Hi there,

Just wondered what is the color you used for gun metal?
I am aware that modern rifle like M-4 is made from plastic material which black is a good match.

but waht about those heavy MG mounted on AFV? like .50, M240 and the like...

Tamiya X-10 seems too shiny, Nato black or black will make it look too dark and dull.

any suggestions?

Here are 2 methods I use...
(All paints are Humbrol enamels)
Method 1: Mix Gunmetal and Coal Black at a ratio of more or less 50/50... apply as basecoat... do a series of thin pin-washes for the shadowing... highlight with Gunmetal (dry brushed)...
Method 2: Basecoat with Gunmetal... pin-wash with matt Black... highlight by drybrushing Humbrol Polished Steel or Gunmetal and then polish --- an alternative to the metal cote is a very light dry brushing of Silver Fox or Aluminium, but I personally find them too "silvery" in this application....

I also use combinations of these 2 methods...

HTH

Rudi

Humbrol 53 gun metal , sometimes highlight with humbrol 56 Aluminium.

And, humbrol used to have 201 metallic black too, which is fine for modern arms, but for older stuff, it's simply too dark.

I paint mine matt black then rub pencil graphite into it, gives a dull metalic finish.

Hi there ikoky!
Well the others beat me in to this!
I agree with all the guys and i would simple suggest one mixture i used to paint my Starcraft Marine!
Take the Coal Black and add a few drops of Chrome Silver(Humbrol)!This will give a metal look to the black color showing much like the gun metal!
Also i would suggest if available the Molak's enamel GunMEtal!
I sure loved that paint!
Cheers!!

I use Humbrol's gun metal as a base, polish with a stiff brush then use Tamiya's gun metal for highlights

Hi Itoki,
I second what Easy_Co wrote. It is the best way IMHO. You can use it on a black or NATO black basis according to what weapon you want to represent.
I prefer NATO black as the metal of the real guns is not quite black.

olivier

I am with Easy, too. Grind some graphite from a pencil off on an emery board and rub it onto the guns with your fingertip. If the gun has a wooden stock, paint the gun metal sections first, then do the wood parts.

Shaun

Im with Easy and Keenan here.. Base of flat black, then some graphite rubbed into the piece.. Only thing I do differently is I use a Q-tip to rub in the graphite.. Then a drybrush of silver.

This is how mine turn out


Dave

Sweet looking 42 there Mojo.
I, too, use the flat black base with graphite filed from a pencil rubbed in. Works like a charm. Easy and realistic.

thanks a million guys.

Now my gun wont look oo dull anymore. :-)

I'm in the paint black and give it the graphite rub group. I then dry brush with flat aluminum.

For me, i use Tamiya's Flat aluminium and Flat black.

Mix them up into a ratio of 2:3... Aluminium and black respectively. After that you can rub on graphite like what others had advised you.

The gun color depends on the finish used on the metal it is made of.

German WWII guns were chemicle oxide blued, and got shiny fast - Mojo's MG42 has that look - in fact it looks like you could rack it and shoot up the modeling bench. As the finish wore on German guns got kind of a grey metalic patina (tool steel - that's what German WWII guns are made of - does not rust easily, not to mention the fact that an infantryman does not let his gun rust, so no rust there). Starting with a very dark metalic grey or black and dry brushing with silver metalics works well for a pretty well maintained but worn gun, and for a finishing touch you can spray a transparently thin coat of USN gloss dark sea blue on top, if you want your gun to have that shiney 'blueish' look of a nearly new one. For an older gun add a drop of brown to the gunmetal gray for that brownish patina and drybrush with silver metalics. Stocks ranged from walnut to birch as the war progressed, with laminated stocks using resin synthetic binders appearing at the end of the war. German MP's and pistols had hard plastic stocks that ranged from a funny dark reddish brown to nearly black.

British guns in WWII were actually often painted with black enamel machinery paint, so they really were black. Now that is easy to do. If that wore off (or was never applied), the finish underneath was usually industrial black oxide that would in turn wear off to reveal bare metal, so much of the same painting rules used for German weapons would apply there.

The real mystrey is the way the manufacturers tell you to paint US small arms. People are always being told to paint them 'black' or 'gunmetal'. Actual US small arms were ALL "Parkerized" though - a corrosion resistant phosphate coating - and parkerizing is NEVER black. It actually ranges from a medium greenish olive-grey to a darker grey with touches of olive, and when it wears it tends to lighten in shade and reveal bare metal on the highlights. But for whatever chemical reason, Parkerizing always tends to look a little olive drab in real life, and is always lighter on larger guns like the M2 Browning .50 than on a smaller gun like a M1 Garand or a Carbine. To get this look in miniature I have been using roughly equal mixes of black and olive drab with some silver added to get the metallic look of the phosphate. If the color comes out too dark, add a little white or light grey to lighten it. Whenever possible airbrush this color on, as it gives the best color hold out to the metalic elements that way. The lightened color can also be airbrushed over the darker color for highlights in larger scales. I drybrush highlights sparingly with silver or use a graphite pencil, as real guns do not wear as severely as you might think.

For research, on line pictures of the real thing can really help if you do not have access to museum examples or private collections.

Sorry for the long post, but I find the subject really interesting.

Konrad

koschrei
No need to apologize for the long post.. I found that rather informative.. Who knew parkerized is really a greenish olive grey colour... Thanks for the insight..


Dave