Introduction

Braid Gold, item 281 from Darkstar Miniatures is a color in a new range of acrylic metallic paints - Molten Metals. I am very impressed with the brand. Molten Metals are water-based paints formulated to dry permanent while remaining glossy and bright with no need for gloss clear coat. They are also designed to accept polishing to improve the sheen. The range currently consists of:

Braid Gold
Baroque
Brass
Bronze
Bronze, Blackened
Copper
Copper, Aged
Copper, Polished
Gold, Antique
Gold, Braid
Gold, Classic
Gold, Fine
Gold,Imperial
Gold, Pale
Gold, Regency
Gold, Renaissance
Gold, Royal
Gold, Victorian
Graphite
Pewter
Platinum
Silver
Silver, Old
Silver Verde
Steel
Steel, Blue
Steel, Bright
Thinner

Darkstar Miniatures is a UK company that also makes 54mm and 75mm figures and busts in two series, Historical Figures and Fantasy Range. They also make Reaper paints and Darkstar pigments, ink washes, and now Molten Metals.

Molten Metals Braid Gold

Airbrushes.com carries Molten Metals and kindly sent Braid Gold for review.

These paints are packaged in soft 17ml squeeze bottles. Each bottle has an agitator inside to ensure proper mixing when the bottle is shaken. The bottles are a nice design with a clean but sullen appearance, not surprising considering Darkstar's modeling genre.

The paint consists of fine pigments suspended in a medium the consistency that reminds me of Vallejo, or white glue for those who haven't used that brand. I describe the viscosity as "buttery." That makes it easy to control how much one squeezes out.

Performance

I'm coming to love these paints. I applied the color directly from the bottle onto a primed Tamiya dog which was "primed" decades ago with an ancient enamel, and I did not clean it prior to applying Braid Gold. (I like to demonstrate paints based on "rookie mistakes.") I both airbrushed and bristle-brushed the styrene color chip. Let's see how they worked.

Hand Brushing

Brushing it onto the dog demonstrated excellent coverage. Brushing it upon the smooth texture of the styrene required a second coat. Fortunately, the paint dries fairly fast and the second coat was applied after about 15 minutes.

Painting delicate area have been easy with these paints because of their consistency. It stays where I put it and yet does not occlude detail when dry.

Airbrushing

Darkstar Miniatures states that for airbrushing the paint need only be thinned water-to-paint at 1 to 10. (Water only.) That ratio has worked well through my Aztec black nozzle. However, for this color, I used Darkstar Molten Metals Thinner and the paint sprayed great. Cleaning was good with just water, and complete with an airbrush cleaner.

Braid Gold dried to a smooth and almost glossy finish. Darkstar Miniatures claims this paint can be polished to a higher sheen after curing for 24 hours; polishing worked with previous reviews although I can't tell a difference after polishing this color.

Conclusion

My previous experience with Molten Metals has been very impressive. I find them to be excellent for any modeling category and genre - antiquity, classic figures, Steampunk, airframes and powerplants, military ordnance, , railroadia. These paints are perfect for anything that needs a raw metallic look. Molten Metals is an excellent product for modelers hunting for that perfect acrylic paint. Stored in neat bottles, the paint has a good consistency.

This Molten Metals did not cover smooth unprimed styrene as well with a brush as other mainstream acrylic paints I have used, although it was perfect over the primed dog. Airbrushing was highly satisfactorily.

There has been a dearth of quality acrylic metallic colors for too long and I praise Darkstar for bringing us this fine range of paint. Highly recommended.

Please remember to tell vendors and retailers that you saw Molten Metals here - on Historicus Forma.