---
title: Silver Ain’t Steel - But It Can Be! How To Paint A Faux Steel Effect
description: "Scenic Artist, Angelique Powers, shares her technique for creating realistic faux steel, which she put to work on \"Dutchman\" and \"The Owl Answers\" at Penumbra Theatre."
---

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# [Silver Ain’t Steel - But It Can Be! How To Paint A Faux Steel Effect](https://spectrum.rosco.com/index.php/2018/01/how-to-paint-faux-steel)

 Written by [Angelique Powers](https://spectrum.rosco.com/author/guest_angeliquepowers) | January 23, 2018

I thought the first time I was asked to paint a full faux metal set was a fluke, a once in a blue moon event that would be fun and challenging. Well I was wrong. I have since been asked to paint four more faux metal sets – making it five total in the past three years.

*Harold Adam Harris & Kate Guentzel in “Dutchman” at Penumbra Theatre. Photo Credit:* [*Allen Weeks*](http://www.allenweeksphotography.com/)

The first time I tackled this task was for a double-billed production of [*Dutchman* and *The Owl Answers* at Penumbra Theatre](https://penumbratheatre.org/event/the-dutchman-and-the-owl-answers). For that production, I not only had the biggest budget, but more importantly, I had the most time. This allowed me to really dig in deep and spend time sampling to create stellar scenery based on [Maruti Evans](http://marutievansdesigns.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=18048&Akey=DET9DHPV) elegant set design, which had a subway car as the central scenic element on stage for both shows.

*Research example of* actual *rolled steel*

The concept was to re-create the look of rolled steel with paint. The sets were built at the University of Minnesota Scene Shop and Jason Allyn-Scherwin, the TD there, was crucial in helping me determine what base-materials would create a super smooth steel effect. Right off the bat – that meant that plywood and muslin were out. We decided on MDO, MDF and real Steel (that yes, I painted to look like… another type of steel).

*Subway car before (L), primed in Rosco Tough Prime Black (R) - notice how consistent the finish is despite three different substrates*

After several experiments I realized that if I created a silver tinted glaze and gently rolled it over a black base I could get the stellar results I was searching for. With so many surfaces all needing to match each other, however, it was imperative that the substrates began with the same finish. [Rosco Tough Prime Black](http://www.rosco.com/product/tough-prime) to the rescue! This one product performed three steps on this project: it primed the steel, it primed and sealed the MDF and the MDO, and it provided the deep rich back base-color I needed consistently on each panel. I also liked that when I didn’t need it full strength, I could thin it by 25-30% and it would stay black and not go grey.

*From primer to finish –* *using the seams of the materials to her advantage helps create that rolled metal sheet effect*

I began my paint sampling with the easiest answer – silver paint from my local big box store. Guess what! Silver paint ain’t steel – it just looked cheap and it didn’t have any of the depth and the color changes that I needed to create a rolled steel effect. After lots of experiments, I realized that if I created a silver tinted glaze and gently rolled it over the Tough Prime Black base, I could get some stellar results.

For the glaze, I found that [Rosco’s Clear Gloss Acrylic](http://www.rosco.com/product/clear-acrylic-glazes) performed the best on this project. It had the proper consistency, dried a bit slower for longer working time and was still really strong; so I knew it would hold up to any abuse it might suffer during transportation, load-in and performance.

*My initial glaze sample board (L) and my sample after mixing color into the silver (R)*

I also ended up mixing in small amounts of [Rosco Off Broadway paint](http://www.rosco.com/product/off-broadway) colors like Earth Umber, Van Dyke Brown and Pthalo Blue. Once I mixed up the color silver I wanted, I’d slowly add that paint mix into the glaze until I got a nice level of transparency when it dried. I was surprised at how powerful the silver was! My ratio ended up around one-part silver to four-parts glaze. These slightly different tinted mixes of silver glaze enabled me to create a better range of textured colors as I applied the glazes on top of the Tough Prime Black.

*Applying the silver glazes to the Tough Prime Black surfaces with a weenie roller*

The secret weapon was a thick napped weenie roller - It gave me the ability to control the amount of paint, create an uneven, yet still regular pattern, and be able to it layer over other tones. I would lay down a pattern going vertical and then come back working horizontally to spread out the paint and make it more transparent to help it match the finish of the rolled steel research I was given.

*Austene Van, center, in “The Owl Answers” at Penumbra Theatre. Photo Credit:* [*Allen Weeks*](http://www.allenweeksphotography.com/)

What I loved about this process was the luxury of time to figure out a rolled steel technique that provided a textured surface for the set, which looked marvelous once it was lit. The four subsequent faux steel projects I worked on certainly didn’t afford that luxury to me. Thankfully, I was ablt to adapt this basic technique in the following faux steel shows as I added more random scumble for one show, tons of spatter for the next, and forced highlights and shadows in the one after that. I hope this technique becomes the starting point for your next faux steel project and that you find clever ways to adapt it into your scenic process.

[View full post](https://spectrum.rosco.com/index.php/2018/01/how-to-paint-faux-steel)

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