If you haven’t read part one of this test painting blog, then some of this won’t make sense. You can find it here. Even if you have read it, I’m not guaranteeing that all of this will make sense. As a quick recap, I’m testing stone and metal finishes in yellow and blue using Valllejo Game Air and Tamiya Clear paints.
Ok so here are the outcomes:
The bodies with Tamiya paint.
Umh. Yeah. So, I’ve used Tamiya Clears before in a 1:3 paint to thinner ratio and it was a bit heavy in several coats so I went 1:5 with the yellow and it turned out…dogshit.
Tamiya Clear Yellow over metallic light sketch.
This is ok-ish (I give it a C-). But I’m looking for a metallic yellow NOT yellow gold (which is how this looks).
But it’s still infinitely better than this war crime…
Tamiya Clear Yellow over non metallic light sketch.
This thing can lose my number straight away. Five coats and it still looks patchy and, frankly, crap.
Obviously Tamiya are famous for making great paints and this is a me problem not a them problem. But it’s still a problem. I had the PSI really low in the brush, the paint was mixed well. It was just over thinned I think. Maybe the magic ratio is 1:4 paint to thinners (halfway between ‘too heavy,’ that I’ve had before and this debacle). If Tamiya was a one shot deal for this army then I’d need to do more investigation to find out. But all is not lost…
The bodies with Vallejo paints.
Because Vallejo paint is, well, paint, I wasn’t expecting much from this to be honest – I thought the light sketch would get bummed out really quickly but I stuck to the 1:5 paint to thinner ratio I’d used for the Tamiya and the five coats and here’s how they ended up:
Vallejo yellow over non metallic light sketch.
The photo doesn’t really do this one justice but it’s better than either of the Tamiya finishes. Really strong yellow but with the darks in the light sketch still visible. This might have been a contender if it wasn’t for…
Vallejo yellow over metallic light sketch.
This is exactly what I’m after. It looks metallic yellow rather than yellow gold, the light sketch is still in place (I might stick to four coats for the army which will make the light / dark shadow even more pronounced and speed things up) and the colour is a nice, smooth finish.
If I had to place my bets before starting on which finish overall I’d prefer I’d have said either of the Tamiya ones but probably the non metal. Actually I’m loving the metallic Vallejo. Just shows the benefit of testing I guess!
Ok, so now onto the helmets. #Spoileralert, it’s a very different outcome.
Vallejo over metallic light sketch.
Nope. All the sublety of the metallic has gone – the Vallejo blue is too opaque (even at 1:5) and I actually only did 3 coats as it was obvious the opacity was too much. However, as I was already loving the metallic body I needed a stone finish helmet anyway so not much lost here.
Vallejo over non metallic light sketch.
Pinning injury not withstanding, this isn’t a disaster (it’s better in real life), not as opaque as it looks and there’s some light sketch left. But it still looks agricultural compared to the metallic body.
Tamiya Clear over metallic light sketch.
One of the very few photos that look better than the real thing. Actually this is really blotchy, the paint is very inconsistent and there’s some pooling. Thankfully I don’t need a metallic helmet. And, also, thankfully the last option came out pretty well…
Tamiya Clear over non metallic light sketch.
The photo looks weird here partly because its super close up and makes the light sketch transitions look ‘speckly,’ (which they may be but not at an arm’s length) and also because the Tamiya clears have a high gloss which makes the bodies look even worse but on the helmet I like it – it looks like polished marble. This is a winner.
So here’s the winning combination:
I’m going to experiment over the next couple of nights with quick, replicable ways to paint the gun and the loin cloth (I might be able to leave that off and paint separately) and then I really am going to have a good crack at the infantry.
This is the most detailed testing process I’ve been through before paining an army and I’m really happy I’ve done it actually. I feel like I can go into the army building and painting confident that the outcome will be consistent and pretty good. Now I’ve just got to actually do it!
As always, any comments, let me know!