The \"NMM Controversy\"

[Ritual]

@Aliengod3
For steel and other colourless metals I use it on its own. I glaze it on as a final touch and pick out details with it. For coloured metals I mix it with the base colour and finish by adding just tiny dots of the medium on its own on edges or small details, like rivets, filigree etc.

You can think of it as \"replacing\" white when doing NMM.

 

[Logan]

Originally posted by Einion

Originally posted by Neil H
As a \'hater\' of NMM the worse thing about it is when you see the piece in the round, they look way better in 2D photo form and often come over as flat and dull.

That pretty much sums up my view too.

Even when done to a super-high standard I think NMM for shiny metals generally (as in more often than not) looks wrong in the round, especially if you\'re actually rotating the mini in your hand or moving your viewpoint from side to side.

The exception for me is heavily-oxidised metals like weathered brass/bronze, which don\'t look metallic IRL any more.

Einion

Pretty much with you guys.
When done right, nmm can look fantastic, but personally, the few pieces I\'ve held in my hand, disappointed me.
The silver simply looked grey.

Seen some cracking examples in photographs though.

 

[ScottRadom]

Originally posted by Ritual
@Aliengod3
For steel and other colourless metals I use it on its own. I glaze it on as a final touch and pick out details with it. For coloured metals I mix it with the base colour and finish by adding just tiny dots of the medium on its own on edges or small details, like rivets, filigree etc.

You can think of it as \"replacing\" white when doing NMM.

I\'m gonna give this a shot as well.

 

[demonherald]

Originally posted by Ritual
@Aliengod3
For steel and other colourless metals I use it on its own. I glaze it on as a final touch and pick out details with it. For coloured metals I mix it with the base colour and finish by adding just tiny dots of the medium on its own on edges or small details, like rivets, filigree etc.

You can think of it as \"replacing\" white when doing NMM.

It works a treat too ...... only recently started using it myself and makes a massive difference .

 

[GreenOne]

You can sit at the table for hours, pondering if you\'re gonna have cake or pudding; but I say \"Who cares? So long as it taste like chocolate!\"

It\'s a matter of what you want to achieve on your minis and using everything in your repertoire to achieve it.
I never actually did NMM, but I think I\'ll need to learn it if I want to be a complete painter.

 

[Aliengod3]

Originally posted by Ritual
@Aliengod3
For steel and other colourless metals I use it on its own. I glaze it on as a final touch and pick out details with it. For coloured metals I mix it with the base colour and finish by adding just tiny dots of the medium on its own on edges or small details, like rivets, filigree etc.

You can think of it as \"replacing\" white when doing NMM.

Thanks for the help Ritual!

 

[clansizemore]

my two cents

I am against the elitist BS that most NMM painters are saying in CMON. Most of the nmm models I have done or seen look great 2D (like a photo), but when looking at the model in 3D...well, it is not that sharp.
I can not stand when Great models get low scores because the artist painting the model used medallic paint. That is just wrong! Typically, the person that is scoring the model poorly because they prefer NMM will justify the score by rambling some obsure fact like \"michael angleo didn\'t use metallic paints.\" Like that is even a valid arguement. Does that mean we should also make our own brushes from Animal Fur too?
Look, all I am saying is use the tools at your disposal. For the NMM snobs, whats the next craze, fingerpainting models. Then you can use the argument \"well, cavemen didnt use brushes.\"

 

[Backstabbeth]

here in the forums i dont really see the NM \'elitist\' attidtude. most like and respect skillful application of either technique. I know i do.

 

[clansizemore]

respectfully I disagree. Granted the broads may say one thing, but the commits under the judged models say another. I can not tell you how many times I have read \"would have rated higher if NMM was used.\" It is a real shame to see.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by clansizemore
respectfully I disagree. Granted the broads may say one thing, but the commits under the judged models say another. I can not tell you how many times I have read \"would have rated higher if NMM was used.\" It is a real shame to see.

And as someone who approves comments I cannot tell you how rare those comments are.
To the best of my knowledge I haven\'t seen or approved a single one.

To me there is no \"NMM Controversy\".
The ability to use Non Metalic Paints to simulate metallic effects is a technique. Learning it helps to improve lighting placement and smoothness of painting. Applying the same technique to mettalic paints improves their visual appeal in exactly the same way.

What detracts from metallics is the heavy grainulation of the particles, it takes careful application of the paint to prevent this. Personally I\'ve switched mostly to Vallejo Airbrush colours for metallics due to the extreme fineness of the particles.

 

[freakinacage]

good painting is good painting. whether it be metallics or nmm. it\'s easier imo to start doing metallics and get adequate results but just as hard to get top notch results as nmm, on both techniques you are forcing the highlights

for me, some models look better with nmm than others. i generally prefer sci fi stuff to be metallics. rackhams look best in nmm imo. its whatever floats you boat and sod what most people think, most people think that gw is the only/best company out there...

 

[laurence]

Originally posted by freakinacage
most people think that gw is the only/best company out there...

You mean there\'s other companies out there??

 

[Ritual]

Originally posted by laurence

Originally posted by freakinacage
most people think that gw is the only/best company out there...

You mean there\'s other companies out there??

Yeah, there\'s a company called Forgeworld... :]

 

[freakinacage]

who are they, they sound good?!

 

[Avelorn]

There is practically no difference in painting 2D or 3D NMM effects when it comes to it looking like real metal or not. NMM is not more or less of a 2D technique than regular highlighting is, it is just a matter of reflectiveness of the surface you portray and surfaces that are close to non-reflective are easier then highly reflective. As with miniature a canvas painting emulating metals will loose its realism once you start moving about. NMM can look good from most angles, just as long as you stand still and don\'t look too closely.. same with regular highlighting really.

There is so much talk about realism and yet IRL I have not yet seen a realistic looking miniature. Fantastically wellpainted - yes. But realistic as in photographic realism or even believable texture of surfaces etc.- no, not once you start looking closely and turning them about. I have seen some larger scale busts on picture that have seemed really close to realism, but never seen anything similar IRL. I highly doubt they will look realistic IRL to be honest as you start turning them about.

Another thing. It is not really clear cut that good metallics always look better then good NMM IRL. True metallics can really detract from the miniature with certain styles and look too realistic. It\'s all about style.

 

[Elly3438]

Aliengod and Einion, what\'s this metallic medium you are talking about? I have never heard of it before and would like to experiment with metallic paints more.

 

[Aliengod3]

Originally posted by laurence

Originally posted by freakinacage
most people think that gw is the only/best company out there...

You mean there\'s other companies out there??

If you are serious when you say this then visit nobleknights.com and you will get an idea of all of the miniature companies that are around.

@Elly: Vallejo Metallic Medium is the one I have. It looks like shiny paint but it is meant to be mixed with pigment for metallics. Arjay told me about it. He has used it with great success on the metallics that he paints.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Elly3438
Aliengod and Einion, what\'s this metallic medium you are talking about? I have never heard of it before and would like to experiment with metallic paints more.

Vallejo Model Colour Metallic Medium.
You can add it to standard paints to get a Lighter Metallics tone of the colour (Works best wih darker colours), or use it on it\'s own as an extreme highlight (like a White \"Flare Point\").

 

[dxhernandez]

I don\'t know if this has been said already but I read an article somewhere that made a very interesting point.

Metallic paints are great for getting that shiny armor result fast and with minimal effort, but you still usually end up with a more, what i like to call, \"Cartoony\" feel.

This is simply because if we are portraying a life size person in a small mini form it is impossible for the small metallic surfaces of the miniature to produce the complex reflections of a large life-sized surface.

Therefore, placing a shiny coat of paint (metallic paints) on a small surface cannot replicate the reflections as if it were life-sized.

That is why most artists who are seeking a more realistic feel will go with NMM. It is a way to control the look of your reflections shadows and highlights in order to replicate the miniatures armor/sword/whatever as if it were a life-sized object.

hope that made a bit of sense

 

[ScottRadom]

Originally posted by clansizemore
respectfully I disagree. Granted the broads may say one thing, but the commits under the judged models say another. I can not tell you how many times I have read \"would have rated higher if NMM was used.\" It is a real shame to see.

I haven\'t seen much evidence of it here on these boards or in the comments on mini\'s.

I super agree about the elitism of NMM painters on the gamer circuit. It seems it\'s very popular to bash GW as a company and even the old fashioned gw metal painting style, so I\'ve encountered MANY NMM painters who even though they paint NMM poorly will make comments like \"You can only do so much with metal paint\" or \"I don\'t know why people bother with crappy metal paint anymore\".

Of course, I am on the other spectrum and I make many more ignorant comments about the use of NMM. But that\'s \'cause I am an ingnorant dude!

I am going to give NMM a shot. What I am hoping to get out of it is a superior appreciation for metal paint and a superior grasp of highlight and shading procedure. I think it\'s a great idea to try both and see ahat sticks!