Gunmetal Grey for windows and windscreens

Gunmetal Grey 863 Vallejo Model Color for windows and windscreens and also for whatever is from glass. At least, this is my solution for painting them.

I have to tell from the beginning, that this problem of painting windows of vehicles it is a highly debatable hobbyist’s problem (one from the many coming straight from the Pandora’s box of any hobby in fact, that also is accompanied by a classic paradox: the more you know about a hobby, the more complex it may get, although you always could be content with a simpler solution,  sometimes you do, sometimes you just search for trouble, but it is like an adventure that is worthwhile in itself, like Amelia Earhart would say).

Of course, many of the hobby modelers use different solutions depending on many aspects: from scale to environment where the figure is supposed to activate, from the type of miniatures to purposes (wargame, exhibition etc.) and so on. A simple black was used, or a plain blue, or a combination of them with white strips and many other variants and colors. The main idea is to represent a window that has a transparency, but most especially that reflects the light coming from the rays of sun in such a way that it gives you the impression of having a glass material that works the way is supposed to work in reality. As a critical, not many of us like to experiment once we found a solution that we can live with to a certain problem (I myself often fall in this category), or that solution is seen as widely recognized as the best and all of these because we think that we succeeded in catching with our miniature the real thing, when in fact it is so complex and different most of the time than what we paint (thinking here especially for the historical miniatures – the problem is more complex, maybe at another time I will detail my thoughts –, but who can say how a Sci-Fi Marine of XXII century will look like, although thousands of stereotypes  already exist).   

So why Gunmetal Grey for my miniatures’ windows?

Because Gunmetal Grey 863 Vallejo Model Color is a metallic color having shiny spots assuring that your glass makes you think it reflects the light. On the other hand, not for nothing is a metallic color as its use is intuitive. It’s just a convention that works well for me. At the time I’m writing these lines, I have painted hundreds of microminiatures employing Gunmetal Grey for this purpose. Maybe in the future I will use other things, try other effects, but for now it is ok, in fact, excellent, as I’m happy with the results. I still paint with this color metallic things, like weapons and tracks. A simple black it is seldom accurate representation for a window, the same for just a plain blue, while other effects employing strips of white and/or shade of blue (in using them may lay an option) makes sometimes a miniature to look too cartoonish, not a think to be desired by many of us.

This is my solution for now and these were my thoughts. What do you think? How do you paint your windows and windscreens?