember which is which) and then shaded with watered down Chestnut Ink (with IIRC a tiny bit of Black Ink mixed in for the chainmail and any other very deep crevices). Of course, GW don't sell any of those three any more, so that's probably not super helpful... My recent Chaos Warrior colour scheme test used Vallejo Game Color paints to get the same yellow gold effect: Glorious Gold over Bright Bronze with a wash of their Game Ink Skin Wash.
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Malys the younger
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Malys the younger »

Here's the recipe I use in my PLOG:
Gold: Game Color Glorious Gold, Agrax Earthshade, highlighted with 50/50 Glorious Gold/Mithril Silver.

You can see it on the Blackguard at the bottom of the page.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Catrine »

I like to start with a brown base, Scorched Brown normally, but different browns produce different results. Then Auric Armour Gold, a light Sepia wash over the whole area to take some of the shine off and produce a nice tint. After that's dried an Agrax Earthshade wash into the deeper recesses/shadowed areas. Then Auric Gold again to touch up any messy bits, and finally a Mithril Silver highlight.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Sabious »

On my elves I have kept it simple with A base of Warplock Bronze, the very dark one, and Golden Griffon on top. My aim is an ancient gold type. On edges the Liberator Gold works fine as a hinting highlight.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by direweasel »

Yeah, definitely start with a dark basecoat - I use P3's Umbral Umber. I'm told by the people who design the paint that the metallics are designed to show up over a darker surface, and I can tell the difference when I do it that way. It brings out the metallic better.

After that, I have a Vallejo Gold (or GW's Shining Gold, I think they're very very similar shades) that I use, then a P3 Metal Wash for shadowing, and a mix of the gold and mithril silver as a highlight. I also recommend Vallejo's "Metal Medium" as a mix to highlight with if you REALLY want it to be shiny. If you've never played with that stuff, it's pretty neat. It's kind of almost clear to milky white, but with a TON of the metal flakes. Basically a drop of that will work as a highlight on any base metallic if you mix them together.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Vulcan »

Layering is important. Gold over white or black basecoats just doesn't work.

I start with a metallic brown (similar to the old Tin Bitz), then highlight up through Shining Gold, Burnished Gold, and do an extreme edge higlight of 25/75 Mithril Silver/Burnished Gold (more Mithril than that completely overwhelms the Gold, dat Mithril be powerful stuff). A thinned-down flesh-shade brings everything together and smooths the transitions, as well as deepening the shadows somewhat.

Another thing to bear in mind is that non-metal metal techniques work quite well with metallic paints. Maybe not quite as dramatic as a well-done NMM work, but it makes a difference.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by cultofkhaine »

Thanks for all the comments guys - it's great to see how everyone is doing theirs.

I got some Retributor Armour today and I must say it's beautiful - exactly what I was after.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Gnosis »

I use retributir armour as a base, wash with druchii violet and highlight with sycorax bronze. Works well.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by cultofkhaine »

Gnosis - how do you find the purple wash? (sounds unusual) I would have thought a brown wash better. I saw somewhere else someone use this as well.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Gnosis »

I use it on pretty much every gold area I paint, except when I have to do a lot of brown washing on other areas and the latter is more convenient. Here, for example, are some Carthaginian veterans whose gold bits I painted with the recipe:

Image

Image

I like purple on gold because you're basically shading a metallic yellow/orange with its complementary colour. Bit more depth and contrast that way. With a brown wash you just dull down the who area towards a neutral tone, which works fine on some models (WW2 for example) but not so much on the likes of druchii.

If you want to go further then a runefang steel (or any other very bright silver) as an edge highlight will improve it even more.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by cultofkhaine »

Thanks for posting will have to give it a try.

Nice unit by the way, those shields look exceptional :D
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Calisson »

Shields, indeed... wow!
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Shadowspite »

Yes, the shields are excellent. Those guys definitely worship Tanit! ;)

But, more to the point, the purple shading gives a much better bronze effect than brown would have. I have never tried purple shading for gold that's actually meant to represent gold, though.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Gnosis »

I don't deserve praise for those shields... Little Big Men does! http://www.littlebigmenstudios.co.uk/catalog/
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Darkprincess »

Shining gold always looks a bit orangey to me - I prefer Burnished Gold (Auric Armour Gold I think GW are calling it this week) as it's a much softer and more natural colour, though it's really thin and doesn't cover particularly well, so a couple of thin coats will often be needed.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Layne »

Plus one to Burnished/Auric Gold. Lately I have been using P3 [boo, hiss] Brass Balls which has much the same effect. Also plus one to multiple thin coats with metallics. I usually wash gold with a thin bluish green wash.
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Re: Gold Paint Advice

Post by Vulcan »

I prefer to save Brass Balls for items that are, you know, brass. Buckles, brass instruments, the like. Base with Shining Gold, layer with Brass Balls, top highlight with 1/3 mix of Mithril Silver and Burnished Gold, final glaze to bring it all together and you have a very different look from gold, much closer to the appearance of genuine brass.
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