TMM Tutorial



On my last painting, the Stormcast Lord Aquilor, I decided to try TMM, or true metal metal. I have tried non-metal metal, but that is something I think I will focus on another year.  This year though I have clicked with TMM and did myself (and anyone else who is interested) a little guide on Instagram, but thought I would include here in my blog.

As a side note the Lord Aquilor painting is why I've been lacking in posts and updates on here. I literally was getting home from work and painting for 3 hours and then about 5 hours each day at the weekends for four weeks. So that model had about 80 hours worth of work put into it. Please see that post for more information.

So on with the guide:

I tend to base most thing in Celestra Grey, as it just covers really nicely, once you get a good base coat down as I tend to use 3-5 thin coats in order to do this.

Paints used in this example are below, where I've used Scalecolour I've put alternate GW ones:

Games Workshop:
Balthazar Gold
Ceremite White
Auric Gold
Warplock Bronze
Stormhost Silver


Scalecolour:
Sahara Desert (Averland Sunset GW)
Tenere Yellow (Dorn Yellow GW)

I used Vallejo's Glaze Medium to thin the paints with. Lahmian Medium should work just as well.

1) Paint over the Celestra Grey base with Balthazar Gold


2) Paint the parts of the should pad where the light would hit, with Sahara Desert (or Averland Sunset). I was painting it at the same angle as the photo, which is kind of where it sits on the model, so adjust to your model's requirements. 



3) Go lighter again with Tenere Yellow (or Dorn Yellow), edge highlighting the previous highlights, building up the depth here. (P.S. the reason the photo is the other way round is that I had already started the next stage on the other side of the pad without taking a photo!)


4) This is the final highlight, done by adding Ceremite White to the last yellow and dotted the mix on the tips of the pad where the light would hit. 


5) Then I gave the whole thing a watered down wash of Auric Gold


6) For the shading I used Warplock Bronze watered down. Just place this into the recesses and be careful not to go over what you've already done. 


7) Once you're happy with the shading, tidy up with Auric Gold if need be, then apply a final highlight of Stormhost Silver on all the edges, lightning bolts and studs and you're done!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Journey with Burnout

Having recently suffered major burnout for the 2nd time, following finishing a competition/display project, I got to thinking and tried to understand it better rather than it being this thing I was feeling that I had no context for.   The first time I suffered it was after painting the Mucha: Music piece back in 2022, after which I suffered nearly 3 months of burnout that made me abjectly miserable. I tried and tried to push through it, but just felt like I was hitting a brick wall no matter what I tried to do. It basically felt like I’d forgotten how to paint. I couldn’t blend, mix my colours right, my brush control had vanished and everything was a slog.  Then this time it happened again after finishing my Goblin Airship diorama. I felt strange afterward, like I’d been holding my breath during the whole project and finally let that breath out. I wanted to paint and did paint, but again I started going through the phase of feeling like I couldn’t paint anything. Again, I kept tryin
Read more

Let's Talk About Non-Metal-Metal (NMM)

Image
A lot of new painters want to jump straight into this advance technique without realising it is built on the foundation of most of the basics along with a couple of intermediate techniques.   The basics being; blending, glazing, layering, colour mixing, contrast, and edge highlighting. The intermediate techniques that help with the advanced ones are: understanding how base coats interact with the paints you put on top, brush control and having a solid understanding of light sources. I certainly would never discourage anyone from having a go, but if you haven’t quite figured out the above, you are setting yourself up to fail. And then get disheartened and probably get fed up, you know how it goes.  You are after all trying to paint an illusion, a ‘trompe l’oeil’ (deceive the eye). You are trying to make a piece of 3d moulded plastic look like a piece of metal, without using metallic paints (paint which has flecks of actual metal in it).  You also have to remember that metal being
Read more

Recommended Brushes

Image
As miniature painters, we often get asked what are our favourite brushes. The ones I've always used and gone back to time and again are Rosemary & Co. They are a UK based company producing their own brushes, however, there are some countries they do not deliver to, so please check if they deliver to your country first before purchasing.  Below is my recommended brush list, with a mixture of sable and synthetic brushes, depending on your preferences. If you are new to R & Co, I would recommend trying out the brush set first, as this is a good introduction to their range of brushes.  I have an affiliate link here:  https://www.rosemaryandco.com?u=LMASON2024 My affiliate code is: LMASON2024  Please enter the code in the coupon/affiliate code box at the shopping cart or checkout page. If you have any further questions regarding these, please do ask!  
Read more