Product Review 43 - GSW Pure Metal Pigments 

Quality (and obviously very wrong). :)

Awesome, always happy to help sir. :)

haha ya i saw you use the gold and it looked really great !

You hate it, but you also love it...

@@MrSJPowell it's complicated

My sentiment exactly. Don't need more paint, WANT more paint, don't need more paint, paint ordered...

@@Himle_ I can't even remember ordering it. Just learned I was going to get them when the bank app notified me. My mind just cannot accept the fact that I keep buying more paints

​@@JuanHidalgoMiniatures Ouch! Usually I do remember what I buy, but... Yepp, it has happened that i forget what I've ordered end up ordering another set... Sadly, this isn't a one time thing^^

Yeah, the metal varnish is really a key. :)

Absolutely, I haven't tried the oil trick yet, but I want to do that for sure.

Excellent, happy to help. :)

He's always there for us, the hero we need.

Good call!

@@VinceVenturella Ok, wow! That Vallejo Metal Air line is an absolute game changer! Brush and airbrush. With the brush it seriously feels like you are painting with molten version of whatever color.

Glad I could help

also with the scale76 metal / alchemy line, which looks like it has a nicer gold than vallejo

@@Serpsor in the past, Vince has recommended mixing the Vallejo Metal Colour gold with the copper to get a more neutral gold tone.

@@Serpsor From my personal experience I'd also say t hat scale has better gold than vallejo. Also the latest "best metal" which is the mentioned Vallejo Metal Color is lacking in bronze and gold in my opinion. It has the best silver-ish tones, but I think only 1 gold and 1 copper styled and they both are not as good as the silvery ones.

@@MrStatistx sorry if this is long but I have a real bugbear about what colour paint companies sell as bronze. To be honest I doubt manufacturers have ever actually seen bronze they just say it's some sort of Sark brass (or sometimes red brown gold.) It comes in a huge variety of shades and I haven't seen a paint that looks like any of them (maybe ProAcryl is the least worst I have seen.) The best example of a mid tone bronze seems to be from bronze padlocks that are used in hazardous environments as they're spark proof and weather resistant they're a mid tone (yes I collect padlocks) but can be polished or aged, your own sample is better than any photo. Most people talk about bronze they always point at the very dark busts and statues where hot oils and waxes are used to put a weatherproof skin over the item. In India they still make wonderful bronze mirrors which looks almost silver when polished (extra tin percentage in the alloy) Vince's bronze with Vallejo metal colour silver and Fyreslayer Flesh is a pretty reasonable starting point, though I have taken to adding glazes of chestnut and black ink. I have been tending to a mix of bronze and light bronze (ProAcryl) and then start glazing it with fyreslayer flesh, chestnut and black ink depending on what I am after. The Badger metalsmith set gives a nice bronze but can be horribly glossy.

@@RobCrawford23 Just do it like me and inherit colorblindness from one of your parents and subtle differences are no issue anymore ^^

Yeah, they are really fun to work with and the finish is great.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Fair point.

Happy to help!

I'll have to take a look at those, sounds interesting.

It really does look like that liquid gold.

They are really fun and you are right, the shine and finish is really very much the vallejo liquid gold.

Well, this Saturday you will see. :)

Never enough bling for Larry.

Indeed, Larry is always hunting for the bling. :)

That's a very fair point.

Glad it was helpful!

Yep, the key is that shading and highlighting. :)

Ouch!

I haven't tried the black metallic pigment yet.

Yep, pretty much. :)

Happy to help. :)

I am going to do a full metal comparison video soon.

Glad it was helpful!

Yeah, there is a lot to review. :)

Yeah, you have to wick it on a paper towel first and get all that excess liquid out, then move the brush slowly, helps to avoid the flick.

It's only a matter of time.

If you've got a lot of gold, this is the way to go. :)

@@VinceVenturella yeah he's still in the box and I kinda want to go all out for it. I was thinking the old gold or ancient looked better on the vid than the straight gold

I think so too

Just don't would be my answer. ;)

With these pigments, alcohol alone can do a good job of setting them. It's much the same as Vallejo Liquid Gold, which only has alcohol and the pigments. - acrylicosvallejo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SDS-Liquid-Gold-Old-Gold-2019.pdf Section 3 for components.

@@VinceVenturella The Vallejo liquid metals have resins (tells "synthetic resin" on the pots themselves) as binder which is disolved in alcohol. Alcohol itself evaporates and does nothing as a binder.

I am really enjoying them.

Yes, some soft brown ink can achieve that for sure.

bu-dum-tiss! :)

I thought about it, but in the end, I think i probably won't it's easier as I can just mix what I need and play with the other items, as I'll often want to integrate other stuff as you'll see on Saturday.

I definitely want to try those eventually, they are on the list.

Yes, I have mixed in paints as well, it works great. You will see some of that in action in the second video coming saturday.

Saturday will be the literal best of all days! Wait, wrong channel...

I too would appreciate any suggestions on how to make the bronze more bronze, I ordered these last week and I have some Astartes Minotaurs to paint.

@@mattdillingham7668 So for Bronze, I have gone to a 2-1 Bronze to Copper ratio and I am enjoying that a lot.

We have some bronze statues in town, one of them was so oxidised the green had stained the sandstone / limestone plinth. The city council painted the statue black, but left the stone a sickly green.

I'm not sure, I've messed around with different ratios to get the effect, my best advice is play with it and find one that hits the tone you like.

Oh, I would definitely not breathe it in, but it's only open for a second or two.

I have basically no sense of smell, so I didn't notice anything.

I didn't try that, I think most would give a challenge because they are so gel like, but they mix with Vallejo Metal Color without issue.

You could, you could also mix them with more matte paints, and then build it up. I like to apply it to the whole area and then use inks and paints to bring it down and shade it.

GLEAMING! ;)

Larry is the hero we need. :)

They are really fun for sure.

The regular gloss varinish is fine. :)

I don't varnish them. As they are being mixed with Varnish here, they are quite tough, so it shouldn't be needed.

Yep, vallejo metal color silver, but you'll see it in play on Saturday with the hobby cheating video featuring these.

Thank you 👍

They are great, I will show some of that on Saturday in the hobby cheating video.

@@VinceVenturella looking forward to it!

Yes indeed, in fact, check out this video here - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-26_1W7zR-cA.html

The journey never ends.

@@VinceVenturella neither does spending money on what we love

Should certainly be doable, I would note those are much larger pigments, so you will have more of a glitter effect.

Sadly they don't have anything yet. But good old Vallejo Metal Color delivers on the steel.

I mean, really any can work, because it's more about the finish and the extra shading and elements added to them. The glazes and paints you put over the top. Many are done with poor quality Citadel metallics, but you wouldn't know because of all the extra layers.

I would definitely have a spearate brush for this.

That's funny, well, they are very amazing, that's for sure.

I thought about that, but in the end, I just like mixing it because of all the different ways I can mix it.

For bronze, it's largely been just using this pigment directly, I still don't have the perfect bronze. It's good, but not perfect.

Coming soon! :)

@@VinceVenturella YAY!

The next vid will not be the demon, but you will see it in use in lots of ways. :)

I have not tried that one yet, so I can't really give any advice, but I plan to try as much as I can and I will add that to the list.

@@VinceVenturella Thanks a lot! Ypur videos are very helpful

I will say that I am using them instead of vallejo metal color for golds, The only special consideration is that they are very, very smooth in the finish, so it can be hard for something like pure inks to stick.

@@VinceVenturella as an update to this question, did you ever figure out a more exact ratio of varnish to pigment with your measuring tools, and have your tried "pre-mixing" these in large batches and storing them in say spare dropper bottles? Thanks in advance!

It doesn’t really fade, but if you handle it a bunch you will leave finger prints on it of course. I don’t ever varnish it.

You absolutely can, you want to mix it all together if you are mixing it for the airbrush.

They actually soften some for sure, that being said, I have been mixing some of the bronze and copper pigment in a 2-1 and I really enjoy that.

I would buy the bronze as well. I have come to like it a little more now that I have figured out to mix it 2-1 Bronze to copper. that is closer to the color I like.

Maybe Lahmia Medium would be better, contrast might cause some strange effects as it's made to shrink away from flat surfaces, but i've never tried it, could be worth a go. :)

Yep, that's actually what I've been doing. Mixing 2-1 Bronze to Copper and I really like it.

I have and use both, the pigments are about 5 ties as reflective. Goes on smooth and works great. The pigment can sometime get a little to bright. Take over the model but if used right it is hands down much more luster and shine then the metal color from Vallejo or any other brand. The only other color that come close is the Liquid gold line from Vallejo but that one is in alcohol and dries out quickly.

Yeah, they are both good, but I will say that this has become my go to for gold and copper.

Well, metal colour doesnt have good yellow line, so no wonder. Even scale metalic golds are considered better

He's our hero. ;)

As far as I know, it's fine to sit there.

Well, the trick would be they don't have a silver pigment unfortunately, so that would be a challenge, you could always use vallejo metal colors (I have lots of videos on those as well) or Vallejo Liquid Silver.

@@VinceVenturella Thanks!

You can also buy the GSW Master Medium in a 60ml bottle.

Yep, you can get the larger bottles, but honestly, I love GSW master medium, I use it all the time for the reason you said, I haven't found another I like as much.

@@VinceVenturella Me too. My research continues tho, especially on technic products for paintings restoration, which have several acrylic emulsion that could have specs useful for us and be way cheaper on quantity. Because you have experience of GSW products, have you ever tried their ultra matt varnish (MAXX MATT)?

You get basically the same end product, but I find the pigment much easier.

Yes, you have to stir often.

INteresting, I adn't thought about that, I'll experiment.

Seems to be on the horizon! Can't wait.

I absolutely think you can, you;ll see in the video this saturday. :)

Yes, yes it does, but it really means they could be grinding their metal pigments more, as the smaller pigment of higher quality material makes a better product, but most don't because it's expensive.

They would GLEAM!

@@VinceVenturella you say gleam, I say they would be transcendently radiant, second only to the Golden Throne itself!

Well, I never varnish the metals, so it's ironic, I bought this originally with my Vallejo Metal color to see if I liked it over the VMeC, I don't. But it's perfect for this. As for difference, it's a little more liquidy, but it seems to be mostly the same.

@@VinceVenturella thanks for the advice, looking forward to the next one

I'll get to it. :)

That's fair, I like mine slightly more brown I guess. :)

@@VinceVenturella lol yeah thats totally fair and i think i agree

just PVA glue mixed with water.

Yep, Bronze has lots of different variants, I've actually found since then that 2-1 Bronze to Copper gives the tone I am looking for.

Yes, I think both produce basically the same effect, but I honestly find these easier to work with.

Was going to ask the same thing. Seems like a big timesaver.

You certainly could, I don't think it would be any issue. I don't think I will, as I like mixing them in lots of different ways, with lots of different things, so it behooves me to mix it each time.

Yep, I've used them through an airbrush, works just fine, use a little more flow improver, but no issue.

Haven't tried the other options, so I couldnt' say for sure.

Could be, that's interesting.

You certainly can, but I like to be able to mix as you can get slightly different tones.