Tutorial: Mr. Metal Color Paints

Jason’s back today with a look at a different kind of paint he’s been trying out: Mr. Metal Color. These buffable metallic are really cool, read on to find out more!

Recently I was reading an issue of The Weathering Magazine and there was an article where the painter used a line of paints called Mr. Metal Color, where he would buff out the metallic paint to a really cool effect. Really loved how this looked and thought I’d be perfect for a small diorama I’ve been planning.

So I hit up eBay and ordered a pot of the Iron color. There aren’t much instructions on the pot itself so I did a small bit of research online and went to ahead and just tried the paint off. Thought I’d share my results:

Step 01: Prime
First thing you want to do is prime the model. Black seems to be the go to for these colors. I used some Badger Stynylrez Black airbrush primer (it’s my go-to and I love this stuff!)

Step 02: Paint
I busted out a new brush and and painted the model. The paint is lacquer based, so be sure to have a thinner/cleaner handy to clean your brush with afterwards. Let it sit for a few minutes, it seems to dry pretty fast. Also being a lacquer based paint, having a well ventilated painting area will help.

I have read that you can airbrush these paints but be sure to thin them or they’ll clog the airbrush fast. Every video I watched mentioned using the Mr. Color leveling thinner at a ratio of 2:1 (thinner: paint).

Step 03: Buff
After the paint has dried grab a q-tip and just start to brush it across the model. The longer you brush, the brighter the metallic will start to shine. The photo doesn’t really do this paint justice.

I’ve gotta say, I’m really impressed with this paint. They seem to make it in various shades and it mixes together with colors quite nicely from what I’ve read online. Eager to try out other colors now and on other models.