Metal Effects Experiments: Add Rust To Anything!

I've shown you how Modern Masters' Metal Effects bronze and copper patina paints turn out, so now it's time for the real showstopper: RUST.

John and I cut some decorative wooden gears for our front room ages ago, and at the time I combined a few different spray paints to give them a faux rusty look. But now it's time for the REAL deal!

Not the best "before" shot, but you get the idea.

To give our gears some extra crunchy areas, we started by spraying on a little knockdown wall texture:

Then we sprinkled on crushed walnut shells while the texture was still wet, for more grit. (Painters use the crushed shells for sopping up wet paint - but you could also use sand for this.)

Once the texture was dry we brushed off all the loose shells.

(Adding texture like this isn't necessary, of course, but our gears were so flat I wanted a little more dimension to help sell the rusty metal illusion.)

Like their bronze and copper, Metal Effect's iron paint has real iron it - so it weighs about a ton, and smells like burning rubber going on. Blech.

Unlike their other two finishes, though, the rust activator doesn't have to be applied over wet paint, so I just gave my gears a nice thick coat of iron paint and let them dry.

Once the paint was dry, I stippled on the rust activator with a sea sponge:

Within a few moments it turned a sickly greenish color.

After five minutes I stippled on another heavy layer of activator, per the instructions.

Something is happening....

And by the next morning:

 Sha-POW!

(I should note that, because we live in Florida, I've since seen the iron paint start to rust without any activator at all. Yay humidity?)

A few close ups:

You can really see the added texture here, which I believe gave the rust more places to grab onto.

By contrast, here's a section with very little added texture:

There's still tons of color variation, even without the texture, but I think the extra grit helps hold the activator in place, which gives you more of that extra-bright orange rust. So if you want lots of bright areas, maybe add more grit to your pieces - or just lay them flat and let the activator pool on top. (You can also spray the activator on, if you want rusty streaks.)

Here are the finished gears, back in place in our front room:

 Like MM's other metal finishes, the iron paint will continue to oxidize over time unless you clear coat it. Since we won't be handling these, though, I didn't bother.

I've also used the iron paint on my Death Eater mask, if you'd like to see an example with less rust and more iron. (I've since added a few more rusty streaks under the eyes, so I'll post better pics later.)

Now here's the best part: provided you prime it correctly, you can use this iron paint to make ANYTHING rusty. I'm talking plastics, woods, paper maché, you name it! IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES. [rubbing hands] Mwuuuahahahaaaa!

Oh, and you can buy Modern Masters at your local specialty paint shop, or online. (The paint is about $14 on Amazon, and the activator is a little under $9.)

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments, and happy rusting, everyone!

*****

Come see ALL of my craft projects on one page, right here!