Greetings,
I'm new to Historical figures but not to painting. I've been a game/fantasy mini painter for years and have decided to focus on larger historicals mainly due to my love for military history.

Anyho0, I’ve always been an acrylic painter and am going to add oils to my pallet. I picked up Danilo Cartaccis book and am fascinated by his technique of using the figs own metals for armor and weapons.

Have any of you tried this and if so, what do you think of the results? Also what can I use to thin oils for washing? Terpenoid work?


Kevin

Welcome

Turpenoid works, but if you have an artshop close to you, you might find odorless turpenoid.

White spirit works.
I hope that Roc drops in because in my opinion he can bring out the metals as the best.
Make a search on this forum and look for threats he started and specially with knights. He is always giving his technic for the metals.

Marc

G'day Kevin,

I take you are referring to Dani's method of polishing the metal before treating it with colour washes? I tried this technique a few months ago, and had mixed results the first time round. 2nd time round (on the same figure) went much better. Here's my WIP: http://tarokstales.blogspot.com/search/label/Sertorian%20Army

And no... the figure still isn't finished... it's in a container on a ship somewhere between Port Louis and Melbourne

Rudi

Howdy Kevin,

I paint mainly 54mm medieval foot figures - say 500 to 1450 AD. As a general, but not totally unbreakable, rule, I polish steel helmets, plate armor, and weapons' blades using a motor-tool and the soft napped polishing cylinder (not the felt pad). Once polished, it's given a thin (but not thinned) coat of black/brown oil paint. I leave the painti to set for about 30 minutes and then wipe it off. It gives the parts a worn, aged look. I've been polishing the metal for years, since I think it looks better than painted metal. The stain part I learned here.

Bronze, brass, and copper are painted where applicable. I also paint chain mail. I use Andrea, Vallejo, and (more recently) Reaper acrylic paints.

I've tried to polish the metals on a gaming mini, but have not been as successful as I've wanted - the spaces were too tight for the polishing cylinder and I haven't yet experimented with fine strips of polishing cloth. I did finish a Reaper Darkrasp figure which had a large scythe blade as a separate part and this I polished successfully. Most of the local mini painters seem to be entrenched in the non-metallic metals (NMM) method of rendering steel, bronze, copper, and brass. There are some masters of the art that meet at Reaper's facility on Saturday afternoons for painting sessions. It looks really great on the smaller minis, but I'm not sure I could do this on a larger historical piece. May have to experiment...

And by all means... search for Roc's figures - great stuff.

Cheers,

Glen

Most old-school modellers will have tried this at some point. It can be very effective, although opinions vary on how much it looks like iron or steel; there is an obvious problem in that if you need to do any gap filling you're stuck unless you solder.

For style reasons, as well as for practical reasons (working on over fills, on resin castings, conversions and scratchbuilds) it's a good idea to develop a metal-painting method, or methods, you're happy with.

Yes, Turpenoid would work. Any mineral spirits/white spirit or turpentine should work similarly.

Einion

Thanks for the responses gentlemen. I look forward to my membership here.