Light and armor reflection

[feanorthenoldor]

hey all, I'm painting some Galadhrim for War of the Ring.

I'm painting their armor like steel.

THis is my process that i'm working on to master
1. Base coat of Boltgun metal.
2. Blackline between armor scales
3. Wash thin Devlan mud
4. Wash two thin layers of Badab black
(this is where the blending, highlighting comes in)
5. Highlight with thinned down Boltgun metal
6. Highlight certain areas with Chainmail
7. Highlight high areas with Mithril Silver

I also did something that I thought would help make the thinking process easier before I actually highlight the armor.

I took pictures of primed guys under direct lamp light, so I could see where the reflections are supposed to be. (I'm assuming that the light would be the sun coming from above)

Is this a good Idea, also any other helpful tips on highlighting armor would be great.

I'm working very hard on getting this armor right.

Wish me luck!

feanorthenoldor

 

[gsr15]

Sounds like a good process to me, I've tried holding my figs under the light as well but never remember to do it until I've already laid down paint...your idea seems better to me, a nice consistent reference. I've seen a lot of people use colored washes to give the metal some more depth and character and maybe help tie it in with other colors in the figure (not weathering though, that's a whole other ball of wax as I understand it.) I'm still learning the metallics myself so I'm interested to see what others have to say...I've read all the tutorials but I'm having trouble translating it all into reality.

 

[Wicksy]

I spoke to a cople of 'Eavy Metal painters about their metallics. Generally they start with chainmail base and use thinned chaos black to shade the model. I guess you can add some boltgun metal to that mix to get a smoother blend. Then use mithril silver for the highlights and just layer up the shade, midtone and highlights until satisfied. Not something i've tried in depth but i intend to try it on some of the high elves in the island of blood set.