"Shiny Stuff: Faceplates, Canopies, Cowlings" Topic

A lot of the figures I'm getting have closed helmets, with goggles, faceplates, armored lenses, gasmasks and the like. Most of the vehicles have canopies, cowlings, vision blocks, and suchlike as well.

Most of these figures are metal, and the vehicles are resin. So how does one best (quickly & easily) represent (fake) "shininess" and "translucency" over a block of solid material?

I'm doing solo gaming at 15mm (1/100-ish scale) so I'd like to do something that looks cool enough next to some cheap plastic stuff like Snap-Tite planes and Matchbox construction equipment that may already have an actual "see-through" canopy/windshield/fairing (although that stuff might get completely repainted at some point for consistency).

So, tricks, tips, tutorials, pics, vids, wisdom, & knowledge sought.

I thought of trying a glaze over a metallic might work…? :-?

I see a bunch of people do highlights…?

Cheap and easy, quick and dirty, somewhat convincing?

Because it all gets dullcote anyway, right?

You can get gloss coat in a bottle and brush it on of all the shiny parts after your dullcote

I paint silver and then use Tamika Translucent Blue over it.

Robert

I do visors and canopies in gold, like Apollo astronaut suit sun visors and fighter jet canopies.

Mostly because I can't paint for beans, and it makes an otherwise drab paintjob of mine look sparkly.

Also, this…
link

Best,
JBR

War Monkey said:

You can get gloss coat in a bottle and brush it on of all the shiny parts after your dullcote

Of course… make it shiny again. Doh! I notice there are a couple of stages where gloss helps in earlier steps as well: before washes and under decals.

Toaster wrote:

I paint silver and then use Tamika Translucent Blue over it.

I picked up some Tamiya Clear Red that I want to try over Leadbelcher. Mostly because I always wanted to use that color, but also because one faction are "the Reds"/OPFOR. I'll look for some blue, as well.

John Bear Ross said:

I do visors and canopies in gold, like Apollo astronaut suit sun visors and fighter jet canopies.

Mostly because I can't paint for beans, and it makes an otherwise drab paintjob of mine look sparkly.

Also, this…
link

Well, that's just cool.

And a couple of the plastic Revell kits have a similar treatment, as well.

That'll work.

Thanks, oh generous geniuses!

What others said: all of mine are painted silver (Army Painter Sterling silver) before a dip or wash and before Testors Dullcote.

If the shading has then dulled them too much, they get a quick lick of more silver when the varnish has dried.

When the Silver's dry, they then get one of various Tamiya Laquers over the top. I've used yellow (gets a nice gold effect), red, blue and green. I use the red on the end of sights on weapons too.

If I just want it metlic silver, I'll use the uncoloured 'smoke' laquer when just makes it look shiney with some more shading.

And of course it dries glossy.

Blue visors with red sights:

Gold visors

Red visors

Green visors:

Smoke visors:

John T

I tend to make my vehicles battle worn, and as such they are dirty.

So painting the windscreen dirty except where the wipers wipe can help.
I also add a few streaks of grey gradually shaded and then gloss varnish the clear glass.

With these infantry I went for red visors.
I painted them black underneath, then red, just leaving the edges still black.
Then again some graduated highlighting resulting in a white reflective dot.
Then gloss varnish.

Many people like blue sky glass.
This I did for a customer.
Black glass with a dark blue thin covering.
Then blend the top left corner until at the edge it is quite light.
And then gloss varnish.

Like so many things, it is not always about looking realistic, but being recognised for what it is meant to be.

Windscreens etc on vehicles get a silver on gunmetal metallic finish, visors I tend to leave dark with a gloss finish………a tip from a modelling chum (who has had 'front page' kits on magazines etc) is to use a soft HB or BB pencil for 'glass' and seal it with a gloss coat……works well on larger vehicles and buildings etc……….

Great pics guys ! I usually paint windows, clear visors, etc. with gloss black or clear gloss. Sometimes before DullCote, sometimes after depending on the piece …

L4 – I still can't belive that decal on the buzzbomb launcher…

John T

I try to do the "gem" effect, but my painting skills are a bit limited for that on really small models (say, 15mm vehicle periscopes or helmets).

Paint the object black. Now, pick a light source direction. Paint the half of the gem facing away from the light source whatever color you want the gem to be, but very dark (maybe mixing it half and half with the black). Then paint about half of that colored section with a brighter version of the same color. Paint about half of the brighter color a brighter color yet. Now you should be down to just a tiny sliver of color at the bottom of the lens, and paint that nearly white, along with a white dot at the spot where your light source would be reflecting.

link

Strangely enough I finished painting this last night

First attempt at shiny vehicle windows

cheers,

Craig
Tiny Terrain Models
wargames.blog.co.uk

Nice work, Craig

John T

Many Thanks JT … I got'm from the now "defuncted" Bad Idea Games …

Very nice, Craig!

Thanks for the detailed replies and the pics. Always appreciated.

Hoping to get some painting done this week. :)