Paint Set - NMM Steel and Silver

Cool steel painted without metallics

The six shades are built for the technique known as non-metallic metal. Instead of a glossy metallic, which reflects real light and behaves unpredictably in a display case, the painter paints the reflection on. The surface of a blade or of armor is divided into the places where light would fall and the places in deep shadow, and those are filled in with matte tones. The result holds its contrast even under poor lighting and in a photograph looks sharper than real metal.

The set holds six tones arranged from the lightest to the darkest. The brightest is an almost pure white for the outermost highlight, followed by a pearly light gray and a pair of medium grays, which make up the body of the surface itself. A bluish tone gives steel its coolness and is used in the transition to the shadow, and the darkest black then closes off the lower edge and the recesses. The spacing between the tones is regular enough for intermediate steps to be mixed without adding other paints.

The paints are water-thinnable acrylics, so they clean up without odor and dry matte within a few minutes. For a smooth transition it pays to work wet and to add pigment gradually, because a lightening laid down all at once creates a visible edge.

A procedure on a figure

The proven sequence is simple. First the whole surface in the medium tone, then the dark transition at the edges facing away from the light source, and finally two or three coats of lightening toward the edge. The highlight is laid on thinly and with thinned paint, so that the transition is not abrupt. The sharp point of light on the edge of a blade is done at the very end, with a single stroke of a fine brush.