Quickly Paint Metal with Games Workshop Citadel Paints

I used to paint silver metal in the Foundry method with the three layers of paint: a dark base color followed by a mid-tone and then finally a highlight. It took a while to do, especially with muskets and all of their metal banding. However, I stumbled across a method (from reading other blogs) that gives me a better result and requires less skill, time and effort!

You need Citadel Mithril Silver and Citadel Shade Nuln Oil (a dark wash/ink). After priming the whole figure black, paint a quick coat of Mithril Silver over the metal bits on the musket. It looks far too bright now. But that is fixed with the next step: wash it with the Nuln Oil. The silver is dulled and it obtains a wonderful shade, especially in the recesses, when it dries. It looks great as-is, and you could probably finish there, but I normally dab some Mithril Silver on the highlight areas: a spot on the metal bands that hold the barrel to the stock and a touch or two on the firing hardware. Only use quick dabs for the last step. You just want a bright sparkle-point on the metal.

That's it! The only precision painting is in the first step (and I just did my SYW regiment with my large flat brush which made straight lines on the barrels easy). After stage one, a quick wash and 3-5 quick dabs of paint finishes it up. What could be easier?