So this is a new technique for me, surprisingly I’ve never really done a power weapon like this up until this out of production metal Captain I’ve had forever that I finally got around to painting… here’s a guide on how i did it

Step 1: Base coats - Pretty simple, the picture says it all, the 3 paints I used, the 3 basecoats that we will end up wet blending. For now do a very smooth and thin layer for the basecoat with each of your 3 colors (substitute, reds, greens etc… if you want). Thin the paint with water to make it smooth.

Step 2: wait for it to dry!!!!

Step 3: Apply base layers again, but very wet - to do this, prepare both colors on your pallet with a good 50/50 mix of water to paint for each color. Then apply the first color back over its base, then the second color over its respective base coat. Be quick and wash the brush inbetween each color.

Step 4: Wet blend - while both colors that you reapplied are still wet using your brush (washed of paint) carefully mix in very small 1-2mm vibrations of the brush tip, starting from the lighter color, pulling down into the darker color. Go down as far as desired or until a smooth transition is achieved. You may need to repeat from step 3 multiple times if the transition doesn’t come out as smooth as you desire, or one color is pushed too far in either direction.

Step 5: repeat steps 3 and 4, but for the next transition, from the middle color to the lightest color. Be careful not to impact the transition you have already done.

Step 6: Highlight the blade using your lightest color mixed with white, on this sword i did the edges and the middle peak on both sides. Do a final highlight towards the blade tip with a higher amount of white in the mix to pure or close to pure white right at the tip.

Step 7 (optional): Glaze - Particularly when you are new to this, a glaze can really help to smooth the transitions of your blending. I used the citadel guilliman blue glaze. Draw the glaze from the tip of the blade to the hilt in smooth strokes. You want a thin and even layer, dont allow the glaze to pool anywhere.

Step 8: Give the entire blade (once the glaze is dry!) a coat of Lahmian Medium (matt varnish). This will protect it from chipping and wear as well as take away any uneven gloss areas caused by the glaze. Overall a smoother finish and sealed effect.

While I love this model and did like painting it, I found getting a really smooth finish difficult to achieve due to the nature of the metal cast, they are never truly smooth or have a perfect finish. I am looking forward to trying this again on a newer plastic or finecast model where the flat surfaces of the blade will be perfectly flat and smooth.