Shadow color?

[R/C Kid]

whats the best mixture to use for shadowing, a mixture of silver and black, or black and white?

[SpamCake]

It all depends on the colour that your shadow is landing on. You want to use a darker shade of that same colour - just straight black is too stark, and an unnatural representation of a reduction in visible light. Start by taking a small amount of your base colour and adding a touch of black to it. Do this in tiny increments, as black can be pretty potent as a mixer. Compare it to your original colour until you've got the differential that looks like what you're after.
Grey, or dark silver, as would result from the two mixes you mention, would only work on a grey or silver base colour. Using them on another colour as shadow would be a mistake in a whole other direction.
Have fun!

[Blacktiger]

Shadow color depends on the other colors of the body. Sometimes a thinned down black will be just fine. But some jobs will require a custom mix or use of another color. Like a sky blue body with white flames would look best with a dark blue shadow under the flames. Best thing to do is take a look at some other peoples paint jobs and see what they have used. There are plenty of good examples here on the site. The paint competitions are a good place to start looking as we all list what colors we used.

Haha, Spam beat me too it!

[Piggy89373]

Another option is to use a transparent charcoal or fastint. I've noticed in small quantities, it blends better with most colors. The shadow doesn't need to be opaque, just a nice light shadow and it'll blend in better with your primary colors. This isn't true with all colors, so practice first to see what works with which colors.

Spam and Blacktiger, not all blacks are true black pigments. Pactra Outlaw Black's true pigment seems to be more of a blue to purple. Not all blacks are equal and will affect other pigments differently.

[Blacktiger]

Very true Piggy! My latest body that I posted in the December Comp has a great example of proper shading. I custom mixed the color for that one by adding a tad bit of black to the main body color, then ended up adding a tiny amount of yellow. Came out perfect. As Piggy said, it is best to practice and see what works well with the look you are going for.

[R/C Kid]

0_0 wow thanks for all the suggestions guys, I will try your methods and hope for the best.

[R/C Kid]

Oh yeah I forgot, you mentioned some paints are not "true" black, is Parma Faskolor one of those paints. Thats all I use as I cant stand the smell of the pactra paints.

[Piggy89373]

Best way to find out, on a sheet of white paper, put a bit of the paint and smear it around with a large paint brush dipped in water. The idea is to thin the paint enough to see the true pigment. When diluted enough, it's easier to see the true pigmentation. From what I know, Fasblack is fairly close to being a true black.