How to paint this statue miniature for a tarnished metal look?

[shponglefan]

So I want to paint this statue figure. I was thinking of going for a tarnished metallic look, since he looks to be some sort of metal statue/colossus. But I'm not entirely sure how to approach it.

My thinking was:

1) Base coat - dark brownish/grey (or maybe green-blue/grey?)
2) Lightly overcoat in steel
3) Highlights w/ silver
4) Edge highlight w/ white
5) Wash with brownish mud color
6) Touch up/drybrushing

Edited to add: Just came across this tutorial on the subject. But I'm curious as to other ideas/examples.

I've never tried to paint a figure totally metallic, so I'm not sure the best steps or colors to use... help!

 

[Zab]

Why not tarnished bronze? I did one up for my table a few years back:
View attachment 22122
My advice: Try out what you think will work and don't be afraid to be sloppy with it. It looks more natural that way since nature doesn't really do symmetry. Oh and bird droppings, add bird droppings. I didn't because I figured birds might not hang out in a war zone.

 

[Bloodhowl]

Oh and bird droppings, add bird droppings. I didn't because I figured birds might not hang out in a war zone.

They won't be around so much during the shooting but as soon as the battle is over, birds aplenty. Especially the carrion kind. I've lost count of the numbers of buzzards, vultures, crows, ravens, dogs, jackals, cats, etc... we had to shoo off the dead in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

[Zab]

Ah yes, I just assumed that with war being eternal in 40k there would be no respite for birds and such. OR I maybe just forgot to add it and now I'm too lazy :curl-lip:

 

[Chrispy]

If you're going for an iron look, a good way to go is using some rust color (Vallejo Calvary Brown) and some very dark brown that's almost black (Chocolate Brown) this will give you the feel of rust and dingy oil and mud in the recesses. If you make this a wash or use it as your shade, it will provide natural contrast to the greyish metallic colors. If you water down paint enough it gives you an effect of having more color at the edges and being lighter in the middle as most stains are, but you'll have to make sure to leave it set so the paint is fully dry. Other wise, you go to do something else or add more stains on top and it'll move your work around. If you do a more bronze type statue, then you want to use a more turquoise color. I did this on my Ezalyth mini. Hope this helps!

 

[Wyrmypops]

Stippling would be a nifty way to apply some manky effects. It introduces a random element that helps sell the natural build up of the mankyness.

There's a lot of way to go about slapping some rust effects on a mini. I'm lazy so I just tend to use some orange ink, brown ink, and some orange paint for the edges.
Bronze is fun, with the verdigris. There's actually a handy verdigris paint in the Vallejo Model range. Just weathered some bronze with it recently. Stippling that on over the bronze once all the dark to light bronze had been done, and smearing a bit around with a damp drush, closing with a turquoise ink to bind the transitions a bit..

 

[shponglefan]

Thanks everyone for all the advice and tips. I've toyed with the idea of doing bronze vs iron, but I'll probably go with iron. I have this vision in my head of this grungy iron statue coming to life and want to try to capture this in the mini. Of course translating one's vision to reality is easier said than done

The idea of using stippling sounds like a good one, so I'll definitely give that a shot.

 

[me_in_japan]

Oil paints are extremely good for weathering techniques. A tube of cheapish dark brown/red and one of a slightly brighter colour can be used to great effect if you put small spots on the mini and then streak them downwards using a fairly damp brush (damp with whatever you use for thinning your oils, not water. I use odorless turps, although I dare say there are better options.)

 

[3dken]

I think first decide what type of metal you want him to be, and then find out how that metal looks when it's aged, rusted, or oxidized. Examples would be aged brass and bronze have a darker brown look while weathered bronze would have some verdigris (bluish-green/turquoise in recesses) with some patchiness of grey (sometimes). Iron metals would be blackened by age, and might have some rust (from a yellow ochre to reds/oranges to dark, almost black browns). Aluminum would have a white/off white patchiness to it. Copper would have dark browns for aged copper, and have about the same verdigris as bronze. Golds would have some light to medium browns, sometimes a redish brown. Silver would have dark browns and blacks, and might have some bluish tints to it. Just some thoughts!

 

[shponglefan]

Thanks again for all the help everyone.

I made an attempt today and this is what I came up with. Any comments or critiques are welcome!

I deliberately tried to make the face a little less weathered, to try to give it a bit of an "unnatural" look. The idea being this thing could spring to life and squash you.

View attachment 22170

View attachment 22171

 

[me_in_japan]

A big thumbs-up from me, mate that's absolutely spot-on. The weathering is clearly present, but not overwhelming. It also looks pretty darn realistic. For me, though, the stand out feature is those black eyes. Those really do give the impression of malign intelligence trapped in a decaying iron shell. The job, as they say, is a good un.

Ps - also, nice photo. Everything's in focus, and the light is nice and uniform, too.

 

[shponglefan]

Thank you very much, that's very nice to hear

For the eyes, I ended up using three colors: a metallic gunmetal, gloss black and regular flat black. I wanted them to have a bit of a metallic shine, but not too much.

 

[Wyrmypops]

Excellent. Even got the rust streaks down.:good: