Painting a Glittery Glitter Boy

[Hotrod]

I've been thinking about picking up the new resin cast Glitter Boy model and giving it a go at painting it. In case anyone else is interested in doing something similar, I thought I'd post my plans/thoughts and bounce some ideas off the community.

Another fan posted an impressive effort on Facebook using silver paints and some non metallic metal painting techniques (washes, edge highlights, et cetera). However, silver paint doesn't reflect the way that chrome does, and I want to make a model that glitters. I want to try to make a truly reflective chrome finish that I can pick up and handle.

There is a product that can yield reflective surfaces: Molotow Liquid Chrome. Here are some results on some 40k Primaris marines. These are marketed and sold as pens, but you can buy a refill and use it as a paint.
Unfortunately, the finished surface is quite fragile; handling/smudging it will dull the finish to look the same as a silver paint. Additionally, the chrome finish is aquaphobic; you can't paint on it, as the paint will bead up and run off it. Thus, I need some sort of clear coat that can both protect the chrome finish and allow me to put a bit of wash into the recessed areas.

Based on what I've found, the Alclad II Gloss Klear Kote Lacquer seems to fit the bill. Most other varnishes dull the finish, and this lacquer does too, but to such a small degree that it doesn't seem to matter. As an example, a modeler painted much of one model with the liquid chrome, but only coated the head with the lacquer. I can't tell the difference.

Materials:
Miniature: $35 from Palladium's online store. The mini itself is 2.5 inches tall, which is fairly big as minis go. It's pricey, but the quality looks good. My only gripe with the model is that the Boom Gun looks like it's sitting too high on the shoulder. That could be a perspective thing, and in any case, it's a nitpick.
Chrome Paint: the Molotow Liquid Chrome 2mm Pen, $12. While I could buy the $30 refill and paint it on with a small brush, I don't plan on doing a lot of other model painting.
Lacquer: Alclad II Gloss Klear Kote Lacquer, $30. This seems to preserve chrome finishes better than anything out there and should allow me to handle the model.

Brushes: I plan on using a few small ones I have lying around the house. I don't have any tiny detail-type brushes, so I'll rely on watered-down paints as a wash to darken the recessed areas, and maybe some dry brushing a lighter color to highlight the rocks on the base.
Other paints: $10 from Walmart for a basic dark acrylic paint I can dilute to be a wash or primer.

In terms of the finished product, I want recessed areas (joints, slits, recessed corners) to be a little dark and not so shiny, but otherwise, I want this thing to gleam. I'm thinking I can take one of two approaches:
1. Lacquer over Chrome over Paint. I prime the model, paint the chrome parts while leaving the recessed areas alone, and then lacquer the whole model. This relies on me not letting the chrome paint run into cracks and crevices, but should result in a durable model that I can handle. My worry with this approach is that the liquid chrome paint may run into the recessed areas.
2. Paint over Lacquer over Chrome. I paint the whole model with the chrome pen (including recessed areas), lacquer the model, and then apply a diluted paint as a wash. This should allow the paint to collect and dry in the recessed areas. My worry is that the wash may dull the finish of the model and make it less reflective.

In total, this plan has me shelling out ~$90 to put together a Glitter Boy that should actually glitter, and hopefully won't require much skill on my part. Thoughts?

P.S. If there are any experienced painters/modelers out there, I would love to commission a model version of The Patriot and perhaps one or two other Glitter Boy Suits of Legend.

[HarleeKnight]

There is chrome spray paint that is not aquaphobic. If you use that as your base then black wash over it, you can get some good results. That's how a friend of mine does it when he paints reflective surfaces like a Glitter Boy.

[Hotrod]

There is chrome spray paint that is not aquaphobic. If you use that as your base then black wash over it, you can get some good results. That's how a friend of mine does it when he paints reflective surfaces like a Glitter Boy.

Thanks for the suggestion. A few questions/concerns:
Do you have a name for that product? The only chrome spray cans I've found are the kind that look "like chrome" but don't actually produce any coherent reflections. They're bright and shiny, but they lack that mirror finish I'm looking for.
How durable is the finish? Can you handle/smudge it without affecting the finish? I want to be able to handle and pass around the final result.
How thick does the spray go on? Some products out there are too thick and tend to fill in crevices and destroy a model's detail.

[HarleeKnight]

There is chrome spray paint that is not aquaphobic. If you use that as your base then black wash over it, you can get some good results. That's how a friend of mine does it when he paints reflective surfaces like a Glitter Boy.

Thanks for the suggestion. A few questions/concerns:
Do you have a name for that product? The only chrome spray cans I've found are the kind that look "like chrome" but don't actually produce any coherent reflections. They're bright and shiny, but they lack that mirror finish I'm looking for.
How durable is the finish? Can you handle/smudge it without affecting the finish? I want to be able to handle and pass around the final result.
How thick does the spray go on? Some products out there are too thick and tend to fill in crevices and destroy a model's detail.

I haven't seen him in 9 years but I know he used to get it at any hardware store and the finish was shiny and reflective on a flat surface, on the mini it was just shiny. It was as durable as any other spray paint. Durable enough to for us to use them in Warhammer games. After multiple uses they were still shiny. Like any spray, you'll have to practice to minimize crevice fill.
I doubt you'll find anything with a mirror finish. The minis are just to small.

[Hotrod]

I doubt you'll find anything with a mirror finish. The minis are just to small.

And yet, this exists (product of the Molotow liquid chrome on some 40k models).

It's apparently a fairly new product, so I doubt it was around 9 years ago.

EDIT: I fixed the link.

[Orin J.]

I doubt you'll find anything with a mirror finish. The minis are just to small.

And yet, this exists (product of the Molotow liquid chrome on some 40k models).

It's apparently a fairly new product, so I doubt it was around 9 years ago.

link no worky, sir.

[HarleeKnight]

I doubt you'll find anything with a mirror finish. The minis are just to small.

And yet, this exists (product of the Molotow liquid chrome on some 40k models).

It's apparently a fairly new product, so I doubt it was around 9 years ago.

Even though the link is broken I found some images online. This paint is cool.

[Hotrod]

I doubt you'll find anything with a mirror finish. The minis are just to small.

And yet, this exists (product of the Molotow liquid chrome on some 40k models).

It's apparently a fairly new product, so I doubt it was around 9 years ago.

Even though the link is broken I found some images online. This paint is cool.

Sorry about that; looks like I copied the wrong link. Here it is.

[HarleeKnight]

I doubt you'll find anything with a mirror finish. The minis are just to small.

And yet, this exists (product of the Molotow liquid chrome on some 40k models).

It's apparently a fairly new product, so I doubt it was around 9 years ago.

Even though the link is broken I found some images online. This paint is cool.

Sorry about that; looks like I copied the wrong link. Here it is.

Yeah, his weren't quite that reflective. Probably because of the black wash he used to get shading and that tarnished look. These look good. Show us your Glitter Boy when it's done.

[Hotrod]

I doubt you'll find anything with a mirror finish. The minis are just to small.

And yet, this exists (product of the Molotow liquid chrome on some 40k models).

It's apparently a fairly new product, so I doubt it was around 9 years ago.

Even though the link is broken I found some images online. This paint is cool.

Sorry about that; looks like I copied the wrong link. Here it is.

Yeah, his weren't quite that reflective. Probably because of the black wash he used to get shading and that tarnished look. These look good. Show us your Glitter Boy when it's done.

I'll see what I can do. What I'd REALLY like to do is see if I can team up with a good modeler to kitbash/create The Patriot, a wildly patriotic version of the Glitter Boy: USA icons/symbols galore, an American flag cape billowing as its compensation thrusters spurt red, white, and blue flames backwards, an eagle head muzzle for the boom gun, a particle beam turret for the off-hand shoulder, a patriotic-looking grenade launcher, a big two-handed sword, a companion bald eagle, and maybe an American flag in-hand to boot. Have a read of a related thread if you want to know more about The Patriot (he shows up close to the bottom of the first page and dominates the second).

[Tiree]

I found this article talking about Chrome Spray Paint vs. Silver Spray Paint

[Axelmania]

I think my concern if painting removes the 1/2 damage from GBs is then you'd have City Rats shooting GBs with paintball guns (or the CS lobbing paint grenades) prior to unleashing their laser pistols against them.

Actually that sounds like a pretty fun idea.

[Hotrod]

I found this article talking about Chrome Spray Paint vs. Silver Spray Paint

I'm liking my results with this Molotov stuff so far.Still got to lacquer the pieces.

[Borast]

I think my concern if painting removes the 1/2 damage from GBs is then you'd have City Rats shooting GBs with paintball guns (or the CS lobbing paint grenades) prior to unleashing their laser pistols against them.

Actually that sounds like a pretty fun idea.

Small problem. The laser would still do 1/2 damage...because the energy would burn-off the fraction of a single SDC coating of paint.
Also, in a CS urban environment, with enough paint, it could act as cammo, since they GB could stand in front of a graffitied wall and "be invisible"...

As for the original subject, you can try using a high-gloss spray varnish after you paint.

[Axelmania]

Small problem. The laser would still do 1/2 damage...because the energy would burn-off the fraction of a single SDC coating of paint.

The question is if it happens quickly enough for it to matter.

Otherwise: why would you ever have unpainted GBs at all?

[Borast]

Small problem. The laser would still do 1/2 damage...because the energy would burn-off the fraction of a single SDC coating of paint.

The question is if it happens quickly enough for it to matter.

Otherwise: why would you ever have unpainted GBs at all?

Are you talking about the Game World power armour? Or the IRL figurine?

[BuzzardB]

I was seriously thinking about picking up the glitterboy model after watching the Squidmar video about the worlds most reflective paint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umSyTxhUoaA

The best news was basically that Vallejo Metal Color silver is almost as reflective and actually designed for minis so I will probably airbrush that then give it a gloss varnish then a oil wash and a second vanish, gloss or matt.

Haven't actually placed an order for the mini yet though so it won't be anytime soon. Look forward to seeing how yours turns out.

[Hotrod]

I was seriously thinking about picking up the glitterboy model after watching the Squidmar video about the worlds most reflective paint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umSyTxhUoaA

The best news was basically that Vallejo Metal Color silver is almost as reflective and actually designed for minis so I will probably airbrush that then give it a gloss varnish then a oil wash and a second vanish, gloss or matt.

Haven't actually placed an order for the mini yet though so it won't be anytime soon. Look forward to seeing how yours turns out.

It's all done. You can see the full tale here. I've seen some results from Vallejo Metal Color silver, and they were shiny, but not reflective; it seems more like a silver car than a mirror-finish car. I haven't seen anything that does a mirror finish as well as the Molotow pen line.

A few lessons learned:

1. I would plan to use hot water (like for tea) to fix warping issues with the base/boom gun, as well as to bend the ammo belt to make it fit the pose better, before you do your priming/painting.
2. I've seen a lot of tutorials using airbrushes for the Molotow reflective ink and the lacquer, but honestly, a cheap brush worked just fine for me. That said, if you have the airbrush. Just make sure you give the Molotow ink plenty of time to dry (like a week), and don't touch it at all until it's lacquered (the unvarnished finish is quite fragile)
3. One thing to consider: you may have more control over the reflective ink with a hand brush than with an airbrush. This may be important if you want to keep some recessed areas darker/not reflective. I would totally use the airbrush for varnishing, but I'm not sure that I would for painting on the reflective ink.
4. If you do decide to use hand brushes, I would use the marker or a thick coat on the large, prominent, flatter areas. If you go thin with these areas, they'll likely look a bit bumpy and less mirror-like.
5. I got a pin vise drill to help me mount the pieces for priming/painting/varnishing, and this was a good move. I also used this to drill out the heels and put some thin nails through the base into the heels to be the stabilizer pylons (wire cutters and a dremmel tool flattened them out under the base), as well as deepening the boom gun's muzzle and some of the rocket/jet nozzles.

Good luck with your project!