How I bronze

[Calvin]

Hello,
this will be a little sbs about how I try to achieve the faux bronze effect. This one is something I finished recently, not a so weathered piece but at least not so shining like the previous (it is the 1/4 Dante by UEM):

And this is the one I will use for the sbs, an old but nice Horatio Nelson bust sculpted way ago by Jim Maddox and available from UEM (here the related web page).

The pedestal is not included with the kit, I just added one of mine.

Last but not least (for now) the "family portrait" of the colors I will use:

I am used to prime with the Tamiya gray, but having no more left I will coat the piece with a first pass of Humbrol #121 and a second one using the Vallejo #986 (deck tan). A white primer is not the best choice if you should to bronze the piece.

 

[Guy]

Thanks Luca. I look forward to seeing your sbs on bronzing.

 

[vergilius]

looks incredible good
can you do it in oils too?

 

[Calvin]

can you do it in oils too?

I do not use oils and I do not know about them, but I think that theorically the medium does not matter so much. Regarding metallics colors, you can use the Humbrols or mix the Humbrols with oils, painting as faux bronze requires a rough finish, so you do not need inks and so on stuff.

The main advantage of acrylics is that they are cheap and allow you to work fast. Acrylics dry fast and if you use an hairdryer they dry almost immediately, the above Dante piece just required a few hours to be finished, not days but hours. Oils requires ages to dry and I am not so patient.

Considering the reduced number of colors you may need to paint as faux bronze, purchasing some bottles of acrylics is surely worth the (little) expense.

Ok, this is the piece once primed with a fine coat of Humbrol #121

and once re-primed (that sounds weird...) with the Vallejo deck tan, a very neutral gray which does not alter at all the colors you put over it

As a base for the faux bronze finish I use a mix of black (40%) and metal gun (60%)

which gives you that.

Now the first step is to drybrush the piece with the old gold. It is essential to wet only the first half of the brush and unload the paint on a tissue until it seems dry.

Drybrushing must be made passing over and over with a very subtle brushing, details should raise up after some brushing, not at the first pass. This is the result.

It looks nice even that way, but this is just the beginning. Metallics pigments does not stick so well like non-metallics paint, so if you are going to stress the piece with washes and more drybrushing it is advisable to coat it with a transparent paint. This one received two coats of satin paint

ending that way.

Now the piece is ready for all the subsequent work, will try to make a new post as soon as possible. Any kind of questions, comments or critiques are welcome.

 

[vergilius]

this looks very interesting

 

[jjgurk]

Excellent sbs Luca. Thanks for sharing your techniques.

John

 

[Jason W.]

Great stuff, Luca! Could you tell us what green color you used for the tarnish "lines" on the Dante bust?

Jason

 

[Markus]

Hi Luca,

that is an very interesting SBS !!!! I keep close to your next steps !!!

Ciao,
Markus

 

[megroot]

Really nice and welcome SBS.
I don't use acrylic paints, but who knows what the future brings.

Marc

 

[paulyrichard]

Fantastic work so far! I'm watchin' with interest.

 

[arminius]

Whow!!!

This is amazing!
The Dante-Bust looks like real bronze.
I'm really impressed (doesn't happen very often).

Let's see more!

Greetings from snowy Berlin
Andreas

 

[Calvin]

Thank you all.

Next step was washing the piece with a mix of glossy black, smoke and metal gun. Note that I always refer to the Vallejo smoke, not the Tamiya one. Tamiya smoke is too black and leaves a very glossy (shining) coat which is not the most appropriate thing for this kind of finish. Moreover Tamiya colors and medium are alcohol based and they tend to dissolve the previous coats.
Adding some metal gun to the mix gives to the piece a good metallic look, above all when looking at light reflections.

The green patina (as asked by Jason) was achieved only using the Vallejo #974 (green sky). That color is very dull and the matt finish it gives does not match well with the overall look, so the trick is to add a bit of Vallejo #521 (metal medium).

At this point the piece does not need more work, just remember to drybrush it a little more if the green wash results in a too heavy patina for your taste. You can repeat these two steps (green wash and old gold drybrush) until you get the desired look, for this one I applied those steps for three times, adding a bit of metal gun to the green mix and a bit of smoke to the old gold.

The piece didn't receive a final satin coat. The metal gun used in the above mixes is enough to give it a metallic look and the final finish (not so shining) ensures a better contrast with the almost glossy marble basement.

That's all. Taking a good shot for pieces like this is really tricky due to the light reflections, they always look better in the flesh but I think the above pictures could give you an idea about what you can obtain.

As you can see the entire process is really easy and only a few colors were used, no need of expensive and/or exotic patinas and so on mediums. It is also true that the real bronze, when exposed to wheatering agents, looks more black, with no so much gold reflections and with a really heavy green patina, but considering that this is just a scale miniature intended for "artistic" purpose I think it could be fine as is.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Christos]

Thanks for sharing Luca!
christos

 

[vergilius]

thank you very much for your supurb explanation. I certainly gonna try this !

 

[gordy]

Excellent work Calvin, I know this thread is 5 years old but deserves a reprint!

 

[Calvin]

Excellent work Calvin, I know this thread is 5 years old but deserves a reprint!

We are getting old indeed
Thank you

 

[Hans]

Stunning. Perfect. I would prefer a more shiny look, but that is just a personal taste. Great work with the acrylics, really!

 

[Calvin]

thank you!

 

[Gellso]

Excellent stuff.

 

[balder]

Looks great. I'm going to Have to try this.
Thanks,Gerald