Mixing the colour silver for car paintings

I don't suppose that many of us on here have needed to mix a silver colour, it's a tricky one indeed, and I'm not sure if it's entirely possible - but it probably is. Certainly it should be possible to create the optical illusion but not actually silver. Obviously I'm thinking combinations of various warm and cool greys, probably with the introduction of a blue rather than red. Robert Jones may have some ideas as he works with acrylics. I'm sure he'll respond with possible suggestions.

Eek.... this is not easy. There are metallic acrylic paints, but it's always so obvious that you've used them....... what you're looking for here is the dullish, almost matte appearance of a silver painted car; not the high-gloss reflective surface, nor yet the creamier colour of actual silver. Um. To really achieve this successfully is going to take a lot of experiment: I would start (in acrylic) with a zinc white, mixed at first very cautiously with a combination of ultramarine and burnt sienna, or raw umber perhaps, and heightened with Titanium White as you reach the end to indicate such degree of sheen as exists and also to achieve greater opacity. I should practise long, hard, and dutifully (!) on offcuts of paper until you find a mix that works. You could of course just try Payne's Grey with white - I don't say it would work well, though: you're more likely to get the colour of a battleship. Some makers offer Davey's Grey, which might be worth a try. Basically, start with white and grey it is probably the best answer I can give. And let us know when you find a mix that works, because I've had to think hard about this - the answer isn't at all obvious, and probably won't be to most acrylic painters. We do have a couple of car painters on here though, who are extremely proficient - I should be surprised if they don't have favoured mixes to achieve the result you have in mind.

Hi Steve, I know this response has nothing to do with metal, BUT, have a search for Anna Mason cherries, these to me have a metallic look to them and maybe could be a good start to learning how to produce that metallic look for the metal you require. Its an easy process, and one you may be able to adjust to your needs. Hope this helps.

For silvers, I always used Payne's Grey rather than black for the basic 'grey' areas - seems to work well. Has a bit more life to it than a 'black' grey. Anth.