Eccentric The Shifters - Magic Dust Set

Paint that changes with the viewing angle

The effect known as a shifting shade does not come from pigment in the usual sense. Platelet-shaped particles float in the binder, reflecting part of the incoming light and letting part through, so the observer sees one tone head-on and another from the side. A model finished in such a paint therefore changes before your eyes as you turn it in your hand, and a photograph never captures how it looks in reality.

This set of six bets on a warm palette. The transitions run from purple to old copper, from gold to pale blue, from pearl to purple, from old silver back to purple, from silver to pink and from yellow gold to burnt orange. Together they form a group that suits fantasy hulls, helmets and armor, car bodies and small accessories where the surface is to be eye-catching at first glance.

It will not work without a black base

For the effect to show, a smooth glossy black base has to lie under the paint. On a light or matte base the shift of shade is lost. It is applied with an airbrush in two or three very thin coats, with the surface left to dry between them. Choose a gloss final varnish; a matte one would suppress the effect. Each bottle holds seventeen milliliters.

Shake the contents thoroughly before every filling of the cup. The reflective particles settle to the bottom faster than ordinary pigment, and paint taken from the top would look like an ordinary dark coat once dry. Flush the gun out immediately after spraying, as dried platelets are far harder to remove from the needle than the residue of a matte paint. The model, brushes and varnish are not in the package.