Hi Munky fans, this post is a little something I've been working on over Xmas.
I was thoroughly impressed with Ron's post on Black got me thinking about Gold, now me and Gold don't get on! We can never agree with each other on what looks best, so I got to googling and found 5 recipes I thought I'd test, along with my own method.
Each of the following Gold recipes has to follow some rules, it must be simple and quick to apply, this is intended for tabletop quality models or where speed is required to get a good result.
So sit back grab some cold Turkey and enjoy the ride, but be sure to comment which one you like the best at the bottom along with your own recipes too!
GOLD A
Basecoat - Tin Bitz
Drybrush - Brazen Brass
Drybrush - Shining Gold
Drybrush - Burnished Gold
Wash - Gryphonne Sepia
Drybrush - Burnished Gold
Speed - 5/5
Notes - This gold is very Brassy in colour and I found the dark base colour overpowers the gold.
It is fantastically easy to apply at every stage, and I will certainly use this on Brass pipes etc.
Basecoat - Mithril Silver
Wash - Gryphonne Sepia
Wash - Gryphonne Sepia
Wash - Gryphonne Sepia
Speed - 2/5
Notes - This recipe may only use two paints but it takes ages to do, the combination of the Silver basecoat which I had to do two coats of along with the 3 washes, meant that the overall time on this was way too long.
Interestingly though my wife and her friends liked this colour due to its brightness!
Basecoat - Brazen Brass
Wash - 50/50 Devlan Mud / Bhadab Black
Drybrush - Shining Gold
Drybrush - Burnished Gold
Wash - Chesnut Ink with Magic Wash
Drybrush - Burnished Gold
Speed - 1/5
Notes - Aside from the time needed to mix up the wash and wait for it to dry, the range of colours on this piece are really nice.
The ink really does add a nice Red/Brown, but over all the colour is still too dark for Gold.
Basecoat - Calthan Brown / Shining Gold
Wash - Devlan Mud
Drybrush - Shining Gold
Drybrush - Burnished Gold
Wash - Gryphonne Sepia
Drybrush - Burnished Gold
Speed - 3/5
Notes - This recipe is once again too dark for me, though it is getting closer to the right colour and is very quick to do.
Basecoat - Snakebite Leather
Drybrush - Shining Gold
Drybrush - Burnished Gold
Wash - Gryphonne Sepia
Wash - Ogryn Flesh (in the recesses only)
Drybrush - Burnished Gold
Speed - 4/5
Notes - This is an interesting one, it uses a yellowish base to start with and this means the gold is very bright, and the linited use of washes works well too.
Only snag is the Snakebite Leather took two coats to go on smooth.
Basecoat - Tau Sept Ochre
Drybrush - Glorious Gold
Drybrush - Polished Gold
Wash - Gryphonne Sepia
Wash - Ogryn Flesh (in the recesses only)
Drybrush - Polished Gold
Speed - 5/5
Notes - On this one I used Tau Sept Ochre to eliminate the need for two basecoats, and I thought I'd try the Vallejo range of Golds.
The Vallejo paints are almost exactly the same colour as the Games Workshop ones, though I felt they went on better (possibly because they are new paints, I've had my Golds for years) and the colour is still bright and easy to apply.
As always the pictures may look different on your monitor and through your eyes, and heck you may like dark Gold! good for you.
If you can learn something from this post that's great, and if you can teach me something new that's even better!
I personally like the last 2 Gold recipes E and F and my wife and her friends liked Gold B, an interesting result due to ladies being quite used to looking at the shiney stuff in the shops!
A lot of these recipes followed the theme of paint one or two colours apply a wash or two and then drybrush to finish, whilst drybrushing is sometimes regarded as a beginners technique I feel it has a place here in that it give texture to the piece and speed of finish.
I would love to hear your feelings on this and your own recipes for fast Gold so please feel free to add comments.
Wow, very cool stuff and I love the breakdown of the individual techniques.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Ron, From the Warp
Gold B really does look the most like actual gold of these techniques; the only snag is how much the washes dull down the metallic effect. All of the others look like brass to varying degrees.
ReplyDeleteTake a look around at different metals from time to time and get a feel for how they act. Gold is very bright and a light yellow color; it also is very resistant to tarnish so you should avoid weathering or dulling down the shine. Brass looks almost exactly like gold when polished, but it does tarnish and develops a dull yellow color with a luster similar to pearl.
When I do true gold I always use pure metallic paint and blend layers to add depth and suggest a light source. I usually start with a coat of VGC bright bronze and blend up to burnished gold, I add highlights by adding some mithril silver and placing them where reflection would occur with the light source. I never dry brush with this because I want the gold to be as bright and shiny as it would be in real life.
If I want to do brass I start with the same bright bronze base coat and then wash with tin bitz to add some patina and depth. If i want verdigris or oxidation I'll do several washes with VGC verdigris glaze and a few different blends of ice blue and VGC moon yellow. This gives a nice variety of blues and greens on the piece. I'll then go back with a dry brush of the bronze and follow with a lighter dry brushing of burnished gold to do highlights and to give the piece more of a yellow tone; I do this whether or not I choose to add verdigris. The dry brushing helps break up the metallic luster a bit and suggest a surface that's been polished by being touched and handled.
Thanks Sircarp, It seems that some colours that you think you know are actually very different in real life.
ReplyDeleteI keep coming across this in my painting but I struggle to get things looking "real" I seem to have a more stylized or cartoonish look to my models.
It's probably due to me not painting many models at display quality, something I must sort out.
As you said the washes do really take the shine out of the Gold, I suppose thats why they all finish with a drybrush to get the shine back, I wonder if a gloss varnish would do the same or better?
Nice tutorial!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of using Gold B because I really hate gold paints. I am wondering why you said this takes a long time. Is it because you were waiting for the washes to dry before you applied the next one or because you need to insist with the wash if you want to get an even coverage? Thanks!
It was due to the drying time with each wash, though you could try using a hairdryer to speed things up.
ReplyDeleteIt could reduce the time to a reasonable level, though the heat may make the washes dry badly, I would try a test piece first.
Wow, great, specific info. I was looking for a technique to get an old brass look for some steampunk gear, and I really like gold A.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found this useful mate.
ReplyDeleteCan you post a link to your work do I can see the result please.