Painting Resin printed cannon bronze color

[allanyed]

I have had no problems painting resin printed cannon black but now have need of bronze colored barrels.   I am seeking recommendations on any types of coatings, including brand and shade information, that will yield a realistic bronze color on these printed cannon.   TIA

Allan 

[druxey]

Can you find a suitable color of bronze in an automotive spray paint department? If the result is too bright, weathering agents can tone it down or modify it.

[GrandpaPhil]

I used wargaming faux metallic painting techniques for my bronze cannon on the Revenge.

 

I base coated black, then built up successively lighter shades of brown, before finishing with a highlight coat.

 

If you don’t feel comfortable using those techniques, metallic bronze drybrushed onto a base coat of black yields pretty good results as well.

Drybrushing the metallic bronze color onto black is how I painted the armor on that elephant and rider.

 

That was 1/32 (54mm) scale for reference.

Edited December 28, 2023 by GrandpaPhil

[Bob Cleek]

 

Ah, but which color "bronze?"   Crescent Bronze, a leading powder-coating manufacturer, has a good bronze color chip card that is worth adding to one's collection of color chips: Crescent Bronze - Color Card Request

 

The standard option for obtaining painted metallic effects is the "real deal," actual colored bronze metal pigment-ground powder sold for the purpose of producing a bronze, brass, copper, gold, or silver metallic finish for painting. (I'm don't know exactly why they use bronze for all these other metals, except that perhaps bronze is easiest to manipulate the color by adjusting the alloy formula.) Schmincke Pigments is the leading manufacturer of ground metallic pigments which are sold in most all artists' supplies stores. They come in a range of shades, colors, and finishes as raw pigment (sold as "oil bronze"), as well as premixed in an oil base and tubed like artist's oil paint. They can be used like any pigment, either mixed in a carrier, e.g., clear varnish, to make a paint, or dusted onto a tacky surface after a sizing is applied and lightly burnished with a cotton ball after the sizing dries, in the same method used for gold leafing. The base metallic color can be thereafter "weathered" to tone it down to a desired appearance in the usual fashion if necessary. See: Schmincke's website for detailed information on their "oil bronze" product line: Bronzes: Schmincke Künstlerfarben (They also sell lines of premixed colored bronze powders in an acrylic medium and powders for use with watercolors. I've never used either of these, so you're on your own there.)

 

Of course, a lot depends upon what appearance you are seeking. In some instances, metallic colors wouldn't be required because standard colors would serve to produce the desired effect.  This video below demonstrates an easy and very effective way to create a convincing faux bronze patina finish using metallic bronze powder which is rubbed on using carnauba wax as the "carrier." The tone of the finish can be adjusted by modifying the background color from black to a flat "penny brown." "Verdigris (green)" weathering powders can thereafter be applied to achieve a very convincing weathered bronze patina appearance. This method can also be used to create a very convincing representation of a copper sheathed hull over a base of scale thickness paper "copper plates." 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Bob Cleek

[hollowneck]

My ship modeling club just had a member demo a "TrueMetal wax paint" (solvent-based) that was very intriguing. After application over a suitable primer the resulting surface is subsequently "burnished" and depending on the amount of burnishing, one can subtly change the hue. A wide range of metal tones, including bronze are available.

No weathering powders required.

 

This company's products (AK Interactive) are a staple in the plastic modeling community and can also be used on 3D-printed resins - like cannon.

Here's a link: https://ak-interactive.com/product/true-metal-old-bronze/

 

A tube of the AK paint runs $12 at this link: https://www.amazon.com/True-Metal-Gold-20ml-Tube/dp/B079VM2F22/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1U9ODWK479K4S&keywords=AK+Interactive+wax+paint&qid=1703819306&sprefix=ak+interactive+wax+paint%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-5

 

Ron

[GrandpaPhil]

I typically use the Army Painter brand metallics when I use metallics, otherwise I just use the faux metallic painting methods (a lot of variable dry brushing).

 

The faux metallic method is the most realistic.

 

Vallejo paint is better than Army Painter, but the Army Painter brand is pretty good.

Edited December 29, 2023 by GrandpaPhil

[allanyed]

11 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

Schmincke Pigments is the leading manufacturer of ground metallic pigments which are sold in most all artists' supplies stores.

Thanks to everyone.

Bob, I watched the video and will likely give it a try very soon.  Seeing the SC Johnson paste wax did bring back terrible memories from 1965 though.  As plebes at Kings Point we had to wax our dorm room floors with this stuff and buff it with ten pound hand buffers.   And heaven help the idiot that walked on your floor without great care before inspection by the upper classmen!  

Allan

[Bob Cleek]

37 minutes ago, allanyed said:

Seeing the SC Johnson paste wax did bring back terrible memories from 1965 though.  As plebes at Kings Point we had to wax our dorm room floors with this stuff and buff it with ten pound hand buffers.   And heaven help the idiot that walked on your floor without great care before inspection by the upper classmen!  

Growing up, we lived in a house with hardwood floors that required regular waxing with one of those "iron holystones," too. When I got old enough, that job fell to me. I was greatly relieved when Bissell came out with an electric floor waxer for home use! I have no idea whatever happened to that old hand buffer that I had to swing back and forth. It'd be good for a "What is this tool?" contest these days.  

[wefalck]

Yep, I had to do this on the wooden stairs in the house after school once a week …

[Gregory]

A little late to the party, but you also might look into a product called

Rub'nBuff

They do not have one called ' bronze ' but they have several shades of gold and one called Spanish copper that might be a good candidate.

 

I have used it for good effect over a black base coat.

[Thukydides]

In miniature painting we use a variety of metallic paints and then washes and edge highlighting to get a good metallic look. There are a myriad of ways you can go about doing it. I would recommend going on youtube and searching “miniature painting bronze”. One painter I have personally found very helpful has a tutorial on painting bronze, though it is a bit involved.

 

There is also the option of non-metallic metal as @GrandpaPhil suggested. However, I would not recommend that unless you really want to go down a painting rabbit hole as it takes a lot of practice to get it to look right.

 

The thing to be careful with regard to metallics is many artist grade metallics have metal flakes that are too big for miniature scale. I would generally stick with metallic paint made for miniatures or scale models.

 

 

Edited January 6 by Thukydides

[wefalck]

One of the best metallic paints I have come across so far was the range by AGAMA from Czechia: https://obchod.agama-model.cz/43-me-bronze-1/. They are available in Germany, but I bought a set from a hobby shop in Prague quite a few years ago. They are meant to be rubbed on, but also can be painted with sufficient solvent (alcohol).

 

Otherwise, I think nothing looks quite like metal but ... real metal 😁

[DocRob]

I used AK´s Extreme Metal colors for bronze and liked the result. I was after a patinaed look and achieved it with different techniques, like different shades of bluish and greenish pigments.
I also used AK´s true metal wax bronze, which also has a good look after rubbing it onto black primed parts. with the wax and primer, you can ´steer´ the effect a bit.

Here are pics of my Nautilus build some years ago, which I wanted to finish mainly in a NE-metal look.

This was after spraying on bronze and copper with some post shading:

 

After weathering and patina:

 

 

Cheers Rob