Best paints for object source lighting (OSL)

Object source lighting (OSL) paints the glow a light source casts on the model around it. The ramp runs from a dull, unlit surface through a saturated glow to an almost white hot core.

Paint the area around the light dark first, then build the glow outward from the source in thin layers, keeping the brightest steps small and close to the source.

Each ramp below is built the way the Ramps mode on the colour wheel builds one: we set a target colour for each step, then pick the nearest opaque paint in each brand (no metallics, washes or contrast paints, and no paint used twice). ΔE says how far each paint is from its target: close is under 6, fair under 12. Swatch colours are estimates, so test the ramp on a spare model first. On the wheel you can build the same ramp from any paint, or only from the paints you own.