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How To Make Your Weapons GLOW! – OSL Effect Tutorial

By Rob Baer | September 6th, 2016 | Categories: 40k News & Articles, Hobby Hacks, How To Tutorial, Necrons, Videos

Green OSL airbrush tutorial

Checkout this super sweet way to make your Necrons pop with some of ‘dat green glow!  It’s time, to get your Object Source Lighting (OSL) on.

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Fact: Metal is Metal, it’s tough to make it pop!

This green glow helps make your model pop from about 4 feet away! Oh, and you can use this for things like Nurgle, and maybe Salamanders.

Today’s show is brought to you by P3, no not really, but we’re using P3 Iosan Green and P3 Necronite Green with Citadels Flash Gitz Yellow which is a super bright yellow and totally worth using to get that top level glow effect.

Step 1: Iosan Green. We’re just getting the green down at this level, no need to be careful because a bit of over-spray is what gives us that glowing effect. Note that doesn’t mean you can just let the paint spray everywhere, you want a little natural over-spray to make this technique work.

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Step 2: Necrotite Green, now we’re taking it a step up in color but the key here is aiming just for the very middle of these areas. We’re going to be very precise with it.

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Pro-tip: You’ll notice I’m doing a bit of over-spray again in some areas. It makes it look like a natural glow effect.

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Step 3: Flash Gitz Yellow; this is such an amazing color, we’re going to mix it thin. We’re doing very light controlled bursts with this yellow. I’m aiming right at the middle and my air brush is super far away. You don’t want to be too obnoxious with it. We’re aiming for the very top.

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Step 4: Highlight Flash Gitz. Here’s the trick, we’re going in with the brush. We’re going to line up the edges with our Flash Gitz Yellow. We want to let everything dry to make sure it’s ready. The first line is the toughest because you want a good angle of attack.

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Note: I really watered it down in case I mess up, that way  I can just pull it off with my finger. Your window of opportunity is short, however, so you need to focus.  If you miss, quickly pull it off.

I’m just dragging the brush right over the edge. It’s almost cheating because it’s easy; it’s just a matter of getting in there and doing the work.

Pro-Tip: Pull the brush towards you for more control. For even more control move the model not the brush.

This step is super important and in the video I put the entire bit of my highlights, it takes time. For this particular model it took me about 6 minutes a model of getting in here with a brush. You’ll also see in the video that I’m not using the tip, I’m using the side of the brush to make it easier.

I also show you how to properly load up your brush, so if you’re looking for another hobby tool to add to your arsenal check the video out!

Step 5. Glaze it up. We’re using Secret Weapon Mini’s Fallout Wash, which is great for glazing. We’re using Army Painter wedge brushes. You’re going over all the green and even a bit of the metal parts that didn’t get any green on it. This works because it’s so thin it gives it a false shade that tapers off the end of the air brush.

HT_Glow Effect

Pro-Tip: Get rid of the bubbles and clean up the excess.

Let it dry and that’s a wrap. It’s an amazing effect and takes about 20 minutes a model, which, in my opinion isn’t that bad. HT Glow Effect

To see this done first hand check out the video!

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About the Author: Rob Baer

Rob Baer

 rob avatar faceJob Title: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor

Founded Spikey Bits in 2009

Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X

Bio: Virginia restless, miniature painter & cat dad. He blames LEGOs for all this, as there was something about those little-colored blocks that started it all. Spikey Bits sprung from Rob staying motivated to hobby on his backlog of projects, while sharing his knowledge with others during the early blogging era.

LEGO maniac and scale model hobbyist in the 80s turned miniature wargamer and trading card player ever since. He’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition), but Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and minatures made of pewter and resin.