Syndicate
Realistic Armor Using Rub'n Buff
After the "white armor" look of the silver leaf, this is a technique
capable of more subtlety. I took a light gray armor and black grilled
helm and spray painted them black. Why spray paint the black helmet
black? To give the surface that is more receptive to the metal
treatment - it is much more difficult to control on bare plastic, nor
will it stick as well.
Plastic usually has some kind of mold release that needs to be cleaned off for paint to stick well. It's best to put the pieces to be painted into some warm water with some mild detergent. Let it soak for a while (I usually do it overnight, but I doubt it needs to be done that long). Rinse the pieces off, make sure they are dry, and the paint will adhere better. The first picture on the right shows a basic prepped figure, and the second picture shows the same figure after a coat of Rub'n Buff . Notice the difference?
Rub'n Buff comes in a tube and like the silver leaf (see picture on
right), can be found at most arts and crafts stores (costs about $4).
It's comes in a variety of metal colors (silver, gold, copper, etc).
It's basically metallic powder in a soft wax base that you apply
sparingly with a cloth. I actually just use my fingertip (wash hands
thoroughly and don't eat anything with your fingers afterwards). Let me
reemphasize sparingly - this is kinda like dry brushing. You should not
be putting this on like paint - your applicator (cloth, finger,
whatever) should be barely stained. It's best to start with too little
rather than too much. It's probably best to have some kind of sealant
coat applied, but I haven't done that yet.
Finally, to protect your paint job from playwearing, a coat of sealer
is recommended! Any types of clear sealer will work. I believe Citadel
has matte, semi-gloss, and gloss spray sealers. I'd use semi-gloss, but
it's a matter of taste.
Here are some more samples of Rub'n Buff armors. Notice the variety of
metal colors that have been used (click on the images for a bigger
picture):
Plastic usually has some kind of mold release that needs to be cleaned off for paint to stick well. It's best to put the pieces to be painted into some warm water with some mild detergent. Let it soak for a while (I usually do it overnight, but I doubt it needs to be done that long). Rinse the pieces off, make sure they are dry, and the paint will adhere better. The first picture on the right shows a basic prepped figure, and the second picture shows the same figure after a coat of Rub'n Buff . Notice the difference?
Rub'n Buff comes in a tube and like the silver leaf (see picture on
right), can be found at most arts and crafts stores (costs about $4).
It's comes in a variety of metal colors (silver, gold, copper, etc).
It's basically metallic powder in a soft wax base that you apply
sparingly with a cloth. I actually just use my fingertip (wash hands
thoroughly and don't eat anything with your fingers afterwards). Let me
reemphasize sparingly - this is kinda like dry brushing. You should not
be putting this on like paint - your applicator (cloth, finger,
whatever) should be barely stained. It's best to start with too little
rather than too much. It's probably best to have some kind of sealant
coat applied, but I haven't done that yet.
Finally, to protect your paint job from playwearing, a coat of sealer
is recommended! Any types of clear sealer will work. I believe Citadel
has matte, semi-gloss, and gloss spray sealers. I'd use semi-gloss, but
it's a matter of taste.
Here are some more samples of Rub'n Buff armors. Notice the variety of
metal colors that have been used (click on the images for a bigger
picture):
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