NMM Feedback

[scoots1m]

Hey all,

I've been trying my hand at painting NMM gold on a few of my mini's and I'm looking for any advice on how to improve.

The most recent mini I've just completed is my Primaris Ancient, the marine was painted to my normal standard and it's the banner that i put the effort into. The last NMM model i worked on was Gabriel Angelos, and then my first NMM effort was Vulkan, I've tried to increase the contrast a lot more since the last one and i think I've managed it.

Ancient: http://www.coolminiornot.com/419802
Gabriel: http://www.coolminiornot.com/419481
Vulkan: http://www.coolminiornot.com/419453

Should I go up to pure white? I've read on a few guides that real gold doesn't have a white sheen so it's not best to highlight that far, I'm also not sure if i should edge highlight more. Also should I apply gloss varnish to any NMM gold? I use the minis in matches so i always use a matte varnish once complete, i normally use Ardcoat to bring the sheen back to metals, but i'm not sure if that should be done for NMM...

Here's the recipe i went with.

1. Based Rhinox Hide
2. Layered Doombull Brown, leaving only the very darkest corners with Rhinox.
3. Gradually mixed then layered through the colours below:
4. Doombull Brown > Mournfang Brown > Balor brown > Zamesi Desert
5. For the highlights i did the same as above but for these colours:
6. Zamisi > Ushabti Bone > 1:1 white/Ushabti
7. I then thinned some Bloodletter down with Lahmian medium and glazed it over the shadows to darken them some more.

Cheers!

[scoots1m]

Ok thanks, I'll bring it up to white where i can and show the results. And no Gloss varnish!

[MAXXxxx]

going full white on gold does make it shiny. Also it makes it not gold.

On your models I think you could go much darker in the shades and while not going to pure white you do need a few extra lighter layers to achive the needed contrast.

[scoots1m]

When you mention going darker, do you mean go back down to Rhinox Hide, or broaden the darker areas so there is more shade across the metals? or both... I was considering dropping one of the colours as well, as i feel like i'm running out of room to layer on some of the faces. I might drop Doombull and layer from Rhinox to Mournfang instead.

[scoots1m]

I've gone and glazed down the shadows with Rhinox hide, and glazed up on the highlights with White/Ushabti 2:1.
It's not very noticeable right now as it's overcast here and getting good lighting for a picture isn't going to happen until the sun comes out (which might be next summer...).

I also repainted the laurel.

[Ritual]

I think you can definitely go to pure white even with gold. Just make the white spots really small. I know that gold doesn't reflect complete, pure white, but if the light is strong then very close to it. And, more importantly, what we do when we paint small scale miniatures is to exaggerate things. I think it's perfectly fine to exaggerate highlights on gold too! It seems from the photos that your gold is a bit too brown. Maybee if you try to work a bit of ochre yellow into the midtones and then up the highlights, but in very focused spots, so that you don't lose out on the midtones.

[MAXXxxx]

contrast looks much better to me.
Still while still not using pure white, you could push the highlights further, but maybe not everywhere, just points of glare, where it would shine.

Also not on this figure, but the gold seems a bit washed out, I miss the yellow/orange in it. So for the next figure (or just a test piece/bit) , you could try some glazes of yellow/orange (if staying with the desaturated colors you could try a few glazes of VMC-OrangeBrown (in GW it's close to squig orange or deathclaw brown) or try out a different color recipe.

[scoots1m]

Would glazing over a thinned down Lamenters Yellow pull it in the right direction? Or mixing in a tiny bit of Averland Sunset for the Balor > Zamesi > Ushabti > white stages? I haven't got any of the 3 colours mentioned, but i can get them for next time around.

The current recipe comes out quite dark as you mentioned, and the next model will be for my salamanders which do have a very bright gold that i'd like to match (Auric Armour) so I'll likely not touch this model anymore, and just sort out a better method for the next character i paint.

[MAXXxxx]

no idea on the lamenters. Best if you try it out on a separate bit to see if it works like you want to or not.
To be honest NMM(golds) are not my strongest things. I like human skin and experimenting with colors more.
The best I got are these imo:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/...l=1#post734138 (shields while trying to get them right)
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/...l=1#post735520 (mounted musician, the filigree)


For recipe: PM Tommie Soule here, he did some awesome NMM golds. He probably has some good recipes (altough most of the effect comes from applied technique and correct light placement)
( http://www.coolminiornot.com/415030 )
( http://www.coolminiornot.com/247737 )

[Daigo Cannon]

For a good NMM you want to go all the way, from black to white, white is reserved for the more reflective zone, top, curves or joints. Even when your transitions are great your tone ends midway, giving the impression the light is really low/penumbra from your mini, in small areas you want to skip some transitions, in the eagles head on the ancient is on the top it looks like you end your transition after the second shadow tone than going all the way from shadow to light.

A trick you could use is to edge highlight your shadows with your higher tone before white , from the image from spacemunkie it looks odd the shadow part to reflect white and it should be a sheen and not a direct reflection of light.

I normally paint NMM gold with vallejo, after everything is painted I use a mix of my medium color with a bright desaturated yellow(scrofulous yellow and sun yellow) to glaze, this will brighten my shadows, unify my mediums and low the white, after this step if I decide a curve or joint could use some white I will applied a small dot.

Your Angelos looks great, but you did not achieve the shadow level you have on the ancient, both are missing the edge highlight and higher light that will complete the NMM look.

[lesBarniques]

It already pretty good but yeah i would definitly push more into the white have a stronger contrast between the dark and light.

[bullfrog]

I don't have any advice to give you but I have some feedback on your ancient. The darker gold actually looks great because it looks like a very old gold. It feels more in keeping with the mini than a dazzling bright gold. Just my ten cents worth.