In the pot, Red Copper reads as a warm metallic gold, mid-tone and moderate. It builds a smooth gradient with Weapon Bronze underneath and True Copper on the highlights, all in the The Army Painter line. This color is somewhat distinctive: 1 brand offers a strong same-finish match, Citadel Martian Ironcrust closest at 87 percent. Any substitute is a mixing base rather than a drop-in, so tune it on the model.
Red Copper equivalents and near misses
Fair warning: nothing matches The Army Painter Red Copper cleanly. The options below are the least bad, and every one of them drifts.
Closest Citadel equivalent: Citadel Martian Ironcrust, close, with a hint of drift side by side (delta E 2.6).
Nearest in the Two Thin Coats catalog: Two Thin Coats Fire Opal, workable at tabletop distance, not up close (delta E 6.1).
Best Tamiya option: Tamiya Dark Copper, only a loose relative (delta E 8.2).
From Vallejo: Vallejo Thick Blood, a near match with visible drift up close (delta E 3.2), but it is an opaque acrylic so treat it as a color reference, not a swap.
The honest caveat: Citadel Martian Ironcrust dries slightly darker than Red Copper, so expect recess shading and edge highlights to shift with it.
How to read the score
90+Close
80sUsable
<70Mix
Citadel
Two Thin Coats
Tamiya
Vallejo
Humbrol
Revell
AK Interactive
Scale75
P3 Paints
Monument Pro Acryl
About this color
Color profile
Highlight and shade ladder
Pairs well with
Try any paint in the scheme toolMatch difficulty
Found in 1 other brand with a same-finish match.
Where painters use it
Frequently asked
What is the closest equivalent to The Army Painter Red Copper?
The closest same-finish match is Citadel Martian Ironcrust at 87% color similarity.
What finish is Red Copper?
Red Copper is a metallic paint with a gold tone and a reflective finish. Because the shine comes from metal flake, a flat paint can match the color and still be wrong for the job, which is why cross-finish matches here are references rather than swaps.
What do I highlight and shade Red Copper with?
Highlight Red Copper toward True Copper and shade it down into Weapon Bronze, both The Army Painter paints in the same finish family.