Leave etched brass unpainted?

[smbarne]

Hi all,

 

I'm slowly working my way through starting a Raven Guard army. The colors I'm focusing on are black, white, gunmetal, and brass/gold. I bought the forgeworld Raven Guard etched brass pack (awesome) and I'm considering trying the etched brass on the model without painting it.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts? It looks pretty cool, but it is a bit distracting because it is clearly not the same material.

 

Otherwise I guess I'll prime it and detail it white/black.

 

 

https://flic.kr/p/P4e4tht

[Semper Fortis]

In my experience, unprotected etched brass tends to discolor after a while where it has been touched by skin oils. There's a fair chance you would end up with your thumb print etched into the metal. But in that case you could always prove it was yours. :)

 

Priming and painting is the usual solution.

[Major_Gilbear]

An old trick for making things look "painted" was to gloss varnish with a brush and then seal with your normal matte sealer/varnish. If you do this (maybe with a super thin wash in the etched details only to incease the contrast a little and help bring them out), it could be an easy way to get a more fitting look without it taking too long.

 

BTW, this trick is commonly used for things like toy cars, rocks, bits of tree branch, aquarium plants, etc., in scenery-making for wargames tables. That very carefully-applied wash plus the same finish as everything else you paint is what makes it "fit in" with all the stuff that's traditionally painted. ;)

[smbarne]

Thanks guys, brilliant tips.

 

I think I'm going to try both approaches.  I'm really hopeful about added a wash with a varnish.  I think that'll really get the look that I was thinking.  But I've got enough etched brass to try just priming and painting to see which I prefer.

 

I just now know not to add it straight up!