@@VinceVenturella i have been converted to the church of Vallejo Metal Colour thanks to your video, never looked back. Probably my best hobby purchases up there with getting a wet palette and an airbrush
Next, we need to do gold, because that's probably the hardest for me, my personal options at the moment are all a bit lacking (even the vallejo metal color, which is naturally a bit green, and kind of conditionates my gold painting) Honestly, if I paint right now with vallejo metal colors, is thanks to you, and I can't be more happy with it. You have told us time and time again about the quality of the range, and that's why I picked mine a couple years ago, and it has improved the quality of my TMM a lot. PS: Congrats on the 300 HC video! Here's for 300 more :D
I'm very passionate about my Scale75 golds. VMC is good, but limited color range, and inefficiency in mixing for large army projects, hurts it. Like, you have to do mixes of various other colors with VMC Gold, in order to get it look a certain way. Not a bad thing, if you are competition painting, but annoying for an army painter.
@@OnboardG1 I had both copper and gold and they went gloopy within a year. Couldn't revive them either... Now i am hesitant buyng VMC range paints again.
Sir. I’ve just tested the metal color myself. These are on the expensive side, so I hesitated to buy them, but bought anyway because you said it’s worth it. Man - you were right. This is like THE metal paint. Now I’m eager to get the whole range… Thank you. For being “metal paint snob” as well.
I got some 75ml tubes at the corner shop, copper, silver, gold. The copper is spot on, the silver too, the gold is that fake looking very yellow one. Mix it half and half with the silver and it gets much better. add a wee dab of copper and it's spot on. The coverage is great, one thin layer and it spreads beautifully. They cost 1.85€ each for a very generous amount. No visible particles.
Vince, congratulations on 300 HCs! Many, many people already told you how valuable these tutorials are and I will simply join in. You are a motivation to paint more and better on a good day and a safety net on bad days. Your simple, 'unedited' style is a much appreciated. I could say a lot more but you have to read many more comments, so thanks again for all the work and we raise our paint pots in your honour, today. Cheers, Prost, Salute!
@@VinceVenturella Hey Vince you should check out Mehron's metallic makeup powder, its made of aluminum powder just like the GSW metals, it has a good bronze colour in its range and some other colours like rose gold and lavender gold.
I really appreciate how technical but straightforward these videos are. They're just informative, answer the question I came to them for, and demonstrate how the conclusion was reached.
"Is it every single steel paint on the market...", " ..no.." I'm a bit shocked you left a some metal paints lost in the warp;) "..In this completely scientific and objectives.." this goes without saying from such an high quality channel. Oh, congrats from reaching the 300 mark. That's an impressive feat, and a whole lot of ressources for the community. Thanks * 300.
Cant agree more with the outcome. You have been vindicatedMr Vince after all your recommendations of this range! You didnt give S75 a fair go though having chosen the worst of all its silvers!!! By the by- you gotta do the gold test especially since metal colour only carries the one shade. I use it but, I'm still looking for the sweet spot. Congrats on 300
The Scale75 Metal and Alchemy range really shine for various blending techniques. Laying down a nice opaque base coat with one of the Metal Color paints gives a great canvas to build a really cool looking metal on.
@@VinceVenturella a lot of people tend to be dissapointed with Alchemy paints, because they don't use them as a set, but one or two and are surprised the results are all wrong. While I hardly can say they are the best metallics there is, as a set they are hard to beat.
Congrats on 300 videos!! Absolutely beyond valuable, I wouldn't be half the mini painter I am in just a few months since starting the hobby without this treasure trove of expertise. I got a couple VMC bottles on your advice and couldn't be happier with them! I especially like the ones that are slightly tinted, like Pale Burnt Metal. I've had a lot of luck experimenting with using a dark shade and light shade to blend NMM techniques with TMM paint, too. Even just drybrushing the light shade over the dark one looks awesome on a really textured surface. It pops like no tomorrow!
Such a great video! Y'know in history class when you're researching a specific historical event for a project and it turns out that there's a super specific journal article that exactly matches what you're looking for? This like that, but with acrylic metal paints.
This is a very informative video that answers my ongoing question on what’s the best types of acrylic metallics to brush paint! I really miss the old Polly S / Polly Scale metallics that no longer exist. Thank You for posting this demonstration and I’ll be off to my local hobby shop that sells AV Vallejo paints!
I picked up a bunch of Metal Color paints based on your recommendation a while back, and I have never been more pleased with the look of my metallics since I started painting with acrylics.
I'm still so happy that one of the great miniature painters loves metallic colors. Most others are always on about nmm, but you show me that metallics have a place at high tier painting
I love metallic paints and use both all the time. I don't like people dispariging TMM, it doesn't make sense to me. Both things can exist and be good in different ways. :)
Thanks, very useful. Here's one I learned is terrible this weekend: Abteilung 502 ABT205 Metallic Silver oil paint. Very large, visible pigment grains. Amazed that they actually released it as is.
This channel is a goldmine rich of 300 nuggets and growing. There is more if you have the curiosity to check the other content. Thank you for the time you spend sharing and giving generously all this knowledge. I hope I ll be able to take one of your classes one day.
Thank you so much for this video. I needed this information to make the right selection of metallic paint. For my action figures metal buckles and other silver accessories
Congrats on 300!! This was fun I was rooting for my Metal Colors and they didn't disappoint. I was also impressed by the Nostalgia 88. We definitely need Gold and Copper. I LOVE Metal Color Copper, but gold I still haven't nailed down a favorite.
I have had good experiences with the pro acrylic and the Vallejo metal, just bought some scale 75 see how I feel about it. Alot of the others I was not a fan of
Vallejo metal colour Duralumin has been my go-to lately, through an airbrush (as god intended) and it's amazing. I used to prime with a gloss black, and then realised it wasn't needed. A matt surface was producing just as much shine from the paint after a second quick pass.
Just wanted to say thanks for all the videos Vince, they've been an incredible resource as I've started my hobby journey. Love how much you talk about working with TMM, as I have also found I love working with metallic paints. I would love to see you do a video on some of the colored metallic paints out there like Turbodork or Army Painter- unless I missed it somewhere in the first 299 episodes.
I have been searching for a unique paint scheme for my grey knights for months and I think you just solved it for me! Valejo metal steel with a dry brush of green stuff anthrax. I LOVE the darker steel and the reflections off the valejo are crazy
In my own research I found that a LOT of scale modellers also love Vallejo Metal Color for its other properties such as durability. Personally, I love them too! (The gold is a little fail, but that's more the particular colour choice/shade than the fundamentals of the paint.)
I know this is a couple of years too late, but I just found your video and loved it! I've been a Vallejo fan since pretty much the beginning of me moving from enamels to arylics. I've always found their metallic line to be REALLY good. The Game Air line is definitely a different formulation. I did some research into the different lines (Mecha, Air, Game Air, Game Color, etc) and their "Game" line contains additives to help make the paint more durable so it would work well on miniatures that are handled a lot. I assume that's why there are some texture differences. Obviously their Air and Game Air lines were meant to go through an airbrush, but I've had a lot of good luck painting them with regular brushes. I've been back into the scale model hobby for a few years now and I only just discovered silicone brushes. The metallics definitely work better with the silicone brushes. You get a smoother pass and no brush lines. It's excellent for acrylics because they can dry so damn quickly (especially pre-mixed airbrush colors) and don't generally get a chance to level out before drying. Anyway, hope to see more videos of yours! I'm subscribing and going to thumb through your video catalog later. Thank you for taking the time to make content!
Congratulations! I tried to find the video when I subbed your channel. I guessed it was about the 70s but my history shows it must've been hobby cheating #27. Unbelievable! I watched every video since then. And I learned so much and improved my painting. Thank you so much!
Grats on 300! I agree that the army painter silvers are surprisingly good. I ended up testing -and liking- quite a few army painter paints during the start of COVID when I couldn't find vallejo products anywhere in the states and all 3 of their silvers are completely functional for tabletop level stuff, however I think their golds are complete junk. I was surprised to see that VGC gun metal didnt make the cut. Maybe its because I use the game air gun metal but I love using it as a base coat for layering bright silvers over or if I'm just looking for a really dark silver. Great video! Looking forward to the next 300!
300 hobby cheating videos! Insane. You should be knighted for your services to the hobby. Your videos have inspired me as well as taught me anything from the basics to the hardest techniques. Although I am still a noob at painting, restarting the hobby after a 15 year break, it is videos from your series that I keep coming back to. Thanks Vince. And here's to the next 300! 😏🤙
Congrats on 300, thank you so much for your time you put into these videos. Cant thank you enough. Would love to thank you in person, perhaps next time you come to Nottingham!
Vallejo Metal Color: Duraluminum is the greatest single paint I have EVER found. It works for SO many things, so many situations...its perfection in a bottle.
From what I have tested, Vallejo Metal Color range seems to be the best for fast and quality basecoating. It also is the finest applyed by airbrush. Scale 75 metals are awful as basecoats but they have the finest and most interesting tones for quality highlighting and TMM. For me Citadel is well balanced between these two: beautiful color range, decent opacity and intermediate metallic grain size. Nice to see all those other brands I have never seen. Good video!
Congrats on the 300 HC!! I’ve learned so much from these. I got on the HC train at ep85 when looking for ways to paint marble bases for my Harlequins. My favourite metallic method is paint VMC silver then heavily water down VMC steel and use it as a wash. VMC exhaust manifold is another fantastic colour for a more brown metal.
im glad i have exactly the nº1 and nº2 in my desk with me. I also really love how nº2 has a darker hue and thus is associeted by me to a very different type of steel. I painted my SM with a base coat of nº2 and then nº1 and my necrons with nº2 only and they look completly different on the table but they both read as metallic.
I started using VMC paints and they are something else. The way they flow off the brush is incredible. Just like you described, they cover well and look realistic. Only downside is that the settle extremely fast and need to be mixed well even in the pallet. Couldn't be happier with your [continued] recommendation.
One i've had a lot of good use out of is Privateer Press'es Boiler Black. Its kind of like a midpoint between Leadbelcher and iron warriors with a natural look like a mild nuln oil wash when it dries. Only trouble is its not as easy to come by when you can just grab something like leadbelcher off any hobby store shelf.
Thanks for the in depth tutorial. I’m going to do some re paints on my mcfarlane dc figures. I was looking for some really good steel colors for superboy prime. And Batman figures that are wearing medieval armor.
One character I actually like in metals for some uses is ones that you can see the grains in it. It adds a look of a manually hammered and shaped piece, where the scale of the flake looks like small jeweler's hammer blows to scale. I use that when I want a rich, detailed gold. But if I want a clean, sharp metal look like chrome, I go for Molotow liquid chrome. For stuff that's meant to be just normal pieces of metal, I tend to go for the Vallejo metal color.
Good video! I will say, though... watching your videos (and a lot of other channels dealing with miniature painting), I continue to be confused by the absence of P3 paints. Since Warmachine MKII came out, I dropped Citadel in favor of P3, and have no regrets. I have a lot (and have tried MANY MORE) paints over the years, but P3 as a range (and ESPECIALLY their metallics!) is always my go-to. Now, I fell out of love with PP as a company around the time I and all the other Pressgangers were dumped/CID was started/etc. etc., so I'm DEFINITELY not just fanboying over them as a company, but imo the quality of their paint range is criminally underrated, unrepresented, and essentially absent within the UA-cam painting community. Pig Iron, Deathless Metal, Blighted Gold, Rhulic Gold, Galvanized Steel, Cold Steel... just some of their great metallic range. Is there a reason for this lack of usage by painters that I'm unaware?
Sure, simple explanation, they are in pots and hard to generally find at local stores. It's nothing more complicated than that. I actually like P3, but I generally find pots quite annoying. Sam Lenz is a fan of them, but the range is sadly quite hard to find.
@@VinceVenturella fair enough. I totally agree with you about the pots: I always throw them in a dropper bottle when I get them. And for that matter, I do agree that they're not the most common. I just love their workability, covered, and the tones you can get out of them. Now, to binge more of your vids😎
I used vallejo metal color gold for my chaos raptors and although the coverage was really good on the first pass, the paint was very hard to control . I made sure to wick off some of the paint to prevent overspill on the trim but it was useless because it still go on details I didn't want gold. Imo I feel like GW paints give a good compromise between opacity and control.
so i did my own testing for different steel colours, and my findings are: you cannot tell stormhost silver and vallejo air silver apart, once both reach opacity. however, i will say this: the air silver is already nice and thin but still covers in one go. same cannot be said for Citadels paint. the finish with the vallejo is much smother and just plain and simple saves time.
Emil from Squidmar did a video comparing gold acrylic paints. I commented about using nmm techniques with tmm paints. No response on that from his end, but I think it would be a cool use of the different paints together. Also, I can see where the effects created by the lower end paints might be desirable depending on what look you are going for.
I know you said this is not a full list, but I wanted to suggest another. A couple months ago I switched from vallejo metal color (because it is super hard to find half the colors) over to dark star molten metals. I have not looked back; dark star blew me away, 110%
I could never find vallejo metal colors in more colors than steel or silver or others along those lines. I was looking for a good bronze, brass, etc, and found dark star just had the look I liked, and some.formula p3 colors I really like (blighted gold, deathless metal, etc)
Congratulations on the 300th episode. I was converted to the Metal Colour colour range quite a while back on your recommendation, but it’s nice to see they still hold up. Thanks for all the great hobby content, looking forward to the 400th.
Great video! I always appreciate comparison videos. I picked up some Vallejo metal color per your recommendation awhile back. I remember being giddy about how great it looked on my models.
Thanks for a great video. I completely agree. I haven't tried quite as many, but based on my testing Vallejo metal colors are just above the rest. Scale 75 Speed Metal is really bad, but some of their other metal paints are quite good in my experience but not on par with Vallejo metal color. The biggest problem with the Vallejo line is that it is primarily focused around steel/silver like colors.
Perhaps, but the Metal Color range is even better through the airbrush than with the hairy stick so why keep a bunch of one-trick ponies around? That said, the various colored metallics (thinking Scale75 Metal and Alchemy range in particular) are great to have around for accent and pop colors.
@@helotaxi I got all the VMet.C, Scale 75 paints, lots of Citadel, some VMC and VGC metal paints, and some random other metal paints. I agree, of course, that Vallejo Metal Color reign supreme through the airbrush, but I still wouldn't suggest throwing out all other paints out of the window, as you can still get respectable results with them when used the right way.
@@VinceVenturella I saw his video about gold but I think he never checked really the visibility of the metal flakes like you. With some ratings from squidmar I disagreed. In addition you dont compare only one gold from Vallejo but several... Plus you are my ultimate painting guru! Because of you I painted my huge wotr army (you can see it on my UA-cam channel) which was only possible because of your videos.
id love to see gold and copper/bronze versions in the future. and also comparing non-acrylic paints, like oils or enamels. or even the oddballs like the wax metallics. though I doubt you'd go out and buy that stuff just for a video.
Vallejo's metal air paints are nuts. Dark Aluminium is the 'generic metal' pain I chose and it's great. Edit; And there you go, three metal air's in the final. I'm surprised by how good that Nostalgia 88 paint is, that's amazing! I've never had the opportunity to use the really old paints, I wonder if they were heavier on the pigments back then and are using less now for cost/benefit. I'm not saying more is better, I haven't tried the scale range, but the balance might be really good.
TFW you click the video knowing full well that VMC was gonna win, but nontheless were excited to see where Scale75 would rank... and then you see it go onto the shield looking like school PVA glue. Can't believe how poorly that S75 Speed Metal performed! After getting into painting again after 15 or so years, having picked Scale 75 paints, this was a blow, indeed. I haven't used Speed Metal yet, only Black Metal as a base, and actually was surprised at just how bright and silvery the finish is, as I was expecting a much darker base colour from something called BLACK metal. One has to wonder if you had a dud bottle, as it honestly looked like 90% medium, but it was shaken & stirred just like all the others, so I dunno. Crazy. I'm working on my WHF Vampire Counts army currently, but have Iron Warriors in the pipeline, for which I am definitely looking to pick up VMC range!
I've still got a pot of 1992 vintage Citadel Color: Chainmail, and a pot of the Armor Wash from the same time. Glad I'm not the only one that thinks it is still among the best "steel" paints there is. These days it is all about the Vallejo Metal Color or AK True Metal though. I like the look of AK True Metal over Vallejo Metal Color, but it isn't an acrylic, so requires separate tools and thinners, and needs a layer of varnish before applying acrylics over it.
I love VMC steel. It’s almost like a metal contrast paint since it likes to self-shade. Have to admit my second choice tend to be the more recent GW metallics. They’ve really improved the composition. The rune lord brass base has been a godsend speed painting crons.
Let's be honest here - it was either Metal Color or zenithal for 300th episode ;) Congratulations on reaching a huge milestone and I look forward to next ones!
The Scale 75 speed metal almost looks like it hasn't been fully mixed, my experience with is has been quite different to what was shown here. Granted, the Scale 75 paints need mixed for an absolute age to get properly suspended. No surprise in the Vallejo Metal Colors winning it, their Gunmetal is my go to for a base metallic, so good!
Vallejo Air Chrome. I own the Vallejo Metal Colors and they are great but Vallejo Air Chrome is just an amazing light steel color and can be mixed well mith Liquitex Inks to get a darker color.
Vallejo FAQ 2014:The aluminum and copper-zincalloy pigmented colors which are better not varnished are the Model Air references from 71.062 to 71.068. The Model Air iridescent colors reference numbers 71.69-71.073 can be varnished
Green Stuff World Chrome brush version is my favorite, best chrome i've ever used, it's recommended to be applied in a dabbing motion with a brush but also airbrushes great with some alcohol thinning, Vallejo Liquid series is prob the best metallics from Vallejo, only have the gold version and it's great plus it's airbrush ready.
Any recommendations for a higher viscosity metallic for the controlled application of the brightest specular highlights? I really like the Metal Color range for everything except the times I want something that is a bit thicker and thus easier to control for tiny dots and razor thin edge highlights. I really only need a single paint like this, because those maximal highlights will always be the brightest, whitest, metallic possible if I am going to the effort of tiny highlights on top of basic highlights.
I'd think Scale75 Speed Metal or White Alchemy would be exactly what you're looking for. White Alchemy is literally a metallic white and both have the general properties of the Scale75 paints in that they are a gel medium and can be taken down to a glaze with water.
So any of the thick paints here are fine for those kind of dot and spread method. That said, I love edge highlighting with VMeC, you wick off most of the excess and just trace lightly along an edge, it's so good for edge highlighting.
Have you forgotten a few? Sure I can mention two metal paints. Andrea Miniatures paint and Privateer Press/P3 metal paints. However i believe you mentioned in another video that Andrea Miniatures are hard to come by in the US and if getting P3 in the US, is anything like it is in Denmark, i can understand why its not there. But other than that great video, hope to one day see Hobby cheating 600 where the perfect superglue is tested. The testing model will be the old breatonian Pegasus knights with metal wings and plastic body, the test is find the superglue that will hold these wings in place for an entire tournament, with transport and everything.
I'm only at 00:47 but you never did greenstuffworld's Pure Metal Pigments which you said were some of the nicest metallic surpassing vallejo alcohol based metallics like 3 -4 months ago. 🤔 i guess the pure metal pigments didn't have steel color all were gold or copper or bronze.
Thanks for the review and congrats on 300! I seriously don't get why folks praise Metal Color SO MUCH though. Yes, it is good, but not THAT good for brushes (talking consistency), and only 2-4 paints from a range of 17 are worth getting as the rest is literally worthless for miniatures. Now imagine if Vallejo had the reason to make a proper metallic range (think Model Air Steel qualities, but Darkstar color range) instead of riding the Metal Color hype. I seriously doubt the reasoning for not doing it is of "physically impossible to make" nature. If your upcoming solution to golds is GSW pigments, then yeah, wouldn't it be neat for that to be a ready-to-go thing.
I have found them to be amazing (and I think I showed here) that by brush, they really do distinguish themselves. That being said, you really don't need all of the range, that is very true.
@@VinceVenturella Not disputing the quality of the paint and results, I just think Vallejo could've done a better all-rounder "miniature painting" metallics range instead of MC. Potential seems to be there. Model Air covers silvers/steels pretty sufficiently, so Metal Color is a bit redundant in that regard too - lets be honest, how "life-like" metal really needs to be on miniatures, where other areas are rarely "realistic".
Great video, thanks! So many options with paints means a lot of choice paralysis - great to see objective comparison. There’s a few newer GW metallics, and I’m finding Iron hands steel is a step up for their silvers
As a new hobbyist, I'm having a lot of problems with the metallic paints. They dry super fast on the wet palette and sometimes even on my brush which makes application really difficult. I'm surprised you were able to pour out all the paints and be able to use the last ones that easily. Mine would've been a solid dry blob by the time I got to it.
So a few tips. First, use a dry well palette, in the well, you will get the least surface area and have the longest worktime. You should also look into the more liquid metallics I use here that win out, something like Vallejo Metal Color is the best, but also something like Vallejo Air Chrome or Silver is also fantastic.
Calling it now. Vallejo Metal Colour, Thank you and good night
You failed to say which one, now I have insomnia you ****
You may be onto something.
@@VinceVenturella i have been converted to the church of Vallejo Metal Colour thanks to your video, never looked back. Probably my best hobby purchases up there with getting a wet palette and an airbrush
When you know the outcome, but have to watch it anyway! Congrats on the 300, I've loved them all and can't wait to see more.
I'm still in round 1 but VMC Steel is a champ
Thank you, more to come for sure. :)
Next, we need to do gold, because that's probably the hardest for me, my personal options at the moment are all a bit lacking (even the vallejo metal color, which is naturally a bit green, and kind of conditionates my gold painting)
Honestly, if I paint right now with vallejo metal colors, is thanks to you, and I can't be more happy with it. You have told us time and time again about the quality of the range, and that's why I picked mine a couple years ago, and it has improved the quality of my TMM a lot.
PS: Congrats on the 300 HC video! Here's for 300 more :D
I think Emil did a gold test and came to the conclusion that GW gold was the best.
I'm very passionate about my Scale75 golds. VMC is good, but limited color range, and inefficiency in mixing for large army projects, hurts it. Like, you have to do mixes of various other colors with VMC Gold, in order to get it look a certain way. Not a bad thing, if you are competition painting, but annoying for an army painter.
The only VMC colour I’ve had issues with is the copper which went gloopy. I think the seal on the bottle might have been compromised.
@@Ben-fk9ey I think he didn't prepare some of them correctly
@@OnboardG1 I had both copper and gold and they went gloopy within a year. Couldn't revive them either... Now i am hesitant buyng VMC range paints again.
Sir. I’ve just tested the metal color myself. These are on the expensive side, so I hesitated to buy them, but bought anyway because you said it’s worth it. Man - you were right. This is like THE metal paint. Now I’m eager to get the whole range…
Thank you. For being “metal paint snob” as well.
I got some 75ml tubes at the corner shop, copper, silver, gold. The copper is spot on, the silver too, the gold is that fake looking very yellow one. Mix it half and half with the silver and it gets much better. add a wee dab of copper and it's spot on. The coverage is great, one thin layer and it spreads beautifully. They cost 1.85€ each for a very generous amount. No visible particles.
Vince, congratulations on 300 HCs! Many, many people already told you how valuable these tutorials are and I will simply join in. You are a motivation to paint more and better on a good day and a safety net on bad days. Your simple, 'unedited' style is a much appreciated. I could say a lot more but you have to read many more comments, so thanks again for all the work and we raise our paint pots in your honour, today. Cheers, Prost, Salute!
Thank you, always happy to help. :)
Can't wait for the gold episode
Hope we don't need to wait till HC episode 400 for it.
I might take a different tack there. We will see. :)
@@VinceVenturella cool. Thanks Vince.
@@VinceVenturella Hey Vince you should check out Mehron's metallic makeup powder, its made of aluminum powder just like the GSW metals, it has a good bronze colour in its range and some other colours like rose gold and lavender gold.
I really appreciate how technical but straightforward these videos are. They're just informative, answer the question I came to them for, and demonstrate how the conclusion was reached.
Thank you, that is always the goal.
300! You are a beast, Vince. And truly one of the most treasured members of the hobby community. Cheers to you, my dude!
Much appreciated!
"Is it every single steel paint on the market...", " ..no.." I'm a bit shocked you left a some metal paints lost in the warp;)
"..In this completely scientific and objectives.." this goes without saying from such an high quality channel.
Oh, congrats from reaching the 300 mark. That's an impressive feat, and a whole lot of ressources for the community. Thanks * 300.
😁
300 episodes man. That’s a lot of cheating.
Could be a rookie politician with that amount.
It's been a long journey. :)
Cant agree more with the outcome. You have been vindicatedMr Vince after all your recommendations of this range! You didnt give S75 a fair go though having chosen the worst of all its silvers!!! By the by- you gotta do the gold test especially since metal colour only carries the one shade. I use it but, I'm still looking for the sweet spot. Congrats on 300
scale 75 black metal is unreal, i love that paint so much
Can't agree more, Metal Alchemy sets are supposed to be used together and any work should be done after using black metal over black coat
The Scale75 Metal and Alchemy range really shine for various blending techniques. Laying down a nice opaque base coat with one of the Metal Color paints gives a great canvas to build a really cool looking metal on.
Clearly, I should have picked the black metal. :)
@@VinceVenturella a lot of people tend to be dissapointed with Alchemy paints, because they don't use them as a set, but one or two and are surprised the results are all wrong. While I hardly can say they are the best metallics there is, as a set they are hard to beat.
Congrats on 300 videos!! Absolutely beyond valuable, I wouldn't be half the mini painter I am in just a few months since starting the hobby without this treasure trove of expertise. I got a couple VMC bottles on your advice and couldn't be happier with them! I especially like the ones that are slightly tinted, like Pale Burnt Metal. I've had a lot of luck experimenting with using a dark shade and light shade to blend NMM techniques with TMM paint, too. Even just drybrushing the light shade over the dark one looks awesome on a really textured surface. It pops like no tomorrow!
Awesome, always happy to help. :)
Such a great video! Y'know in history class when you're researching a specific historical event for a project and it turns out that there's a super specific journal article that exactly matches what you're looking for? This like that, but with acrylic metal paints.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is a very informative video that answers my ongoing question on what’s the best types of acrylic metallics to brush paint! I really miss the old Polly S / Polly Scale metallics that no longer exist. Thank You for posting this demonstration and I’ll be off to my local hobby shop that sells AV Vallejo paints!
I picked up a bunch of Metal Color paints based on your recommendation a while back, and I have never been more pleased with the look of my metallics since I started painting with acrylics.
100%
Thank you a lot for the analytical approach! Great value provided here
Glad it was helpful!
I'm still so happy that one of the great miniature painters loves metallic colors. Most others are always on about nmm, but you show me that metallics have a place at high tier painting
I love metallic paints and use both all the time. I don't like people dispariging TMM, it doesn't make sense to me. Both things can exist and be good in different ways. :)
@@VinceVenturella exactly. I personally don't like the look of NMM, but I can recognize and respect the technical and skilllevel aspect of it
Exaust Manifold from Vallejo metal color has become my favorite for a quick one coat dark metal look. This line is incredible!
Couldn't agree more!
Thanks, very useful. Here's one I learned is terrible this weekend: Abteilung 502 ABT205 Metallic Silver oil paint. Very large, visible pigment grains. Amazed that they actually released it as is.
Yep, I have it, it's terrible.
Loved this video. Would love to see you do other kinds of metallics! First things that come to mind are gold and Brass!
Yep, I have something slightly different planned, but Squidmar did a comparison on his channel. :)
Congratulations on 300!
Thank you!
This channel is a goldmine rich of 300 nuggets and growing. There is more if you have the curiosity to check the other content. Thank you for the time you spend sharing and giving generously all this knowledge. I hope I ll be able to take one of your classes one day.
Thank you so much. :)
Thank you so much for this video. I needed this information to make the right selection of metallic paint. For my action figures metal buckles and other silver accessories
Congrats on 300!! This was fun I was rooting for my Metal Colors and they didn't disappoint. I was also impressed by the Nostalgia 88.
We definitely need Gold and Copper. I LOVE Metal Color Copper, but gold I still haven't nailed down a favorite.
I will have something coming soon. :)
I have had good experiences with the pro acrylic and the Vallejo metal, just bought some scale 75 see how I feel about it. Alot of the others I was not a fan of
Forgot to put, all thanks to your video showing them off
Vallejo metal colour Duralumin has been my go-to lately, through an airbrush (as god intended) and it's amazing. I used to prime with a gloss black, and then realised it wasn't needed. A matt surface was producing just as much shine from the paint after a second quick pass.
Yep, you got it.
it's my GW leadbelcher replacement.
300, legend! Thanks for all your hard work and dedication.
Thank you too! It's been a fun journey and many more to come.
Just wanted to say thanks for all the videos Vince, they've been an incredible resource as I've started my hobby journey. Love how much you talk about working with TMM, as I have also found I love working with metallic paints. I would love to see you do a video on some of the colored metallic paints out there like Turbodork or Army Painter- unless I missed it somewhere in the first 299 episodes.
I have not, but it's a great idea for the future.
I have been searching for a unique paint scheme for my grey knights for months and I think you just solved it for me! Valejo metal steel with a dry brush of green stuff anthrax. I LOVE the darker steel and the reflections off the valejo are crazy
In my own research I found that a LOT of scale modellers also love Vallejo Metal Color for its other properties such as durability. Personally, I love them too! (The gold is a little fail, but that's more the particular colour choice/shade than the fundamentals of the paint.)
Right on
Congrats on 300! Here’s to 300 more!
Right on
Feel like I new the winners before I even clicked play! Still great to see them up against a bunch of other brands. Keep up the great work
Thank you!
Congrats in the 300 Hobby Cheating video! And thank you so much for all of the massive tips
Always happy to help. :)
I know this is a couple of years too late, but I just found your video and loved it! I've been a Vallejo fan since pretty much the beginning of me moving from enamels to arylics. I've always found their metallic line to be REALLY good. The Game Air line is definitely a different formulation. I did some research into the different lines (Mecha, Air, Game Air, Game Color, etc) and their "Game" line contains additives to help make the paint more durable so it would work well on miniatures that are handled a lot. I assume that's why there are some texture differences. Obviously their Air and Game Air lines were meant to go through an airbrush, but I've had a lot of good luck painting them with regular brushes. I've been back into the scale model hobby for a few years now and I only just discovered silicone brushes. The metallics definitely work better with the silicone brushes. You get a smoother pass and no brush lines. It's excellent for acrylics because they can dry so damn quickly (especially pre-mixed airbrush colors) and don't generally get a chance to level out before drying.
Anyway, hope to see more videos of yours! I'm subscribing and going to thumb through your video catalog later. Thank you for taking the time to make content!
Happy to help as always.
Congratulations!
I tried to find the video when I subbed your channel. I guessed it was about the 70s but my history shows it must've been hobby cheating #27. Unbelievable! I watched every video since then. And I learned so much and improved my painting.
Thank you so much!
That's amazing and wonderful. :) - Glad to have you along on the hobby journey.
Glad the metal color air won as I just bought a few on your recommendation!
Same. That paint is amazing.
It's just amazing paint.
Great 300th episode
So glad you take us along on this hobby journey
Thanks
Thank you, glad it's been a fun journey.
Grats on 300!
I agree that the army painter silvers are surprisingly good. I ended up testing -and liking- quite a few army painter paints during the start of COVID when I couldn't find vallejo products anywhere in the states and all 3 of their silvers are completely functional for tabletop level stuff, however I think their golds are complete junk.
I was surprised to see that VGC gun metal didnt make the cut. Maybe its because I use the game air gun metal but I love using it as a base coat for layering bright silvers over or if I'm just looking for a really dark silver.
Great video! Looking forward to the next 300!
I agree, 300 more to come
Fantastic comparison. Thankyou, saved me lots of time and money.
Glad it helped!
300 hobby cheating videos! Insane.
You should be knighted for your services to the hobby. Your videos have inspired me as well as taught me anything from the basics to the hardest techniques. Although I am still a noob at painting, restarting the hobby after a 15 year break, it is videos from your series that I keep coming back to.
Thanks Vince. And here's to the next 300! 😏🤙
Thank you, that means a great deal. :) - Onward and upward!
The model air silver is the best silver I've used, but I was shocked to see pro-acryl go in the first round... Their gold's were a game changer for me
Congrats on 300, thank you so much for your time you put into these videos. Cant thank you enough. Would love to thank you in person, perhaps next time you come to Nottingham!
I hope to be over there next year. :)
Vallejo Metal Color: Duraluminum is the greatest single paint I have EVER found. It works for SO many things, so many situations...its perfection in a bottle.
Twenty two! I can't even count that high!
Congrats on hitting 300! That's even more than twenty two!
A few more, I think, math is tricky. ;)
My favourite is duraluminium from Vallejo, great with washes over it & not as "brushy" when applied.
Great video, and as always, you remain a great source of advice on the wide world of hobby paint!
Glad to help :)
The intro is lit! (I don't know what that means, but all the kids are saying it these days) Thanks for the video.
Glad you like it! :)
You’re a national treasure, just sayin. You just saved a lot of people a lot of money experimenting on their own. Thanks.
Happy to help
From what I have tested, Vallejo Metal Color range seems to be the best for fast and quality basecoating. It also is the finest applyed by airbrush. Scale 75 metals are awful as basecoats but they have the finest and most interesting tones for quality highlighting and TMM. For me Citadel is well balanced between these two: beautiful color range, decent opacity and intermediate metallic grain size. Nice to see all those other brands I have never seen. Good video!
Good notes.
Congrats on 300!! Thank you and looking forward to 300 more ;)
You got it!
Congratulations on the 300, lots and lots of really excellent videos which have helped me and plenty of other folks too 🙌🙌🙌
Excellent, always happy to help. :)
Great video thank you for this. You convinced me to buy vallejo metal color some time ago and I love it
Rock on!
Congrats on the 300 episodes of sharing painting wisdom. :)
Thank you! Cheers!
Congrats on the 300 HC!! I’ve learned so much from these. I got on the HC train at ep85 when looking for ways to paint marble bases for my Harlequins. My favourite metallic method is paint VMC silver then heavily water down VMC steel and use it as a wash. VMC exhaust manifold is another fantastic colour for a more brown metal.
Nice, I like that.
im glad i have exactly the nº1 and nº2 in my desk with me. I also really love how nº2 has a darker hue and thus is associeted by me to a very different type of steel. I painted my SM with a base coat of nº2 and then nº1 and my necrons with nº2 only and they look completly different on the table but they both read as metallic.
Makes sense.
I started using VMC paints and they are something else. The way they flow off the brush is incredible. Just like you described, they cover well and look realistic. Only downside is that the settle extremely fast and need to be mixed well even in the pallet. Couldn't be happier with your [continued] recommendation.
Always happy to help. :)
Love this! I still hate running acrylic metallics through my airbrush but it's nice to see what works best with brush.
Happy to help as always. :)
One i've had a lot of good use out of is Privateer Press'es Boiler Black. Its kind of like a midpoint between Leadbelcher and iron warriors with a natural look like a mild nuln oil wash when it dries. Only trouble is its not as easy to come by when you can just grab something like leadbelcher off any hobby store shelf.
Never really used any of the P3 and it's getting harder to get, so I can't speak to that range.
Thanks for the in depth tutorial. I’m going to do some re paints on my mcfarlane dc figures. I was looking for some really good steel colors for superboy prime. And Batman figures that are wearing medieval armor.
Glad I could help!
One character I actually like in metals for some uses is ones that you can see the grains in it. It adds a look of a manually hammered and shaped piece, where the scale of the flake looks like small jeweler's hammer blows to scale. I use that when I want a rich, detailed gold. But if I want a clean, sharp metal look like chrome, I go for Molotow liquid chrome. For stuff that's meant to be just normal pieces of metal, I tend to go for the Vallejo metal color.
The molotow is great. :)
Good video! I will say, though... watching your videos (and a lot of other channels dealing with miniature painting), I continue to be confused by the absence of P3 paints. Since Warmachine MKII came out, I dropped Citadel in favor of P3, and have no regrets. I have a lot (and have tried MANY MORE) paints over the years, but P3 as a range (and ESPECIALLY their metallics!) is always my go-to. Now, I fell out of love with PP as a company around the time I and all the other Pressgangers were dumped/CID was started/etc. etc., so I'm DEFINITELY not just fanboying over them as a company, but imo the quality of their paint range is criminally underrated, unrepresented, and essentially absent within the UA-cam painting community. Pig Iron, Deathless Metal, Blighted Gold, Rhulic Gold, Galvanized Steel, Cold Steel... just some of their great metallic range.
Is there a reason for this lack of usage by painters that I'm unaware?
Sure, simple explanation, they are in pots and hard to generally find at local stores. It's nothing more complicated than that. I actually like P3, but I generally find pots quite annoying. Sam Lenz is a fan of them, but the range is sadly quite hard to find.
@@VinceVenturella fair enough. I totally agree with you about the pots: I always throw them in a dropper bottle when I get them. And for that matter, I do agree that they're not the most common. I just love their workability, covered, and the tones you can get out of them.
Now, to binge more of your vids😎
Now gold, please! Or do you agree with the squidmar ranking? They ranked retributor gold higher than liquid gold! Outrageous ;)
Well, that was because of the airbrush, as he explained, he said in brush it kind of sucked, but I have something slightly different planned for gold.
@@VinceVenturella we all knew there was something off ;)
I used vallejo metal color gold for my chaos raptors and although the coverage was really good on the first pass, the paint was very hard to control . I made sure to wick off some of the paint to prevent overspill on the trim but it was useless because it still go on details I didn't want gold. Imo I feel like GW paints give a good compromise between opacity and control.
So the key with those cases is to wick multiple times, but you do have to be careful.
so i did my own testing for different steel colours, and my findings are: you cannot tell stormhost silver and vallejo air silver apart, once both reach opacity. however, i will say this: the air silver is already nice and thin but still covers in one go. same cannot be said for Citadels paint. the finish with the vallejo is much smother and just plain and simple saves time.
Yeah, and I think that's really important in the end, time is the one thing you never get more of. :)
@@VinceVenturella if anything, it seems i get less and less of it...
This video was perfectly timed for me. Was discussing possible alternatives to Leadbelcher as a dark silver just last night!
Awesome.
Emil from Squidmar did a video comparing gold acrylic paints. I commented about using nmm techniques with tmm paints. No response on that from his end, but I think it would be a cool use of the different paints together.
Also, I can see where the effects created by the lower end paints might be desirable depending on what look you are going for.
Yeah, I always value a NMM style on a TMM paint.
I know you said this is not a full list, but I wanted to suggest another.
A couple months ago I switched from vallejo metal color (because it is super hard to find half the colors) over to dark star molten metals.
I have not looked back; dark star blew me away, 110%
It's funny, I've used them, they didn't impress me.
I could never find vallejo metal colors in more colors than steel or silver or others along those lines. I was looking for a good bronze, brass, etc, and found dark star just had the look I liked, and some.formula p3 colors I really like (blighted gold, deathless metal, etc)
Congrats on 300!!!!! I need to grab those Vallejo Metal color paints after watching this lol.
Yep, they are completely worth it.
I'm in a pinch to choose between Vallejo Steel and Vallejo Silver for super bright chrome-like gunpla thruster bells.
Silver all the way.
Congratulations on the 300th episode. I was converted to the Metal Colour colour range quite a while back on your recommendation, but it’s nice to see they still hold up. Thanks for all the great hobby content, looking forward to the 400th.
Yep, onward and upward!
Great video! I always appreciate comparison videos.
I picked up some Vallejo metal color per your recommendation awhile back. I remember being giddy about how great it looked on my models.
It's just amazing.
Thanks for a great video. I completely agree. I haven't tried quite as many, but based on my testing Vallejo metal colors are just above the rest. Scale 75 Speed Metal is really bad, but some of their other metal paints are quite good in my experience but not on par with Vallejo metal color. The biggest problem with the Vallejo line is that it is primarily focused around steel/silver like colors.
Yep, wish they had more other tones.
And now the same through an airbrush! I found that some of the lower ranked paints can look surprisingly good through an airbrush.
Perhaps, but the Metal Color range is even better through the airbrush than with the hairy stick so why keep a bunch of one-trick ponies around? That said, the various colored metallics (thinking Scale75 Metal and Alchemy range in particular) are great to have around for accent and pop colors.
@@helotaxi I got all the VMet.C, Scale 75 paints, lots of Citadel, some VMC and VGC metal paints, and some random other metal paints. I agree, of course, that Vallejo Metal Color reign supreme through the airbrush, but I still wouldn't suggest throwing out all other paints out of the window, as you can still get respectable results with them when used the right way.
I'll see what I can do. :)
Thank you Vince!
a gold showdown but be really great.
I'll see what I can do. Squidmar has one right now if you don't want to wait. :)
@@VinceVenturella I saw his video about gold but I think he never checked really the visibility of the metal flakes like you.
With some ratings from squidmar I disagreed.
In addition you dont compare only one gold from Vallejo but several...
Plus you are my ultimate painting guru!
Because of you I painted my huge wotr army (you can see it on my UA-cam channel) which was only possible because of your videos.
id love to see gold and copper/bronze versions in the future. and also comparing non-acrylic paints, like oils or enamels. or even the oddballs like the wax metallics. though I doubt you'd go out and buy that stuff just for a video.
I buy lots of things to try, just for videos as it were. I'll see what I can do, in the meantime, Squidmar did a nice comparitive for golds. :)
Vallejo's metal air paints are nuts. Dark Aluminium is the 'generic metal' pain I chose and it's great.
Edit; And there you go, three metal air's in the final. I'm surprised by how good that Nostalgia 88 paint is, that's amazing! I've never had the opportunity to use the really old paints, I wonder if they were heavier on the pigments back then and are using less now for cost/benefit. I'm not saying more is better, I haven't tried the scale range, but the balance might be really good.
That's my go to as well
The Nostalgia '88 was surprising, I really like it.
TFW you click the video knowing full well that VMC was gonna win, but nontheless were excited to see where Scale75 would rank... and then you see it go onto the shield looking like school PVA glue. Can't believe how poorly that S75 Speed Metal performed! After getting into painting again after 15 or so years, having picked Scale 75 paints, this was a blow, indeed. I haven't used Speed Metal yet, only Black Metal as a base, and actually was surprised at just how bright and silvery the finish is, as I was expecting a much darker base colour from something called BLACK metal. One has to wonder if you had a dud bottle, as it honestly looked like 90% medium, but it was shaken & stirred just like all the others, so I dunno. Crazy.
I'm working on my WHF Vampire Counts army currently, but have Iron Warriors in the pipeline, for which I am definitely looking to pick up VMC range!
Yeah, Ive come to learn I should have used black metal. :)
I've still got a pot of 1992 vintage Citadel Color: Chainmail, and a pot of the Armor Wash from the same time.
Glad I'm not the only one that thinks it is still among the best "steel" paints there is.
These days it is all about the Vallejo Metal Color or AK True Metal though.
I like the look of AK True Metal over Vallejo Metal Color, but it isn't an acrylic, so requires separate tools and thinners, and needs a layer of varnish before applying acrylics over it.
Congratulations to Episode 300!
Thank you!
I love VMC steel. It’s almost like a metal contrast paint since it likes to self-shade. Have to admit my second choice tend to be the more recent GW metallics. They’ve really improved the composition. The rune lord brass base has been a godsend speed painting crons.
Yeah, Vallejo Metal Color is great.
Let's be honest here - it was either Metal Color or zenithal for 300th episode ;) Congratulations on reaching a huge milestone and I look forward to next ones!
Thank you. :)
Great video mate. Love the comparison and the metal ranges can be a pain because they can be miles apart.
Oh, for sure. It's crazy the difference.
The Scale 75 speed metal almost looks like it hasn't been fully mixed, my experience with is has been quite different to what was shown here. Granted, the Scale 75 paints need mixed for an absolute age to get properly suspended.
No surprise in the Vallejo Metal Colors winning it, their Gunmetal is my go to for a base metallic, so good!
Yeah, I gave it a solid minute on the vortex mixer, but there we were.
i use silver paste and buff it. its the best finish ive gotten with trying to reproduce a metal. the gold works well too
Vallejo Air Chrome. I own the Vallejo Metal Colors and they are great but Vallejo Air Chrome is just an amazing light steel color and can be mixed well mith Liquitex Inks to get a darker color.
Good shout.
Vallejo FAQ 2014:The aluminum and copper-zincalloy pigmented colors which are better not varnished are the Model Air references from 71.062 to 71.068. The Model Air iridescent colors reference numbers 71.69-71.073 can be varnished
the reason why Gungrey is not as good as Steel
Good to know. I never varnish any metals. :)
Great episode- thank you for doing these. I’m returning to the hobby and these resources are great
Glad you like them! :)
Love this show and what to look for very specific.
Thank you, happy to help. :)
Green Stuff World Chrome brush version is my favorite, best chrome i've ever used, it's recommended to be applied in a dabbing motion with a brush but also airbrushes great with some alcohol thinning, Vallejo Liquid series is prob the best metallics from Vallejo, only have the gold version and it's great plus it's airbrush ready.
Great run down of all the silver/metail colours! Airbrush specific paints for the win here because they HAVE to have fine pigment and be pre-thinned.
Yep, indeed.
Any recommendations for a higher viscosity metallic for the controlled application of the brightest specular highlights? I really like the Metal Color range for everything except the times I want something that is a bit thicker and thus easier to control for tiny dots and razor thin edge highlights. I really only need a single paint like this, because those maximal highlights will always be the brightest, whitest, metallic possible if I am going to the effort of tiny highlights on top of basic highlights.
I'd think Scale75 Speed Metal or White Alchemy would be exactly what you're looking for. White Alchemy is literally a metallic white and both have the general properties of the Scale75 paints in that they are a gel medium and can be taken down to a glaze with water.
So any of the thick paints here are fine for those kind of dot and spread method. That said, I love edge highlighting with VMeC, you wick off most of the excess and just trace lightly along an edge, it's so good for edge highlighting.
Have you forgotten a few? Sure I can mention two metal paints.
Andrea Miniatures paint and Privateer Press/P3 metal paints.
However i believe you mentioned in another video that Andrea Miniatures are hard to come by in the US and if getting P3 in the US, is anything like it is in Denmark, i can understand why its not there.
But other than that great video, hope to one day see Hobby cheating 600 where the perfect superglue is tested.
The testing model will be the old breatonian Pegasus knights with metal wings and plastic body, the test is find the superglue that will hold these wings in place for an entire tournament, with transport and everything.
That would be an amazing test for sure.
I'm only at 00:47 but you never did greenstuffworld's Pure Metal Pigments which you said were some of the nicest metallic surpassing vallejo alcohol based metallics like 3 -4 months ago. 🤔 i guess the pure metal pigments didn't have steel color all were gold or copper or bronze.
Correct, no steel color.
Thanks for the review and congrats on 300!
I seriously don't get why folks praise Metal Color SO MUCH though. Yes, it is good, but not THAT good for brushes (talking consistency), and only 2-4 paints from a range of 17 are worth getting as the rest is literally worthless for miniatures. Now imagine if Vallejo had the reason to make a proper metallic range (think Model Air Steel qualities, but Darkstar color range) instead of riding the Metal Color hype. I seriously doubt the reasoning for not doing it is of "physically impossible to make" nature.
If your upcoming solution to golds is GSW pigments, then yeah, wouldn't it be neat for that to be a ready-to-go thing.
I have found them to be amazing (and I think I showed here) that by brush, they really do distinguish themselves. That being said, you really don't need all of the range, that is very true.
@@VinceVenturella Not disputing the quality of the paint and results, I just think Vallejo could've done a better all-rounder "miniature painting" metallics range instead of MC. Potential seems to be there. Model Air covers silvers/steels pretty sufficiently, so Metal Color is a bit redundant in that regard too - lets be honest, how "life-like" metal really needs to be on miniatures, where other areas are rarely "realistic".
Great video, thanks! So many options with paints means a lot of choice paralysis - great to see objective comparison. There’s a few newer GW metallics, and I’m finding Iron hands steel is a step up for their silvers
Glad it was helpful!
Lmao! The TUP drop at the beginning 👌
New intro for sure. :)
One I think you missed that you might want to consider in the future that I’ve been very happy with is Vallejo Mecha Steel.
I'll check it out
As a new hobbyist, I'm having a lot of problems with the metallic paints. They dry super fast on the wet palette and sometimes even on my brush which makes application really difficult. I'm surprised you were able to pour out all the paints and be able to use the last ones that easily. Mine would've been a solid dry blob by the time I got to it.
So a few tips. First, use a dry well palette, in the well, you will get the least surface area and have the longest worktime. You should also look into the more liquid metallics I use here that win out, something like Vallejo Metal Color is the best, but also something like Vallejo Air Chrome or Silver is also fantastic.
@@VinceVenturella Will definitely give this a try. Thank you for taking the time!
Vince, you missed Vallejo Gun metal : Mecha Color, it applies so nicely, its smoth as butter.
Agree here- Mecha is worth a shout
I'll have to give it a look.