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Mother of pearl armour


Sculder

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A gloriously decadent idea. You'll need to use models with a lot of large armour plates that are devoid of decoration to achieve something like this, since you need a lot of space to create a certain effect. I'd use a sponge to apply different shades of gray/white in irregular patterns on the plating, and then add a coat of varnish that only covers the mother of pearl plates. Not sure which kind, it depends on the effect you want. Either gloss to give it a shine, or a heavy coat of matt varnish to give it a more smokey look. Maybe even both.

Here's something I tried - I wasn't very happy with my attempt, but I'd like to try it again at some point.

 

I used off-white base, Palid Wytch Flesh, shaded with agrax, highlighted to silver, and then some patches of green and purple glaze.

 

 

 

There are some good ideas for white Stormcast around which might fit. I really like these chaps:

http://www.exprofundis.com/stormcast-eternals-of-the-immortal-tribunal/

 

I also looked at tutorials for Iron Hands oil effect armour (silver base, green and purple blobs, tons of black wash) and non-metalic-metals to fake the shine.

It really depends on how you want to paint the pearl. You can 'fake' the effect using the above mentioned techniques, but if you want the iridescence visible from all angles I'd recommend using an airbrush. Testors and Createx both make a pearl additive you would add to the paint you're using as a base color. Once you get all that applied, a gloss coat would finish off the effect. Thankfully there are a lot of videos on youtube that'll cover things like ratios and consistency as well as technique, even if a lot of them are automotive based the theory is still the same.

I tried this! It was... Underwhelming. I got a pearlescent medium and used the artificer white tint stuff and some thinning medium and it didn't really dry how I wanted. Oddly enough, I did discover how to make an awesome marble effect with it, so it wasn't a total loss, but mother of pearl eluded me. I kind of think pearl almost needs something more complex than a straight paint to achieve.

 

Good luck.

Okay, bear with me. You'll need to do the research on thinners and such to adapt it for model use, but if you really want a good pearlescent finish, use nail polish. I used to use it undiluted to create the swirliness of crystal balls and holo-projectors.

Okay, bear with me. You'll need to do the research on thinners and such to adapt it for model use, but if you really want a good pearlescent finish, use nail polish. I used to use it undiluted to create the swirliness of crystal balls and holo-projectors.

I wish I could like this post a thousand times, because I think you've jump-started a whole new phase of my paint experimentation...

Okay, bear with me. You'll need to do the research on thinners and such to adapt it for model use, but if you really want a good pearlescent finish, use nail polish. I used to use it undiluted to create the swirliness of crystal balls and holo-projectors.

 

Brother, this is brilliant.  I, too, want to experiment with this.

 

If you don't mind my asking, how in the Omnissiah's name did you come up with this idea?  I feel there's an interesting story here.

 

I highly reccomend NOT using this. At som angles in some lighting it kind of sort of looks pearl.....but mostly looks straight up silver. I tried it 5-6 times with all different primers.

 

 

I highly reccomend NOT using this. At som angles in some lighting it kind of sort of looks pearl.....but mostly looks straight up silver. I tried it 5-6 times with all different primers.

 

Fair enough -- I have a bottle for a project I never ended up doing so I haven't had a chance to spray much. I could imagine without something to approximate the colour shift of the pearl, it would end up looking a bit silver.

 

Okay, bear with me. You'll need to do the research on thinners and such to adapt it for model use, but if you really want a good pearlescent finish, use nail polish. I used to use it undiluted to create the swirliness of crystal balls and holo-projectors.

 

Brother, this is brilliant.  I, too, want to experiment with this.

 

If you don't mind my asking, how in the Omnissiah's name did you come up with this idea?  I feel there's an interesting story here.

 

 

While packing things after the ex-wife, discovered a huge stash of nail polish she'd bought but never used. Didn't even remember she'd bought 'em, and had enough with her she didn't want 'em. Sitting there looking at the pile of bottles, it just seemed a natural thing to use 'em for.

So I talked to my shops painter about how he would do a mother of pearl paint job and he basically gave me the rundown of how he did it for a drag car a few years back. You lay down a base color (in his case he used gray, but a white could work as well) then, using the pearl powder mixed into a tint medium he laid down two coats in "intersecting directions", then a gloss coat to finish. The color shifted with every angle and went from light green to dark gree, to blue, then back to green. It isn't an easy technique by any means, but it's possible, and would look pretty cool. 

So I talked to my shops painter about how he would do a mother of pearl paint job and he basically gave me the rundown of how he did it for a drag car a few years back. You lay down a base color (in his case he used gray, but a white could work as well) then, using the pearl powder mixed into a tint medium he laid down two coats in "intersecting directions", then a gloss coat to finish. The color shifted with every angle and went from light green to dark gree, to blue, then back to green. It isn't an easy technique by any means, but it's possible, and would look pretty cool. 

Feels like the method would only be a worthwhile endeavor on a mini with large, relatively flat, panels such as a DE Raider, a Land Raider, Thunderhawk, etc.

 

PA minis might be too small to make the effect noticeable?

 

+++

 

Heres a pretty crappy phone pic of a Test Mini I did a few years back using the Metallic White Paint I got from Liquitex (over black primer because I'm an idiot); it was also to test if I could use Blood for the Blood God as something other than a bloodsplatter paint effect.

 

image.jpg

 

Feels like the method would only be a worthwhile endeavor on a mini with large, relatively flat, panels such as a DE Raider, a Land Raider, Thunderhawk, etc.

 

PA minis might be too small to make the effect noticeable?

Yes and no, and also sorta. Now mind, I'm speaking from an automotive perspective, and some of the materials that we use are different, but as before, the basic theory is the same, just on a somewhat smaller scale. Cars of course have small and fine details that we sometimes paint, and the pearl effect (or chromatic shift more technically) still occurs, we've also applied a conformal vinyl with the same color effects that Sculder is looking for on some fairly fine detail, and the visual effect is still visible. It would look better on larger plain surfaces, but the chromatic shift is best observes on curves where the interplay of lighting will highlight different fleck of pearl.

 

In a way it sounds like a really difficult technique, and to some degree it is, but it's actually not much more difficult than say layering washes, it just requires specific equipment and knowledge, while also being willing to experiment to get the effect. The trick is to not overload on the interference flake layers, and to make sure that the tint and pearl powder have suitably mixed before spraying.

 

I'm also gonna say the model could be sealed in a matte finish instead of gloss and still preserve some of the chromatic shift effects, but until I experiment with it, I can't say how muted the effect would become. Which thinking about how to do this has kinda inspired me to dig out my air brush and find some models to play around with, try to maybe do a candy blue or some wild color shift.

Ok, so I tried to nailpolish technique, and it worked to a degree I was happy with for small scale. I did a white undercoat, then a couple things layers of the polish, then a clear glazing medium. I didn't like the look until I hit it with a very, very, very dilute black ink wash. Suddenly then the imperfections popped and gave it the contrast it needed to look pearlescent. It doesn't photograph well being so shiny, but I tried my best to get it.

RtoLegB.jpg
I've yet to try it myself, though I have the paints for it, but what about interference paints? Might be a bit complicated but done right will give the multicolor effects of mother of pearl. A base of white with maybe an iridescent medium to start, then the interference paints, and you might have what your looking for. But like I said I still haven't begun testing this myself. I should really get to that.

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