'Gem' on flat surfaces (Tamiya Clear)

[Kierdale]

After trying and failing to get satisfactory results using the Citadel gem paints (soul stone blue, etc.) on flat surfaces I pulled out my Tamiya Clear paints (red, green and blue) that I had bought long ago but little used.

The project was the 'feathers' on a winged jump pack (the BA clam pack chaplain to be exact). Initially I wanted to do the inner feathers blue and the outer ones green. GW Soulstone blue went on streaky and even after a few coats it wasn't impressing me.

For an experiment I tried using Tamiya Clear Blue (TCB) on a spare sword. Before dipping my brush in the paint I always dipped it in my bottle of Tamiya Acrylic Thinner as TC paints are thick like GW gem paints. However dipping my brush in water before dipping it in Soulstone blue did not give me the smooth result I got with TCB:

I then wondered about putting some TCG on the blade's top two thirds so it overlapped the TCB in the middle. I liked it. I added some more TCB to the bottom two thirds and a little more TCG to the top third and got a very nice result:

Thus I turned back to my winged jump pack. Painted all over with Runefang Steel and shaded with Nuln oil I applied thinned TCB to the feathers:

Then thinned TCG to the feathers, overlapping the TCB a bit:

And finally, as with the blade, TCB over the tops and middles of each feather again, and a bit of TCG on the tips:

I'm very happy with the result however I feel it could have been better if I had done each feature individually, blending the two colours while they were still wet.

I will give a word of warning though that you can't play too much with Tamiya Clear. Once it starts drying it gets tacky and trying to move it can pull up a chunk of paint in that area. Likewise touching it to see if its dry :D Don't. Wait longer than you think necessary.

I intend to do a blade in this style using TC-Red. I did this one years ago so hope I can do better this time.

And I plan to do a XX-legion assassin-agent in a blue-green bodysuit using TCB and TCG. I'll post step by steps here.

[Kierdale]

Left: Leadbelcher, Runefang Steel highlight, Nuln oil wash.

Middle: Retributor Gold, Runefang Steel highlight.

Right: mechawhatsit red base, Evil Sunz highlight, Wildrider highlight, Luggnath Orange final highlight (the last of which I put on after taking the first photo but it shows up in the photo of the sword backs). Luggnath also used for the Slaanesh symbol.

The blue-green one is the reverse of the Leadbelcher sword I'm doing this time. Recycle, people!

And after Tamiya Clear...

Left: TC-Red on the lower third and up the middle of the full blade. TC-Orange on the top third and blended into the edges of the full blade while the red was still wet. I'm not sure the TC-Orange shows up much, which may be a good or bad thing.

Middle: TC-Red up the middle, TC-Orange on edges. Here the Orange doesn't show up over the gold. And the red-on-gold doesn't look so different to the red-on-leadbelcher of the left sword in this photo but 'live' both red-on-_____ areas look good with the gold edging ahead in my mind.

Right: TC-red on bottom two thirds. TC-Orange on top two thirds. Not as noticeable as the TC-on-metallics. I'm wondering if, with the sorcerer's daggers, I darkened them with Carroburg Crimson first. Either way, this is not so impressive.

Reverse sides:

Left: TC-Red on bottom third and up the middle of the blade. TC-Orange on edges. No visible difference to the other side with respect to the visibility of the orange vs red.

Middle: TC-Red on bottom two thirds, TC-Orange on top two thirds. Done while the TC-Red was still wet, it appears to have pulled the red up the blade.

The blue-green blade is still my favourite :D, though I didn't intend to do that for this model's weapon (rather, for the jump pack, and I'm very happy with the result).

I'll be scraping those three blades clean tonight then I have a few more ideas to play with. If anyone has any suggestions or schemes they'd like to see, I'm willing to give them a try if I have time.

Paints available:

Leadbelcher

Runefang

Retributor

Auric gold

Balthasar gold

Tamiya clear: blue, green, red, orange, yellow.

Note that TC-Blue mixed with TC-Red does not give a purple but a dark blue. I tried ;)

Now I think about it, I'm going to try a couple more thin TC-Red layers on the 'red sword' before giving that one a scrape off.

I might try a blade going from a red tip to a green base too, what with (model wise, and perhaps fluff wise) the blade originally being Khornate and now Slaanesh, with a couple of green jade Daemonette masks at the hilt.

[Kierdale]

Tonight's tests...

All had GW Gloss varnish after a few coats of Tamiya Clear. This helped smooth them out.

First up a little green. Looking good so far.

Add some red...not looking so good.

These next two I like better. Black blade with gold on edges and part of the blade. Tamiya Clear Red. Reminds me a bit of lacquerware.

A couple of red-on-silvers, one thicker, one thinner.

Meh.

Blue on silver. Now this I like.

Green on silver. Also like this one.

And the red one from yesterday with more TC Red. I feel it's improved and has more depth -perhaps more than these photos can show- but it definitely worked better on the sorcerers small daggers than this large sword.

And one more. Leadbelcher blade, runefang runes, TC Green over the top. Not as many layers as the earlier green one.

I like it but it screams 'Nurgle'.

[Lemainus]

That last one with the runes is boss, dude. 

[Kierdale]

Thanks. Here is the latest experiment. Two sides of the same sword:

[Black_out]

Awesome thread and research here, although not on blades I was planning on using Tamiya clear red to get a candied red effect on my custodes army and we wondering how to keep it smooth

[Daigo Cannon]

What are you using to thin the Tamiya paints? I have used Tamiya clear red to do blood stains, but not to paint directly over a miniature.

[Kierdale]

Awesome thread and research here, although not on blades I was planning on using Tamiya clear red to get a candied red effect on my custodes army and we wondering how to keep it smooth

 

If I were to paint a lot of TC-Red -Thousand Sons or your custodes- I'd recommend using a spray can of TS-74 Clear Red (basically normal Tamiya Clear Red but in a rattle can)...though I hear they're not available in all countries and can be expensive where they are available. Thankfully they're available and reasonable here in Japan ;)

If that's no good then try a pot of TC-Red and use X20A acrylic thinner and do a few coats.

I'll see about painting a spare marine arm or something for you and posting it here. A gold basecoat?

 

What are you using to thin the Tamiya paints? I have used Tamiya clear red to do blood stains, but not to paint directly over a miniature.

I use a pot of Tamiya Acrylic Thinner (X20A). I probably could be technical and precise but I just dip my brush in the thinner then in the pot of Clear and paint it on the mini. More thinner than paint, and it's better to build up thin coats rather than slop it on undiluted.

The thinner can damage/flake paint underneath (e.g. the GW metallics I used) so on that last blade I gave the sword a layer of GW gloss varnish before using the TC-Blue and Green. I think it both protected the earlier work and added to the glassy look. I'll try to get some photos in better light sometimes as the images I've put in the thread so far don't really do justice.

[Black_out]

Ah, I'll take a look into the spray but have a feeling it's not easily had in the US. And yes, retributor armour gold basecoat most likely. Thanks so much!

[Kierdale]

A quick use of TC-Red on a gem:

Black base.

Mechawhatsit red crescent in lower left.

Evil Sunz Scarlet smaller crescent inside that.

A dot of Luggnath Orange inside that.

Tamiya Clear Red over the top.

The piece will be 'decoration' on my Chaos raptor lords base ;)

Black_out, here you are:

Retributor Gold basecoat. Agrax Earthshade wash.

Then three coats of thinned TC-Red. Note the photos for the first and second coats were taken while still wet.

-simply painting this arm made me want to do some Minotaurs sometime...

-That's the first coat. Looks like a Minotaur punched someone to pieces.

-second coat. Photographed wet, as I said.

-Third coat.

I'll try to take another in the morning once it's fully dried.

I think I like the colour, but if I were planning on doing a lot of it I'd choose to use rattlecans for the bulk of the work. For speed and to keep it thin. Even using three thinned coats brushed on, it thickens up quickly.

The ForgeWorld clear paints have been recommended to me and apparently though they're designed for airbrushes they can be used with good old fashioned brushes too. That might be an alternative for you.

Lastly, as suggested by SquigSquasher, a mix of TC-blue and green. Three parts blue to two parts green (plus thinner).

[Kierdale]

And here's the arm seven hours later, fully dry:

[Black_out]

Thanks so much Kierdale, I may have to further investigate the FW option as I have several large surfaces to use it on.

[Kierdale]

You're welcome :)

 

I've ordered myself a pot of FW clear purple. Once it arrives I'll do some experiments and put them here :)

[Kierdale]

Another experiment with Tamiya Clear: an Alpha Legion assassin (counts-as-Callidus).

Quick and quite easy.

Step one:

Leadbelcher basecoat, Nuln Oil wash. Runefang Steel highlights.

Step two:

A coat of gloss varnish to protect the metallic acrylics, then thinned Tamiya Clear Blue over the bodysuit.

Step three:

Thinned Tamiya Clear Green over upper surfaces.

I could have stopped here as I rather liked it but thought I'd give the following a try...

Step Four:

A glaze of very thin (perhaps 30-50 percent thinner) mixed Tamiya Clear Blue and Green (two parts blue to one part green, as I did with the Peacocks blade).

This doesn't show up much but gave some of the highlights a bit of teal I think.

And in different light this morning:

I might give it another coat of gloss varnish then I need to repaint the spurs.

Then the mask, gun, base and she's done.

And my Forge World clear purple should arrive in the post tonight.

[Kierdale]

I took a couple more photos putting Jinx (the assassin, now finished) in bright sunlight today and the green/blue really sparkled!

I particularly love the thigh here: