Mike C Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 I've just discovered something that I feel I HAVE TO share with you all. See, once upon a time, I came across a WIP thread of a guy building 1/48 F-22 Raptor (can't remember his name, and can't find the thread no more). He used Citadel paints on his Raptor and I thought it looked absolutely realistic! Since then I've been quite curious about it. Luckily, I noted down the Citadel paints that he used, along with rough combination to reproduce the Raptor camo. So... last weekend, I happened to walk past a puzzle shop (called "Mind Games", for fellow Aussies) that sells a whole bunch of Games Workshop products, including Citadel paints. Walked in, picked up Chainmail, Boltgun Metal, and Codex Grey. One that I forgot to get was Chaos Black, but I think it'll be easy to replace that from LifeColor range anyway. I was quite taken aback by how expensive the Citadel paint is! They cost almost double Gunze's and Tamiya's, and almost 4 times as much as LifeColor!! A couple of days ago, I decided to try the "light grey metallic" mixture by mixing 3 parts Chainmail and 1 part Codex Grey. I thinned it with distilled water at 1:1 ratio, then airbrushed over an Italeri F-22 that I'm rebuilding. I am absolutely astounded by the result!!! I'm absolutely amazed by how fine the pigment on their metallic range is! Now I understand why they're so expensive!! Now that I know how good Citadel metallic range is, I think I will stop using Mr Metal Color. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OriginalMonty Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 (edited) It wasn't this one of mine you were looking for was it? http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=214334&st=0&p=2035777entry2035777 Forgive my lack of modesty ( :lol: ), but I havn't seen too many other builds using Citadel colours. Ben Edited April 29, 2011 by OriginalMonty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alternative 4 Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 How did you find them to airbrush? I sprayed the white and it seemed to clog the brush or be too thin. Tried it a few times and had no luck at all Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 It wasn't this one of mine you were looking for was it? http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=214334&st=0&p=2035777entry2035777 Forgive my lack of modesty ( :lol: ), but I havn't seen too many other builds using Citadel colours. Ben HEY! THAT'S IT!! :lol: Dude, it was after seeing your work that ignited my desire to make another attempt to reproduce Raptor's tricky coat! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 How did you find them to airbrush? I sprayed the white and it seemed to clog the brush or be too thin. Tried it a few times and had no luck at all I have only tried spraying their metallic range. I didn't find that much trouble. Then again, I find spraying white is always problematic for me, be it Tamiya, Gunze, or LifeColor. So, it could just be the white.... Last night, I sprayed gloss white (tinted with blue, to make it brighter) for missile tip, and then had to spend at least 10 minutes cleaning up. Annoying! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithery Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 How did you find them to airbrush? I sprayed the white and it seemed to clog the brush or be too thin. Tried it a few times and had no luck at all I spray Citadel all the time.....one of my favorite paints to work with, especially their metallics. To successfully spray them, I only use Tamiya thinner (not their lacquer thinner). I generally use 75% thinner, and 25% paint, then adjust as needed. Clean the airbrush with the same thinner. I don't generally prime, but for metallics, I'll lay down some gloss black to serve as a base. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastian Haff Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Excellent finish on the Raptor. The owner of my LHS built one recently. He used ordinary MM paints but then sprayed a light coat of Alclad II Pale Gold Transparent Lacquer over it. It sounds strange, but it, too, captured that unique F-22 sheen. Aaron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 Excellent finish on the Raptor. The owner of my LHS built one recently. He used ordinary MM paints but then sprayed a light coat of Alclad II Pale Gold Transparent Lacquer over it. It sounds strange, but it, too, captured that unique F-22 sheen. Aaron It doesn't sound strange at all. I think that might be the easier way to get the sheen. In fact, that gave me another idea: use Citadel Chainmail to tint LifeColor satin/matt clear then spray over "normal" coloured Raptor.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastian Haff Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 It doesn't sound strange at all. I think that might be the easier way to get the sheen. In fact, that gave me another idea: use Citadel Chainmail to tint LifeColor satin/matt clear then spray over "normal" coloured Raptor.... That sounds like a good idea too. The possibilites are endless! I've never used either Citadel or LifeColor. I'll have to give them a try. You mentioned earlier in the thread about White being difficult to apply. It was always the same for me, but I have found that Floquil Railroad Color White enamel works great. BTW, which kit is your Raptor and how was the build? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 That sounds like a good idea too. The possibilites are endless! I've done something similar on my Revell Raptor in the past, except that I used Tamiya gloss clear tinted with chrome silver. The result wasn't really that good (see the pics here: http://s742.photobucket.com/albums/xx69/mchoo2005/Revell%20Raptor%20no%201/). The metallic sheen was hardly noticeable at all. One of these days I might try the same trick using Citadel's metallic. I've never used either Citadel or LifeColor. I'll have to give them a try. One of the best things about LifeColor is it's so easy to clean up the airbrush. All I have to do is shoot a cupful (or two) of water through the AB, and some "blow back", and that's it. Thinning is also quite easy and cheap: just use distilled water. One warning: DO NOT use their metallic range. I bought their Matt Natural Metal (supposedly aluminum) and found that it's ABSOLUTELY USELESS! BTW, which kit is your Raptor and how was the build? This is a "rebuild" of my old Italeri 1/72 (you can see the "before" pics next to the Revell Raptor in my album above). I built it rather poorly, so I decided to "recycle" it by using it as an experiment subject. Here's the WIP thread for the rebuild. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rick in Maine Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Hi Mike: So...what did you use for the other gray metallic? I plan to order the Citadel paints. Rick in Maine A couple of days ago, I decided to try the "light grey metallic" mixture by mixing 3 parts Chainmail and 1 part Codex Grey. I thinned it with distilled water at 1:1 ratio, then airbrushed over an Italeri F-22 that I'm rebuilding. I am absolutely astounded by the result!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 Hi Mike: So...what did you use for the other gray metallic? I plan to order the Citadel paints. Rick in Maine Hey Rick... I haven't got the chance to try the darker grey yet. But based on OriginalMonty, it should be Codex Grey + Boltgun Metal + Chaos Black. He gave me the approximate ratio at 20% + 70+ + 10%, respectively. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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