Matching it is straightforward: The Army Painter Gun Metal lands at 88 percent in the same finish, and 3 brands in all carry a close same-finish swap. Metalcote Gunmetal sits in the metallic silver family: dark in tone, muted in saturation, neutral in cast. It builds a smooth gradient with Matt Iron Grey underneath and Gunmetal on the highlights, all in the Humbrol line. Treat it as an easy swap, just confirm the finish type matches before you commit.
Metalcote Gunmetal equivalents in other ranges
1 of the 11 brands with a mapped match get genuinely close to Humbrol Metalcote Gunmetal, though none is a clone. Brand by brand, the nearest colors are:
- Closest The Army Painter equivalent: The Army Painter Gun Metal, a near match with visible drift up close (delta E 2.3).
- The Two Thin Coats pick: Two Thin Coats Sir Coates Silver, close, with a hint of drift side by side (delta E 2.6).
- Nearest in the Tamiya catalog: Tamiya Gun Metal, a near match with visible drift up close (delta E 3.5).
- Best Vallejo option: Vallejo Natural Steel, a usable stand-in rather than a twin (delta E 4.5).
- From Citadel: Citadel Ironbreaker, workable at tabletop distance, not up close (delta E 5.4).
- The P3 Paints pick: P3 Paints Cold Steel, a usable stand-in rather than a twin (delta E 6.2).
The drift here is spread thinly across hue, lightness and saturation rather than leaning one way, so the mismatch reads as a general haze at delta E 2.3 rather than an obvious shift.
How to read the score
90+Close
80sUsable
<70Mix
The Army Painter
Two Thin Coats
Tamiya
Vallejo
Citadel
P3 Paints
AK Interactive
Monument Pro Acryl
Scale75
Revell
Green Stuff World
About this color
Color profile
Highlight and shade ladder
Match difficulty
Where painters use it
Frequently asked
What is the closest equivalent to Humbrol Metalcote Gunmetal?
The closest same-finish match is The Army Painter Gun Metal at 88% color similarity.
What finish is Metalcote Gunmetal?
Metalcote Gunmetal is a metallic paint with a silver 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 Metalcote Gunmetal with?
Highlight Metalcote Gunmetal toward Gunmetal and shade it down into Matt Iron Grey, both Humbrol paints in the same finish family.