A Hot Off the Desk

Non-Metallic
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Aaron’s Rules for Light
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J Studio paint job for Dark Sword Miniatures.
O Owl Warrior
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 People always ask me for color recipes for painting
Non-Metallic Metal, or NMM for short. I always
tell them, “It’s not about the colors as much as it
is about the color placement. That makes all the
A difference!” In the next few pages, I am going to
show you how and where to put your highlights
A and shadows to make convincing NMM. Don’t
R worry, I’ll give you a couple of recipes as well!!!
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don’t matter. Just where you put them!!
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Here is what we will cover:
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R - Light is a Circle!
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N - Rules for Light on Different Shapes
L - Adding the “Bling Bling”
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- Global Color vs. Color Modulation
E - Color Recipes
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 Light is a Circle!!!
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A This is my first rule…if you follow
R this rule, half of the battle is won!
O Even the seemingly straight lines on
N a cylinder or edge highlight have
elements of a circle of light to
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highlights, always have an element
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of a circular pattern to them.
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A
A Here are a few more examples of light reflecting
R in a circular pattern.
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The obvious circle of light is on the blade but
O you can also see circles of light on the edge
V highlights.
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 Some shapes can seem pretty complex. The
key is to break down each shape into more
basic shapes. I came up with some “general”
rules for light that I apply to different shapes.
A It doesn’t always work, but it usually puts me
in the right direction. Rules are made to be
A broken so feel free to break or modify these
R rules as you see fit. The following are the
general shapes that I have made rules for.
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• The Sphere
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• Flat Planes
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V • The Cylinder
E • The Fat Cylinder
J • The Cone
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 The Sphere:
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A Any shape that is a sphere will have the light
similar to this. The light does not reflect
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O down/forward about 45 degrees. It reflects
towards your eyes.
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A Even though this armor is not a “sphere,” it
A has a spherical shape in areas, so the general
lighting for spheres applies perfectly. Notice
R how the strongest part of the reflection is not
O at the top of the armor plate but moved
forward/down. Again, note the circular
N pattern of the light! Go onto coolminiornot
and look at the top rated pics that have
NMM. You will see this time and time again.
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 Flat Planes:
A Flat planes are pretty simple, yet tricky at the same time.
A First off, the light reflects backwards on really shiny
surfaces. It comes in from the top but travels down the
R surface and reflects from the lowest point. The intensity of
O this reflection will depend on the angle of the plane. The
more vertical the plane, the smaller the reflection.
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O Shadow Color Second Highlight
Midtone Color First Highlight
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A more horizontal plane will have A more vertical plane will have
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 Now if you want to create a dull metallic surface, The contrast between shiny and dull metallics
you paint the light in a more Zenithal fashion. Be can be very pleasing to the eye.
sure to add rust and dirt to help sell the effect.

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The sword and armor are shiny,
whereas the destroyed tank on
O plane rather than the bottom.
the base, is dull.
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 The Cylinder:
Cylinders are pretty easy. There is just a straight
A line highlight on them, however, I do put a
A couple of circular highlights towards the top of
R the cylinder to keep with the circular light
theme. No matter what, there will always be a
O circle of light somewhere!!
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Shadow Color Midtone Color First Highlight Second Highlight
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 The Fat Cylinder:
This shape is typically seen in leg
A armor. It is similar to a normal
A cylinder but the light gets more
diffused across the surface. The
R circle of light is much more evident
O on this type of cylinder.
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 Notice that the midtone and highlight colors get wider towards the top of the cylinder
with the final highlight being circular in shape.
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 You can add a second strip of midtone
color to the cylinder to make it look
even more reflective.
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 The Cone:
We see cones a lot on spikey armor, weapons,
A and helmets. It’s a combination of the
A cylinder and fat cylinder. Place a narrow line
R at the thin point of the cone and thicker,
rounder highlight at the wide end of the cone.
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First Highlight
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 Alright, you have the basecoats on your model but
that is not the end of the story. The devil is in the
details. We have to bling out this metal. Tiny edge
highlights are what really make metal shine!! The key
is not to put them everywhere, and to vary the
A intensity of the color so that you can really see the
A light. Too many highlights will actually cancel
themselves out, so do it sparingly! Also, shiny surfaces
R are one of the only things that reflect light off of the
O bottom edge of the object.
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 Adding little glimmers of light in shadow areas help
define the shape, as well as tell us that the object is
A shiny metal.
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areas really adds to the effect and helps you see the
O detail all the better.
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A
A Here is an example of what your initial base coat might
look like. It kind of looks metallic but not quite. This is the
R part where most people start making changes and
O reworking things to death. Trust me, the next step will
N make all the difference!

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 Initial Base Coat Edge Highlighting Final Shadows

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See the difference the edge highlighting and final shadows do for the overall look of
O the metal?
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 Breaking the
Rules:
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O Rules are made to be broken. I find that if I follow the
N rules enough, that allows me to break them in certain
situations to make the paint job look better! This
happens a lot with things like swords. According to my
L rules, the sword should have a very bright and small
highlight at the bottom of it but that doesn’t look all
O that great. It looks way better at the top of the sword
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The Aaron Lovejoy White
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true metallics.
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 In the photo to the right, the sword is almost perfectly
flat, which would mean the highlight would go across
the entire sword. That’s not very dramatic, so I gave it
A a shadow towards the tip with one last glimmer of
A light before the blade tapers off.

R Below you see that I reversed the highlight but did not
O put it completely at the top of the blade due to the
angle of the sword.
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 Global Light vs. Modular Light
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 Global Light vs. Modular Light
A Global light is a little more realistic.
A See how the light travels down the
R armor? It’s not light to dark on each
O plate, rather the light covers all the
N plates as if they were just one plate. It
also tells us that each plate is at
L relatively the same angle to each
O other.
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 Global Light vs. Modular Light
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A This is how most people do NMM.
R Each plate is light to dark because,
O well, everyone says you have to have
N max contrast to make it believable.
However, often times it comes out
L looking a bit off.
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 Global Light vs. Modular Light
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With global light you can still achieve a
R great amount of contrast, and it looks
O great! Play around with which style
N you like better.

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 Global Light vs. Modular Light
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J In the case of the chest armor, it looks fine either way, but with the leg armor the
O global light wins all day long!
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 Color Recipes:
Here are a few recipes I use for my NMM. Feel free to
A try out NMM with colors you like.

A NMM Gold (Typically used for painting the “good guy.”):

Shadows: Rhinox Hide (GW)
R Base: Rhinox Hide mixed with Balor Brown (GW)
O Highlight: Add Titanium White (artist acrylic color) to previous mix.
Keep adding white until you get the color brightness that you want.
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NMM Gold (Typically used for painting the “bad guy.”):

L Shadows: RMS HD Solid Black mixed with Japanese Uniform (Vallejo)
O Base: RMS HD Solid Black mixed with Japanese Uniform (Vallejo) This
V is your basetone so obviously mix more Japanese Uniform into this!
Highlights: Add Titanium White to previous mix. Keep adding white
E until you get the color brightness that you want.
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 Color Recipes:
A NMM Silver:
Shadows: RMS HD Solid Black
A Base: RMS HD Solid Black mixed with Temple Guard Blue (GW)
R More blue than black, obviously.
O Highlight: Add Titanium White (artist acrylic color) to previous
mix. Keep adding white until you get the color brightness that
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NMM Copper:
L Shadows: Rhinox Hide (GW) mixed with RMS Solid Black
O Base: Rhinox Hide mixed with Mornfang Brown (GW)
Highlights: Add Titanium White to previous mix. Keep adding
V white until you get the color brightness that you want. It should
E be a nice, light, peach-type of color.
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 Color Recipes:
A NMM Black:
A Shadows: RMS Solid Black
Base: Coal Black (P3)
R Highlight: Add Titanium White (artist acrylic color) to
O previous mix. Keep adding white until you get the color
N brightness that you want.

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A I hope this helps you to better grasp the non-metallic metal process. The key is to always
respect the direction of your light source. It took me a long time to get comfortable with
A the process. It is, however, very rewarding when you do finally start to get it. Practice
R makes perfect, and don’t be afraid to fail. You only fail if you don’t try!
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N Thank you for your ongoing support and being an active member of the Miniature Monthly
Team! Now go paint something!!!

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V
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