Lifecolor Non Metallic Metal (NMM) Acrylic Paint Sets Gold & Steel (CS53 & CS54)

[Mike]

Non Metallic Metal (NMM) Acrylic Paint Sets Gold & Steel (CS53 & CS54)

Lifecolor via The Airbrush Company

 

 

We’re all familiar with the trials and tribulations of creating realistic metallic shades on our models, coping with the problems of scale effect, the size of particle size for suspension-type metallics, and many more issues that I can’t remember right now.  Traditional artists that work on paper and canvas must create their metallics with non-metallic paints, instead creating the highlights, reflections, low-lights and different hues introduced from external sources nearby or from that big angry ball of nuclear fusion that we call the Sun.  Some figure painters have taken this technique and attempted to apply it to 3D figures in an effort to create something new and impressive that will solve all the problems associated with the simplistic natural metal finishes that us modellers usually use.

 

Lifecolor have collaborated with talented figure modeller Alessandro Gobbi to create sets of colours that will be useful for modellers to use in creation of their own masterpieces.  They are designed to be used in conjunction with white paint from Lifecolor’s own range, which it is assumed that you will already possess if you intend to purchase these interesting sets.  You’ll also need to purchase or already own a dose of skill and talent, as the process of creating these shades and shapes on your model will take some time and require you to have an ability with the paint brushes that you’ll use to apply the paint.  As this technique may be previously unheard of by many modellers, Lifecolor have taken the trouble to create some helpful guides to assist us with learning the basics of this technique, which you can read by following the links below:

 

NMM Steel (CS54)

https://www.astromodel.it/media/fileexchange/cs54_official_guide_compressed.pdf

 

 

UA 7013 Blinding Moon

UA 7014 Riding Sky

UA 7015 Thunder Vibe

UA 7016 Phantom Blue

UA 7017 Ambient Mass

UA 7018 Revenge Black

 

NMM Gold (CS53)

https://www.astromodel.it/media/fileexchange/cs53_official_guide_compressed.pdf

 

 

UA 7007 Bright Yellow

UA 7008 Ochre Sandstorm

UA 7009 Pure Green Light

UA 7010 Rebel Brown

UA 7011 Dark Code

UA 7012 Poison Black

 

Most of us will be aware of the quality of Lifecolor paints in general, and you can have a gander at my original review of their main range here when I was initially introduced to their brand many moons ago, and it’s a review that I have been updating ever since whenever new sets are launched.  I thought that these sets were different enough in their intent that they deserved to have a separate review, especially for the PDFs above, for which you’ll need to either have a PDF reader installed, or have a recent browser such as Firefox, Chrome or if you really must, Microsoft Edge, all of which have PDF readers built into their code base, obviating the need for a download from Adobe of the traditional Acrobat Reader of yore.

 

 

Conclusion

It will take some skill and effort to make your work sparkle as well as Mr Gobbi’s work, but it’s an intriguing system that appeals to the dormant artist in me, although any talent I once had has long-since evaporated.  If you manage to master the technique, you could just as easily apply it to two-dimensional artwork, should you be so inspired.

 

Highly recommended.

 

NMM Steel (CS54)

 

NMM Gold (CS53)

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

This is a technique that's exciting my imagination a lot lately. I'm not sure that it really need special paints but having the colours that are described in the guides to their use would be a good starting point, and Lifecolor are very good paints in my experience.

 

Thanks for bringing this to my attention Mike.