How to paint with Translcent Paint- A brief tutorial

If you often browse other plastic and resin model builders' sites, chances are you have seen at least one model (Usually mecha) that has an ultra glossy, super smooth candy color. Often, the builder achieved this effect using a translucent color over a metallic base. In this tutorial, I will demonstrate how to apply translucent colors on a model. If you plan on using this method, an airbrush and air compressor is a pretty much a requirement. The reason why is that the smooth glossy effect of translucent paints can be easily ruined by visible brush strokes, which can cause the surface to look bumpy and uneven. Anyways, onto to tutorial!

To begin, the model I'm painting has been built to ensure proper parts fit, then disassembled and masked off. I then primed the part and then painted it a metallic silver. The specific shade is Tamiya's Mica Silver. Do NOT feel that you are limited to this only shade though! Your final color can be changed in new and interesting ways depending on the metallic base coat you choose (Can be silver, gold, bronze, copper, etc.). Test out different combinations on a piece of scrap sheet plastic or the like and see what you can come up with.

Here, you can see I've started to add some translucent paint! Because this is a relatively thin paint, I've turned my air pressure down (Around 10-15 PSI) and slowly built up the intensity of the color. I am using Tamiya's Clear Green color, but there are other translucent paint brands that work just as well (Such as Createx). Something you have to watch out for when painting with translucent paints is that the more layers you apply, the darker and more intense it will become. It's always best to start off with several thin layers and continue layering thinly until the color reaches the desired intensity.

Here is a part with several different translucent colors on it. These were done freehand by starting in the middle with Tamiya's Clear Blue, then Clear Green, and then finally Clear Red on the outer edges.

It is important to topcoat your painted parts after they've dried. Translucent paint seems especially prone to chipping and flaking off if it does not have a protective topcoat on it. I used Future Floor Acrylic to topcoat this model's parts- the glossy finish enhances the translucent paint as well as the metallic base coat, it is extremely durable and easy to spray through my airbrush. It can also be handpainted with a soft brush if you're ever in a bind and can't airbrush it- Future has excellent self- levelling properties and brush strokes are usually not visible as a result.