i use Pearlized Createx paints and Tamiya Chrome silver & clear colors.
For a Red, Blue etc... metallic look. You cover the area in Tamiya Chrome Silver, then do even clear coats (insert color) over that chrome silver. Just like how you see people paint cars. just need to make it even or it looks funky.
You can also do what i did on my Phoenix ll paint up. I chromed silver her body, then did the shadows in black paint. from there i clear coated in red a few times to get that deep red look to here outfit.
Now for the pearlized colors, and a example of my Aurora paint up.
I mixed createx black solid and a pearlized blue & silver to get a pearlized deep black. Thats what i used for my base coat on her outfit. Then i mixed up a pearlized blue with tiny bit of black and lightly misted over her outfit to give it a bluish tint. From there i use solid black thined out in the shadows and muscles. Doing this give me that comic coloring of Todd Mcfarlane black look of the 90s, when looking at her in different lighting and angles.
You can also take any solid color and mix in a metallic or pearlized color to give it more shine. Just need to experiment with it to get the look you want.
After all thats done and dried, i do a gloss coat on them to make those metallic and pearlized colors pop.
Also a tib bit of info, when ever i mix up a batch of metallic colors and done with a piece or mixed the wrong color. I throw all those into a tube and have created a nice black metallic paint tube. This way i dont waste paint and i have a nice container if black metallic paint. it gets thick at times, but i thin it up when needed.
For the createx pearlized colors, they don't work all that well in fine tip air brushes. At least not in the badger 100s and 150s. So i keep those createx pearlized colors in my badger 360 and use it as base coats or mists on pieces. The tamiya chrome seems to work ok in those fine tips, but not great either.
So hope this helps.
