How I weather my RatRods

Walt Francis suggested that I put together something on my weathering techniques so here goes.

Here is how I do the weathering. It is the same for both the body and the frame and is really simple, just time consuming.

I first apply a primer coat of PlastiKote Sandable Primer. This is followed by a coat of Testors Stainless Steel Metalizer. Both are shot directly from the rattle can. After these are completely dry I airbrush the color coat. Recently I have been using fingernail polish and find it is really easy to AB. It applies smoothly and evenly and dries quickly. When the color coat is dry I use 2000 grit sandpaper and fine steelwool to wear the paint in appropriate places.

When I have the paint worn to my satisfaction I make a wash of a rust color paint and just flow it on the piece being weathered. The wash is made from a railroad color called , what else, Rust. It is an acrylic and is thinned with windshield washer fluid. After the "rust" is dry I use a black wash made in the same way. If I'm not happy with the effect I have it is easy to add another coat of either wash.

After the black wash is dry I apply a coat of brushable dull coat. While the dull coat is still wet I sprinkle the rust and dirt on the piece. When everything is dry use a stiff bristle brush to remove any excess rust and dirt. As you can see from these photos, it is easy to control the amount of rust using the stiff brush.







Finally seal the whole thing with an airbrushed coat of Dull Coat. That's all there is to it.

I make my own rust. Just take several pads of fine steel wool. Break them up into a pan with a cover. Fill the pan to the point that the steel wool is completely covered with water. Cover the pan and let it sit. Every couple of days check the water level and stir the steel wool. In a couple of weeks you with have a pan full of rusty steel wool. Remove the cover and let the remaining water evaporate. After the mess in the pan is dry mash it through a kitchen strainer. The stuff coming out the bottom of the strainer is your rust. I made rust last summer and probably have enough to last me for a year or so.

For the dirt I made a trip to the local park's baseball diamond. Our city takes really good care of the parks and maintains the diamond well. I went out to the pitcher's mound and scooped up a jar full of dirt. Took the dirt home and sifted the dirt through my trusty kitchen strainer. This gave me about a year's supply of weathering dirt.

I hope this proves to be useful to you guys that are interested. If you have any questions or comments I'll be glad to answer.

:cheers: Thanks, I like to find the different ways everyone does it and yours looks good.

Thank's for the tutorial. Some great tech there.

Thanks for sharing your technique John.