Heavy Metal is a dark steel-grey Warpaints Fanatic Metallic from The Army Painter's John Blanche Masterclass range. This 18ml. water-based metallic acrylic combines strong coverage with a distinct metallic sheen, making it ideal for armour, weapons, machinery, tools, chains, vehicles and weathered grimdark details.
What is Heavy Metal? It is a dark metallic steel tone developed in collaboration with John Blanche and originally released as the metallic paint in the John Blanche Masterclass Volume 2 Paint Set. Unlike an ordinary grey acrylic, Heavy Metal contains metallic particles that reflect light. This immediately creates the appearance of metal without requiring you to simulate the entire material through painted reflections.
Heavy Metal belongs specifically to the Warpaints Fanatic Metallics and is therefore not a conventional colour from the Flexible Colour Triad System. The Army Painter's water-based metallic formulation uses a specialised combination of aluminium flake and mica. This blend is designed to provide a strong balance between coverage and metallic sheen, making it particularly practical when you want to establish convincing metal quickly on miniatures or terrain.
Why use Heavy Metal? Its dark steel-grey character gives metallic surfaces more weight and depth than a very bright silver. This makes the colour well suited to heavy plate armour, swords, axes, firearms, mechanical components and industrial structures. It is especially useful for the gritty, gothic character associated with the John Blanche Masterclass: the surface remains visibly metallic without automatically appearing clean, polished or excessively bright.
How do you use Heavy Metal? Shake the bottle thoroughly to distribute the metallic particles evenly through the paint. Apply one or more controlled layers over a primed, completely dry surface. A dark foundation works naturally with the character of Heavy Metal and helps keep difficult recessed areas suitably shadowed. Allow each layer to dry before deciding where additional coverage is required.
For armour, Heavy Metal can be used as the complete metallic base colour. Follow with a dark wash such as Grimdark Shadow or Voodoo Shade around rivets, between armour plates and inside damaged areas. Reapply Heavy Metal to raised surfaces afterwards, then reserve a brighter silver for sharp edges and small points of wear. This creates a clear progression from dark recesses towards reflective metallic highlights.
The same approach works across swords, axes, knives, firearms and chains. Keep recessed areas dark and place the brightest metallic only where wear would naturally occur. A fine bright line along a cutting edge makes a blade appear sharper. Chains, buckles and small mechanical details may require little more than a Heavy Metal base, a controlled wash and a small highlight to create effective tabletop contrast.
Heavy Metal also provides an excellent foundation for weathering and corrosion. Stipple dark brown or almost black onto damaged areas before adding Grim Rust around selected chips. Leave small sections of Heavy Metal visible to suggest freshly exposed steel. The contrast between cool metal, dark damage and warm orange-brown corrosion quickly creates the impression of armour and machinery that have seen prolonged use.
Across vehicles and terrain, Heavy Metal works well on doors, pipes, ventilation grilles, rails, walkways, wreckage, tools and industrial machinery. On larger surfaces, washes, stippling and drybrushing can break up an overly uniform metallic finish. Concentrate grime and corrosion around joints, damaged areas and locations where moisture or mechanical wear would logically occur. This makes the weathering feel connected to the construction of the object.
Warpaints Fanatic Metallics can also be mixed with each other. Heavy Metal can therefore be combined with a brighter metallic to create intermediate highlights or mixed with other metallic colours to subtly alter the character of the steel. For experienced painters, this provides room for smoother metallic transitions, controlled reflections and complex weathering while retaining the natural reflective quality of true metallic paint.
Heavy Metal is suitable for beginners and advanced miniature painters alike. Beginners can quickly establish a clearly metallic surface with strong coverage, while experienced painters can combine the dark steel tone with washes, brighter metallics, rust and battle damage. This makes Heavy Metal particularly useful when metal should look less like freshly polished equipment and more like heavy, functional material with age, wear and grimdark atmosphere.
Find the order you'd like to withdraw
Enter your email address and order number.
Check your mailbox
If your details match an order, you'll receive an email with a link to view and manage it.
