Tutorial - Marbled Glow Effects

Greetings Fresh Coast 40K Readers,

Today I will be laying out some nifty Airbrushing Techniques. As you are all aware this Necron force was kindly given to me by the members of Fresh Coast 40k. When I decided on a paint scheme for Necrons, I wanted that classic Silver look. Just something about that classic Necron look. Granted that looks great, but I wanted to take it to the next level. So I've learned and applied a few techniques which I will be sharing with you readers over a few articles.

Today I am going to teach you on how to do a Glowing Marbled Effect using an Airbrush.

Disclaimer: I did find this technique on Mini War Gaming. They have a two part tutorial on how to do this. Now with that being said, I'm too damn cheap to pay their 7 bucks a month to learn how to achieve this skill. So I watched Part 1 and improvised on part 2.

I started out by priming the whole model silver. I used Krylon Dark Steel.

Next was an airbrush of bronze over selected parts of the model. Here is a picture of my airbrush set.

It is important to thin any paints used in the air brush. Water works well, since its water based paint. However what I have found that works better is Dewalt paint thinner for water based paints. It is designed for large spray guns, but it works just as well in my small one. (I know because I own both.)

The bronze layer is to give a darker appearance for the marbled look. I believe this same effect can be achieved using a different color, as long as it is darker then the following layers.

The next layer down was Mithril Silver. Using a larger spray I highlighted, edges, details and lines.

Followed that up with white, done with a much smaller spray and highlighting the details only.

Next was the tricky part. I had to lay down a layer of transparent paint. Wait, did you just read that right? I did a lot of research but it turns out there is an additive you can add to water based paints that make the layers underneath it still show. I found this at Michael's art store. It is kinda pricey at 15 bucks but it works. If any of you in our area want some, I'll gladly give you some for free.

I ended up using a solution of 1/4 Green Paint, 1/4 this transparent gel and 1/2 Dewalt water based paint thinner.  I then applied the solution over the entire model . Giving it a Marbled Energy Look.

Thanks for reading. Next up is how to do Source Lighting!