Hi folks,

I've got some helmets I need to re-color to match lego pearl gold. I did some searching, but wasn't able to find any clear recommendations. Has anyone else gone down this rabbit hole and, if so, what did you find?

For reference, I'm looking to match the helmets to the arms on my Elven soldiers:

Untitled by bricklearth, on Flickr

Edited April 23, 20159 yr by bricklearth

That's going to be near impossible to match since pearl gold isn't a paint and has a strangely translucent feel to it. What i'd try is to base paint a light metailic gold onto the helmet and then mix a small amount of gold with clearcoat and put that over the top. It might work to give the same look. You'l have to have white and black and maybe metalic silver on hand to mix up the correct hue.

There's one thing I use a lot, and that's nail polish. It stays on extremely well, and it should not be too hard to find a gold one with a pearly sheen.

I agree with Darkdragon, it's going to be very difficult to find something that matches. Take a look at the legs in the picture you posted - gold ink printed onto olive green plastic and it doesn't look the same as the pearl gold plastic.

That being said, you could try some model paints made for wargaming miniatures. People like Games Workshop do plenty of colours, you could probably match the official Lego gold ink if not the pearl gold plastic.

And Velouria, nail polish is a great idea! I'm interested in your experiences using it on figs. It's not too thick? How does it hold up to handling?

Hmm, I cannot help you finding a paint. But I wonder why you want to change the beautiful metallic gold to (not as beautiful?) pearl gold. Elronds are difficult in terms if colors, I also have a regiment. How about olive green arms? And/or silver helmets that match the silver areas of the armor. I dont wanna intrude on your design choices, but painting a series of (expensive) customized Atlantis helmets in a hard to make pearl style might be risky.

You can thin nail-polish with a special thinner if needed. It depends a little- there's a lot of difference between individual colors and brands. Especially light colors tend to be too sheer. But it's great for metallic colors, as these tend to have good coverage, and they are cheap to come by at the drug store. And yes, they hold on to the plastic extremely well- better than acrylics I would say. But it may take a bit of experimentation. Two gold nail polishes I have here that match well are H&M "golden treasure" and Bourjois 1 seconde no. 18. No idea if they still sell these. I'm a bit of a nail polish collector

Also, I have here on my desk Vallejo Model Color "oro" 70.996 (FS17043). This is a slightly pale gold that matches my gold pearl parts quite well, the only problem is that it is a little sheer and several layers are needed for a good coverage. You're never going to get that same slight transparency, but this is close.

Edited April 26, 20159 yr by Velouria

I wonder why you want to change the beautiful metallic gold to (not as beautiful?) pearl gold. Elronds are difficult in terms if colors, I also have a regiment. How about olive green arms? And/or silver helmets that match the silver areas of the armor. I dont wanna intrude on your design choices, but painting a series of (expensive) customized Atlantis helmets in a hard to make pearl style might be risky.

I'm hear to learn, so please do intrude . I'm interested in painting/coloring the helmets because 1) they're speckled gold/black, which doesn't match up with anything movie-ish and 2) the underlying plastic, so trimming the ridges on the helmet has left it mostly black in a way that makes it very clear modification happened. My interest is in getting a single even tone, far more than the particular tone.

The silver idea is interesting, although I think I prefer a gold color. I'm very open on what that gold color should be and also think your olive green arms idea is a good/interesting one. Any suggestions on paints/approaches on those alternate colors (e.g matching the metallic gold). Have you tried anything similar and, if so, are there pics somewhere to check out? Very interested in what people have tried :).

You can thin nail-polish with a special thinner if needed. It depends a little- there's a lot of difference between individual colors and brands. Especially light colors tend to be too sheer. But it's great for metallic colors, as these tend to have good coverage, and they are cheap to come by at the drug store. And yes, they hold on to the plastic extremely well- better than acrylics I would say. But it may take a bit of experimentation. Two gold nail polishes I have here that match well are H&M "golden treasure" and Bourjois 1 seconde no. 18.

This is great info, thank you!

Thanks Velouria, I think I'm going to have to experiment with some nail polishes now!

My interest is in getting a single even tone, far more than the particular tone.

If that's the case, have you considered spraypaint? It can be hard to match colours, but multiple light coats will get you a nice even finish if you follow the instructions on the can. You can even get some spraypaints that chemically bond to plastics, which will wear much better over time.

The problem colorwise are the weapons. They force pearl gold upon you, because they are not available in any other color. If it were not for them, you could use metallic gold to cover the customized edges of the helmet, change the arms to olive green and be done with it. It is an odd choice by TLG to mix silver, pearl gold and metallic gold on one fig. Since you probably want to keep the weapons, youre stuck with it. You cannot paint them because the hands would peel of the paint. So pearl gold it is. My elronds use different weapons, so by exchanging the arms I try to get rid of as much pearl gold as possible. Helmets will either be metallic gold or silver. Shields are even more complicated for Elronds, I have not solved this part of the puzzle yet. There are some chrome gold and silver shields, but they would Kind of overdo it.

Have you ever thought about buying third party accessories? I know it's kind of late sinnce you already have the Atlantic ones and have already cut and modded them... but it might be cheaper and look better in the long run? I know Brick Warriors has the Jousting Helmet and Brick Forge has the Hoplite Helmet. I've seen other people use them on their elf armies and they seem to match the pearly gold on the official figures fairly well from what I can see?

Edited April 28, 20159 yr by Deathleech

If that's the case, have you considered spraypaint? It can be hard to match colours, but multiple light coats will get you a nice even finish if you follow the instructions on the can. You can even get some spraypaints that chemically bond to plastics, which will wear much better over time.

I'm very open to that. Have you used any specific brands or colors with particular success?

My elronds use different weapons, so by exchanging the arms I try to get rid of as much pearl gold as possible. Helmets will either be metallic gold or silver. Shields are even more complicated for Elronds, I have not solved this part of the puzzle yet. There are some chrome gold and silver shields, but they would Kind of overdo it.

Out of curiosity, what weapons are you looking at? The brickforge elven swords are pretty solid, but hard to have the figs hold in the pose I've got going here.

Have you ever thought about buying third party accessories? I know it's kind of late sinnce you already have the Atlantic ones and have already cut and modded them... but it might be cheaper and look better in the long run?

I buy third party accessories extensively, and considered them here, but feel none are right here. The form is as important as the color to me...and the form of these cut helmets is simply much better than any of the 3rd party solutions. I'm pretty patient about these things - it may just be an issue of experimentation over several months to get things right

Out of curiosity, what weapons are you looking at? The brickforge elven swords are pretty solid, but hard to have the figs hold in the pose I've got going here.

I chose the brickwarriors viking longsword. It it only avilable in dark grayish silver though.