Air Triads - Fantasy Metallics: How to Build a Metallic Scheme

Quick answer

Use a Warpaints Air triad as your metallic scheme's spine: spray the darkest shade as your base, layer the midtone for volume, and finish with the brightest colour on edges and focal points. Warpaints Air is pre-thinned and airbrush-ready, so you can build a clean fantasy metallics air triad without mixing thinner. If you want one box to start, the Warpaints Air Most Wanted Set gives you 17 colours plus Speedpaints, fluorescent, and medium.

Fantasy metallics look best when they read as one material, not a pile of separate paints. The fastest way to get that cohesion is to paint in triads: a dark base, a midtone, and a bright highlight that were designed to sit together. Warpaints Air is built around that idea, with a matching Base and Highlight for each colour, which makes airbrush triad system painting predictable across an army.

This guide walks through an ordered process for building a metallic scheme on miniatures, from choosing your triad to spraying the final edge light. It uses the supplied Warpaints Air range, including the Orcs & Goblins triad and single colours like Warlock Purple, Wizards Orb, Desert Yellow, and Greenskin. If you are new to airbrushing, start with the Most Wanted Set so you have a working palette before you commit to individual bottles.

Choose your triad before you spray

Pick one triad that matches the metal you want: steel, gold, bronze, or a fantasy colour like purple or green. In the Warpaints Air range, each colour has a corresponding Base and Highlight, so you can plan your dark, mid, and bright steps before the airbrush is even loaded. For a classic fantasy metallics air triad look, choose a dark base, a saturated midtone, and a bright highlight that is noticeably lighter, not just a slightly different hue.

If you are painting an army, write the triad down and keep it with the model. Consistency is what makes a metallic color scheme miniatures read as one force. A single colour like Warpaints Air: Warlock Purple can act as your midtone, with its Base and Highlight doing the shadow and edge work. For greenskins, the Air Triads - Orcs & Goblins set gives you a pre-planned set of greens that spans swampy depths to toothy highlights.

• Checkpoint: if your three colours look almost identical on a test card, your highlight is too close to your midtone. Move one step brighter.

Prime and establish your darkest base

Spray your darkest shade first. This is the shadow layer that sits in recesses and under armour plates. Warpaints Air is pre-thinned and airbrush-ready right out of the bottle, so you do not need to add thinner for a normal base coat. Use light, even passes and let the layer dry before judging it; wet paint always looks darker than the finished surface.

A common mistake is flooding the model to get coverage quickly. That fills detail and creates runs that look muddy once the midtone goes on. Keep the airbrush moving and build the base in two thin passes instead of one heavy one. If you are working on a large vehicle or monster, this is also the stage to check that your airbrush is not spitting before you commit to the rest of the scheme.

• Checkpoint: the base should be visibly darker than your midtone, with recesses reading as shadow.

Layer the midtone for volume

Once the base is dry, spray your midtone from a slightly higher angle. This is the colour that covers most of the model and gives the metal its identity. Warpaints Air is made from ultra-filtered vibrant pigment, which helps the midtone stay clean instead of turning chalky over a dark base. Work in thin layers and stop while some of the dark base still shows in the deepest recesses.

This is the step where a metallic color scheme miniatures project either comes together or turns flat. If you cover every bit of the base, you lose the shadow that makes the metal look three-dimensional. For a green-skinned force, Warpaints Air: Greenskin works as a solid midtone, while Warpaints Air: Desert Yellow can act as a warm midtone for gold or brass. Keep your angle consistent so the light direction stays believable across the whole unit.

• Checkpoint: step back and squint. You should still see dark in the recesses and midtone on the raised surfaces.

Add the bright highlight and edge light

Finish with the brightest colour in your triad. Spray it from above and at a shallow angle so it catches the top edges, rivets, and focal points. This is the step that makes the metal look like it is reflecting light. In the Warpaints Air Triad System, each colour has a matching Highlight, so you can go straight to the bright step without guessing. For a purple metallic, Warpaints Air: Wizards Orb can serve as a bright accent, while Warlock Purple holds the midtone.

Do not try to highlight every edge evenly. Pick the areas that would catch light: shoulders, helmet crests, weapon blades, and the top of armour plates. A common mistake is spraying the highlight too broadly, which flattens the contrast you just built. If the highlight looks too strong, you can bring the midtone back in lightly, but it is easier to add light than to remove it.

• Checkpoint: the brightest colour should appear only on the highest points and edges, not across the whole model.

Unify the scheme and finish the army

Once the triad is down, check the unit together, not just one model. Metallic schemes often look right on a single figure and inconsistent across ten because the spray angle or layer thickness changed. If you are painting a full force, the Warpaints Air Most Wanted Set gives you 17 airbrush-ready colours, 3 Speedpaints, 1 fluorescent, and 1 Airbrush Medium, so you can keep your palette consistent without buying bottle by bottle. It also includes pre-loaded mixing balls, which helps colours stay mixed during a long session.

If you need to expand beyond your triad, add a single colour rather than a whole new set. Warpaints Air: Desert Yellow can warm up gold, and Warpaints Air: Greenskin can tie green metals into an orc or goblin force. The Air Triads - Orcs & Goblins set is a practical starting point for greenskins because the colours are already planned as a triad, from rugged swampy depths to toothy highlights. No thinning is required for any of these, which keeps the process repeatable.

• Checkpoint: line up the finished unit under the same light you paint in. If one model reads brighter, adjust your highlight pass, not your whole palette.

Metallic triad spray order

1. Step 1: Pick your triad: Choose a dark base, a midtone, and a bright highlight that belong together. In Warpaints Air, use the Triad System to find the matching Base and Highlight for your chosen colour. Checkpoint: if the three colours look too similar on a test card, go one step brighter on the highlight.
2. Step 2: Spray the dark base: Apply the darkest colour first in thin, even passes. Warpaints Air is pre-thinned and airbrush-ready, so no thinner is needed for a normal base coat. Checkpoint: keep recesses dark and avoid flooding detail.
3. Step 3: Layer the midtone: Spray the midtone from a slightly higher angle, leaving some dark base in the deepest recesses. Ultra-filtered pigment helps the midtone stay clean over the dark base. Checkpoint: you should still see shadow in the recesses after this step.
4. Step 4: Add the bright highlight: Spray the brightest colour from above and at a shallow angle so it catches edges, rivets, and focal points. Keep it selective rather than covering the whole model. Checkpoint: the highlight should only appear on the highest points and edges.
5. Step 5: Unify the unit: Compare finished models under the same light. If one reads brighter, adjust the highlight pass rather than changing the whole palette. Use a set like Most Wanted to keep colours consistent across an army. Checkpoint: the unit should read as one material, not ten different metals.

Product facts that matter for this scheme

• Air Triads - Orcs & Goblins: Greenskin essentials that span rugged swampy depths to toothy highlights, with each colour pre-thinned and airbrush-ready and formulated with ultra-filtered pigments. Gives you a ready-made dark, mid, and bright green set, so you can build a cohesive orc or goblin metallic scheme without mixing your own triad.
• Warpaints Air: Warlock Purple: Pre-mixed and airbrush-ready, made from ultra-filtered vibrant pigment, and part of the Triad System with a matching Base and Highlight. Works as a midtone for fantasy purple metals, and the matching Base and Highlight let you extend the scheme without guessing at shadows or edges.
• Warpaints Air: Wizards Orb: Pre-mixed and airbrush-ready, made from ultra-filtered vibrant pigment, and part of the Triad System with a matching Base and Highlight. Useful as a bright accent or highlight on magical or arcane metal, where you want a colour that catches light without turning white.
• Warpaints Air Most Wanted Set: Includes 17 Warpaints Air colours, 3 Speedpaints, 1 fluorescent, 1 Airbrush Medium, no thinning required, developed in a Colour Triad System, with pre-loaded mixing balls. A practical starting box if you want enough airbrush-ready colours to build several metallic schemes and keep an army consistent.

A fantasy metallics scheme is easier to control when you treat it as a triad rather than a single colour. Spray dark, build the midtone, and finish with a bright edge light, and your metals will read cleanly across a whole unit. Start with a triad that matches your army, and expand with single Warpaints Air colours only when you need a specific accent.