Aside from buying products that can produce a realistic rust affect, how do you make rust?

I have read that you can mix white glue, water and some commet (the cleaning agent) or some such granular substance and then apply it to the surface and paint it rust color. Anyone use this method or what is your method?

I think the easiest way to simulate rust is to use pastel chalks...orange and red mixed together and applied with a brush.

Howdy Game,

There was a thread sometime back about this subject (Kenc', the Link Meister, would be better at finding it) but I think, some of the methods included placing OO steel wool (same as a used brillo pad) in a vinegar solution for a month or so, and collecting the remains at the bottom of the jar. In fact, I believe Kenc' had the best answer, if memory serves.
Kenc'.....you there?
Maybe he's busy. Anyway. His method was one I use on the rare occasions I need actual rust. Just find a rusty bolt or metal object and scrape off the accumulated rust particles onto a white piece of paper. You might be surprised at how much you can harvest. Give it a try.

Tread.

Kenc', if I misqouted your method, please don't hesitate to slap my wrist...OK?

Tread,
I remember that thread on steel wool... must be around here somewhere.

I tried the trick with pastel chalks, like this :

1) Grate orange and brown pastel chalcks (scratch with hobbyknife) till you have a small quantity of orange and brown powder. Mix LIGHTLY, so there's still separate specks of orange and brown in the end result
2) Paint rusted surface in artist oil paint (rusty color)
3) Add grated pastel powder to wet paint
4) let dry.

Looks extremely real for stuff that is BADLY rusted, like exhaust pipes etc... not useful for something that only has a few specks of rust...

Jan

Base paint the object say flat black. Then, I place white glue over the muffler, for example, then put baking soda over the white glue. Chip some of the dried mix off the next day. I used the 000 steel wool in the bottom of a jar filled with enough thinner to cover the pad. I get the rust color over night. sparing place some on the dried baking soda. It absorbs it and looks neat. German muffler systems seem to take this the best.
DJ

Jan, your method sounds excellent. And I can actually envision the result. I have tried that method (with some slight colour changes) and had good results. The only 'plus' to the actual rust shavings idea is that the colour is already built in. And as I'm sure you're aware, we are ALL chasing the genius of mother nature when it comes to colour mixing. In fact the whole subject of rust is a can of worms isn't it? We then get into the whole ::::::said in a whiny voice::::::: "what could possibly be rusted on armour? I've never seen anything rusted in my entire life in the armour brigade! Etc, etc, etc...."
I'm sure you've experienced the near flame war associated with the subject.
Funny thing is, I believe I've leafed through hundreds of research books and I just know I've seen rust in the pictures. Even read text that has lightly refered to the presence of rust on vehicles. So, my only input here is two-fold. One, a picture is worth a thousand words, and.
Two, Unless you've actually been there, please don't tell me what it actually was like.
Actual experience is priceless, everything else is just conjecture and opinion.

Tread.

Sorry for the ramble...I do that sometimes. :-)

Treadhead, I have to agree, on most modern equipment, there is little rust.

My pictures of the 5-tons & and others of HUMMVs, you can see the rust is limited to between the layers of leaf springs, under fenders, and on exhaust systems. Some may be found inside the beds of well used cargo trucks (sort of like the back of my 10-year old pickup).
On the older vehicles like the 2-1/2 tons, many of which are older than many of the members of this website, you can see more rust, for one Tennessee is a very wet state and you can see in my pictures where rust has gathered where water would stand after a rain, Also new CARC painting rules (CARC is carcogenic) limit spot painting, etc. You can see where the trucks have been spot painted.

Now when I was on active duty, rust was a big NO GO (Of course we could spot paint the alkyd paints any time and it was cheap and plentiful) The only rust you find on any tank I saw was on the tracks the day after you got off the wash rack or a small spot or two on the bow, where you had been knocking down trees (we used to do that, probably can't do it anymore). Just a small edge where paint and primer were chipped off. The armor is extremely high quality steel and does not readily rust.

One last thing there is a lot of aluminum, fiberglass and plastic in modern military vehicles, those parts don't rust.

On HUMMV exhaust systems, what I see is at joints and where hangers are welded to the exhaust system. Spots were water and dirt can accumulate. Though the rust is light.

Just my observations and thoughts.

Here's the thread we had on this from just a little while ago:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/680&page=1

LOL.......as I said earlier, I knew we could count on you to ferret out the thread...

Thx,

Tread.

one thing i have learned about with steel when it is rusting is: it has a tendency to blacken before reddening and oxidation causes pitting. aluminum does not rust, but it does corrode(a white film forms on it) and stainless steel just dulls over time. some modelers have a bad tendency to overuse rust and have no earthly idea what it really is . germans usually when possible cleaned all rust off their vehicles, to them rust was aesthetically displeasing and they usually cleaned it up before it got to out of hand (rust spreads like wildfire). tank treads are the worst, they look like about ready to fall off because of the rust paint. especially in winter dioramas. thanks for listening to my rumblings, chris