Metallics are very hard to differentiate unless you put them side by side, so I did.
Left to right:
- 77.712 Steel
- 77.713 Jet Exhaust
- 77.720 Gunmetal
- 77.723 Exhaust Manifold
- 77.721 Burnt Iron
I'm not going to bother trying to illustrate the differences in photos since metallics are impossible to photograph. In the interests of using these paints better in the future for myself, I have some notes and impressions from examining them more closely.
- Steel: Machined and unpainted steel, like it just rolled off the assembly line. This will show any wash or filter you put over it to weather - it is, as the tin suggests, a neutral steel color.
- Jet Exhaust: The above, but with a thin coat of Nuln Oil or similar black wash pre-applied. As the name would suggest this will give a more "used" feel to the metal. This is probably where you start and drybrush up to build layers for any oil-based engine or machinery.
- Gunmetal: Bright and polished steel. This is a great soft highlight color for any of the rest of the set without going all the way to a silver or aluminum. It's likely not a good basecoat color since you'd have to use an extremely bright highlight.
- Exhaust Manifold: A very faint coat of Agrax or similar brown wash over Steel that comes out just slightly less reflective and a little grimy. It's pretty hard to tell this apart from Steel other than the lower reflectivity, and even Jet Exhaust isn't much different - this is just brown-ish instead of black-ish. Of the five this is the "dirtiest" color due to the inclusion of a bit of brown, and is probably best for ruined or heavily weathered steel.
- Burnt Iron: A slightly less reflective Steel that still feels neutral, and a very close match for Leadbelcher. The brightness is about the same on a flat panel but not as pronounced on curved surfaces. You can probably get some subtle shading with this as a basecoat and a zenethil of Steel, but I'd be surprised if that's something that is perceptible on an infantry model unless you're a god tier expert in which case you're probably doing NMM anyway.
For the Granite Fists, Burnt Iron is going to continue to be the staple basecoat color and I'll rotate Gunmetal in as a highlight. I think Steel is mostly going to be for small accessories, but I may start to try it out on larger pieces like assault cannons so that the weathering can be more pronounced.
In this image, the butt end of the gun has been painted with Burnt Iron in all cases and the tips remain the same as above. The order is now correctly ascending. There is a difference that's perceptible for all four mismatches, but it's hard to imagine the washes I use not obliterating almost all of the difference other than Gunmetal.
