The first post in this series (One More Look at Basecoats) was prompted by a request for more information on the use of non-black basecoats for Turboshifts. That post showed detailed examples of Turboshifts, Zenishifts, and Metallics over different colored opaque acrylics along with an explanation of the thought process behind the current basecoat color recommendations for all three paint types.
As demonstrated in that post, Turboshifts must go over BLACK in order to show off their shift. However, this does not mean that tweaking them slightly is out of the question. Edging with gold or silver is a great way to make them shine a bit more. In addition, highlighting them with a similarly-colored Metallic works well to bring out one of the shift colors.
For this post, I broke out some of our golem swatch models sprayed black. I then randomly assigned five midrange Turboshifts to serve as a base layer and picked two Metallic colors for each that were similar to the colors of the shift. I hand-painted three models with each Turboshift and then left one as is, drybrushed the second with one of the Metallics, and drybrushed the third with the other Metallic.
The drybrushing was done in the classic style with a flat, semi-stiff brush. This resulted in something which is more heavy-handed than I originally intended but it does nicely show off the effect of adding a Metallic over a Turboshift. Use a soft brush for a lighter effect.
The five examples that I painted are depicted below. The left golem is the Turboshift alone, the middle has one of the Metallics, and the right has the other one. Further suggestions can be found below the photo section.
3D Glasses
Dream On
Lunar Eclipse
Radium
Scarab
The following are my suggestions for potential Metallic highlighting over the other midrange Turboshift that were not illustrated above.
Afterburner
Malum Malus
Gold Rush
Blue Raspberry
Da Ba Dee
People Eater
Electrum
Cartridge Family
Summoning Sickness
Forrest Flux
Curacao
Purl Grey
Ground Is Lava
Life On Mars
Multipass
Ice To Never
Curacao
Purl Grey
Leviathan
Absinthe
Cool Ranch
Miami Sunset
Multipass
People Eater
Peacock
Curacao
Da Ba Dee
Shell Shocked
Syringa
Taro
Shifting Sands
Death By
Gold Rush
Conclusion
Edging or drybrushing a Turboshift is an easy way to individualize your models with some extra color. It should be noted, however, that all of the Metallic colors suggested here for a specific Turboshift are just that, suggestions. There are other options that you might like to explore. Several of the website pages use color to filter the different paints as well as to show them side-by-side for comparison. Explore!
Note: The third post in this series will focus on highlighting a Turboshift with other Turboshifts.