Airbrushing Metal

[Paul Dasvis]

I'm starting to airbrush the shield from Zelda for my son, who is a huge fan of the game...

The outer edge is metal with some rivets, I have the pearl colors from Createx. But not sure if those apply here, what is the process for getting a metal looking finish with an airbrush?

I'm going to run a ton of samples, until I'm sure I have it down...

(love this forum)

Thank You
-Paul-

 

[Ronald art]

if you look at metal you will see it has no real color it can look real grey ish or reflex the surrounding colors , I would go for a fine metallic silver over a dark grey or black background color

 

[Paul Dasvis]

if you look at metal you will see it has no real color it can look real grey ish or reflex the surrounding colors , I would go for a fine metallic silver over a dark grey or black background color

I did see on the Createx site where they put silver pearl over black and it looks really good. I could use that as a base and then use white and black for highlights. Most likely will need transparent to not block the pearl...

I also need to figure it out with just gray, so much to learn

-Paul-

 

[Squishy]

It depends if you want to replicate a particular image exactly, or if you want to use an effect. To copy the image you have to match the colours you see, which will often involve several colours to take into account shadows highlights, reflections etc. The end result will show a representation of a metal surface. Using a paint like a pearl will give the effect of a metallic surface, without replicating 100% the image in your ref. Either way is good depending on the look you want.

On a side note, effects paints generally need a larger nozzle to pass through as they are not as fine as pigment.