I recently revisited this classic Soldiers 90mm knight in white metal, which is I believe a tin/pewter alloy, but don't quote me on that. It has sat, unfinished in the grey army for about 10 years. In fact I lost the scabbard, so I had to scratch-build one out of card stock to replace it. Coming upon a burnishing tool in the local art supply store was the inspiration I needed to dig him out of the pile and start again. After burnishing the metallic parts to a chrome like finish, I used a heavy oil wash to tone down the armour and make it look more like weathered steel. Except for the sword, that part I left as polished as I would imagine a knight might have insisted upon. The heraldry represents mid 14th century Sir Nicholas D'Aundeley from the Falkirk role, or so my quick internet search informed me. All in all, a very enjoyable reclamation project. Now let the debate on Metallic vs non-metallic finishes commence! (spoiler alert, this technique does NOT work on resin figures!

Excellent paintwork

Mobo

Do you have to seal the polished surface? I imagine it would tarnish quite quickly.

Excellent throughout. Reclamation projects are often the most satisfying, especially after so long. Bundook asks a good question as well.

Excellent job. Well done, first class.

I found you don't need to as the oil paint effectively provides the seal. I used a similar method on Andreas Gothic knight and is still retains the original patina.

I did the same thing on my version of the same figure, but I used Tamiya Smoke to shade and seal.

Thanks to all for your kind support. To answer your question Bundook, I have found that the oil wash seems to do the trick. Mind you, I have some other figures where I did not use any oil washes, and they seem to have retained their finish completely free of any tarnishing. I have a couple of Pegaso Samurai I did a decade ago, and burnished the swords, and they are still as bright and shiny as the day I put them in the display cabinet. Perhaps it's the type of alloy used that prevent tarnishing?

Have 20 yr old figures I did with 4000 steel wool...no tarnish yet..

Lo0oks great, you can't beat real metal for a realistic looking figure IMO. You did a great job here.

Me too, I have a metal winged hussar figure I polished over 40 years ago and still haven't finished. No tarnish. One day I will do it!

That is some beautiful work.

Very impressive from top of helmet to tip of sabatons.

Mike

Funny how metal looks like metal...

In my experience most metal figures stay shiney once you've burnished/polished them. In fact, you need to tone the finish down with some oil washes.

I seal my white metal with Tamiya Smoke and brass with Tamiya Clear Yellow. Both of these paints stink and you have to paint quickly as they dry on the brush. I don't like working with them, but I like the finished effect. I used to use an equally stinky thinner to clean the brush. But I have now discoverd that Isopropyl alcohol works so much better. You can use the isoprop as a thinner so that you can easily do two thin coats of paint rather than one thick gloopy layer. And when you're finished painting it's good for cleaning your brush. I reckon the yellow metal on this excellent knight is painted with Tamiya Clear Yellow, I kind of recognise the colour.

Or do my eyes deceive me?

Great work!

Cheers,
Ken

"I reckon the yellow metal on this excellent knight is painted with Tamiya Clear Yellow, I kind of recognise the colour."


Lol! Guilty as charged! The clear nature of that paint really allows for the polished metal to shine through. I once used tamiya clear orange to do a bronze/brass finish on a 75mm Napoleonic Carabinier and after some oil washes and shading the effect was really convincing. I love the alcohol tip and plan to use that next time out.

Excellent work!!!

They used to do a similar sort of thing to fake gold leaf on old sailing ships. Yellow varnish over white paint.

Glenn, I'm glad to see your work. Look forward to having a beer with you again.

Steve

And because nobody asked me, things you can do with Isopropyl Alcohol and why you should always keep a bottle by your side:

1. Dip a cotton bud in isoprop and clean the slippery mould release residue off your resin figures. Takes the paint better.
2. Smooth down gaps you've filled with Milliput. Being primitive, I used to use spit on a paintbrush to finish off my Milliput surface. Now I know better, I dip my old paintbrush in isoprop and gently stroke the putty. Smooths and blends a treat.
3. Cleans and thins those whacky Tamiya paints and, should you own a jar of X21 Flat base, top it up with isoprop when it starts to dry out.
4. Just a good all round cheap cleaner and thinner which doesn't stink.

But it's no good with whisky.

I used to use Tamiya on metal figures, but I packed in as I couldn't work with it. I found it dries waaay to quickly for me to work with.

With resin figures, I have in the past put W & N silver printers' ink straight on the primer, and then after I was 100% sure it was dry I treated it as white metal.

Lovely old style work burnishing the white metal on this figure Glenn.
It's come out a treat.
The superb heraldry finishes it off perfectly.
Very, very well done.

Cheers,
Andrew