I’m a bit confused why Tamiya instructions often recommend their X-10 Gunmetal as a base for machine guns, etc. The color is basically silver in my opinion. Their other color recommendations seem fine, I just think it’s odd they don’t recommend a better color visually - to me something like an MG 34 or MG 131 should be recommended something closer to black as a base, only later dry brushing something like Tamiya’s X-10, which I think would fall into a weathering category at the discretion of the modeler.
To my eye, Tamiya’s Gunmetal is a gloss dark metallic gray, quite a bit darker than any silver. Especially when compared to their Metallic Gray XF-56, which is not much darker than their Flat Aluminum XF-16. I don’t mind X-10 with a flat black wash for some firearms such as the MG-34, MG-42, and MP-40. And it is a good choice as is for the bores and barrel linings of cannons and such…. Not too dark, and not too bright.
Ha yeah maybe I was exaggerating and being lazy when I say silver, but by itself it doesn’t look realistic to me.
Using it as a base with a wash was another thing I did wonder about; I feel like it would need to be a heavily applied wash though. I tried their Gunmetal over black primer, I know that wasn’t enough at least.
Surprisingly it’s also recommended for the exhaust tips on a BF109, when every pic I see shows those as rusty/oxidized steel, like any exhaust that’s not fresh out of the factory.
Here’s their own pic - for that exhaust I’m assuming the gunmetal base was applied then a thick rust enamel wash? Almost seems just as efficient to paint it rusty the dry brush it gunmetal?
For exhaust, Tamiya XF-84 Dark Iron might make a suitable starting point.
However, for exhaust & mufflers, I like a nice medium gray base paint with various rust, orange & brown washes applied. Blended in some orange & brown pastel chalk as well on ths Pz IV exhaust.
That’s exactly how I like to do it and I’m pleased with the results. Not necessarily X-10 but some sort of metallic or silver depending on what the base metal looks like. Sometimes a subtle brownish wash gives it a good “been tooling around the desert” look.
Use anything BUT Tamiya paints (except their JGSDF colors) My SOP for MGs, flat black receiver. If barrel has perforated shroud, it is black too. Mix my own “gunmetal” using the TLAR method. Use that for the barrel, or dry brush it on the shroud. Dry brush the receiver with flat steel (or light gunmetal) to pick out details. Appropriate colors for buttstock, grip, etc. Light wash with black. (TLAR = That Looks About Right.)
I often paint MG using tamiya flat black with a “dry brush” of finely ground pencil graphite
I agree gun metal is terrible for the overall color unless washes are applied. I generally avoid tamiya metallics as I find the metallic pigment is too large
Yes, that’s how I and a lot of other folks think about it.
For painting MG’s, my pet favorite method is the ancient Floquil Chainmail (dark bluish black metallic) as base coat on MG. Of course any similar color would work too. Then a very light drybrush with Windsor-Newton Titanium White oil paint.
Thats exactly how I have always done it. Their gun metal colour is odd to say the least. And as Carlos @Stikpusher mentioned, probably better for the bores and down inside the muzzle area if anywhere.
I use Vallejo’s flat black or even black gray and dry brush the metal parts with Hannants xtra color oily steel. Vallejo’s makes an oily steel as I’m sure others do too but there’s something about Hannants oily steel that looks better to my eye.
A good rule of thumb for any model manufacturer. It is best to do your own research and figure out what color to paint things as opposed to their (usually incorrect) guessing.
