Dwarf Slayer - metalics recipe

I was asked on the Avatars of War forum to write a recipe for the metalics on my Dwarf Slayer so I thought I should also post it here.

It may look complicated but actually it's quite simple. I just use the whole line of GW's metallics, starting with the darkest and moving to the brightest, with some washes and glazes thrown in for good measure.

Before I move on to the tutorial itself, I'll post again some pics of the finished mini so you can have an idea of how the end result looks like:

For "silvery" metallics the recipe is:
- Boltgun Metal (basecoat)
- Chainmail (highlight)
- Wash with a 3:3:1 mix of Devlan Mud : Babad Black : Leviathan Purple
- Chainmail (highlight)
- Mithril Silver (highlight)

Golden metallics are a bit more complicated:
- Tin Bitz : Dwarf Bronze 1:1 (basecoat which acts as first shading layer)
- Dwarf Bronze (basecoat - leaving the previous colour in the recesses)
- Shining Gold (highlight)
- Wash with a 1:1 mix of Devlan Mud : Ogryn Flesh
- Shining Gold (highlight)
- Burnished Gold (highlight)
- Final highlight with a 1:1 mix of Burnished Gold : Mithril Silver

Something important to keep in mind when highlighting metallics is how thin your paint is. For edge highlighting I thin metallics as I would thin "normal" colours. For larger or curved surfaces like axe hilts or the flat part of the blade I use heavily diluted colour with a consistency between that of the colour I use in highlighting and that of a glaze. You could also combine the two methods. One example could be painting a harsh highlight on an axe hilt and then going over it with the same highlight colour but more diluted in order to better blend the highlight.

After the metallics are painted using these recipes I apply a series of glazes. I'm not very specific about it so what I do is I have in front of me a wet palette with heavily thinned Sepia, Blue, Purple, Green, Flesh and Brown washes. I apply these glazes randomly, in an attempt to break up the "flatness" of the metallics. Some glazes are brushed on flat surfaces, others are used in recesses as very diluted washes and some are even applied as minute drops (keep in mind that this should be attempted only with very diluted glazes).

It's good to have a general idea of what glazes are suitable for each metalic colour.
- Golden metallics often have a greenish hue, especially in recesses so one can use green glazes very effectively. Purple, brown and reddish glazes (like Ogyn Flesh) can be used more sparingly.
- Silvery metallics and especially polished steel can benefit from blue and purple glazes. Sepia, brown and green glazes can be used to portray weathered and slightly corroded metal.

I hope you'll find this tutorial helpfull. Don't be afraid to try it out. It's actually simpler than it sounds and as long as you keep your glazes thin it's relatively "disaster-proof".