Gold is a light vivid metallic gold with a warm undertone. To deepen it, Brass is the darker step in the same Humbrol range. Substitutes are thinner on the ground; Tamiya Gold Leaf is the nearest same-finish option at 100 percent, with 1 brand in strong-match range. A cross-brand swap will get you most of the way, but eyeball it against the original first.
Gold equivalents in other ranges
This is one of the easy ones. A same finish twin exists, and 5 brands in the catalog land close enough to consider.
Closest Tamiya equivalent: Tamiya Gold Leaf, the same color for practical purposes (delta E 0.0).
- Nearest in the The Army Painter catalog: The Army Painter Glittering Loot, workable at tabletop distance, not up close (delta E 4.7).
- Best AK Interactive option: AK Interactive Old Gold, a usable stand-in rather than a twin (delta E 8.0).
- From Two Thin Coats: Two Thin Coats Heirloom Gold, only a loose relative (delta E 8.2).
- Vallejo's closest color: Vallejo Buff, close, with a hint of drift side by side (delta E 3.0), but it is an opaque acrylic so treat it as a color reference, not a swap.
- Nearest in the Citadel catalog: Citadel Armageddon Dust, a near match with visible drift up close (delta E 3.0), but it is a technical / primer so treat it as a color reference, not a swap.
Side by side the two agree in lightness and temperature; at delta E 0.0 the gap is smaller than the variation between two pots of the same paint.
How to read the score
90+Close
80sUsable
<70Mix
Tamiya
The Army Painter
AK Interactive
Two Thin Coats
Vallejo
Citadel
Monument Pro Acryl
Scale75
Revell
Green Stuff World
About this color
Color profile
Highlight and shade ladder
Pairs well with
Try any paint in the scheme toolMatch difficulty
Where painters use it
Frequently asked
What is the closest equivalent to Humbrol Gold?
The closest same-finish match is Tamiya Gold Leaf at 100% color similarity.
Is there a The Army Painter equivalent of Gold?
Yes. The closest The Army Painter option is Glittering Loot at 77%, a same-finish match.
What finish is Gold?
Gold 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 Gold with?
Shade Gold with Brass in the same Humbrol range. For highlights, mix in a lighter tone or move to a brighter paint in the lane.