Introduction

Wilder has released a huge number of finishing, texturizing, washes, decals and tools in the last year, and thanks to Airbrushes.com we have samples of most of these products to review. In this review we take a look at Quick Rust which is for adding the aged rust effect to white metal, usually metal tracks.

Review

This product from Wilder is supplied in a clear squat bottle with plastic lid which contains 50ml of the product. The labelling is eye catching and so good marketing by Wilder. I also like the design of the container as the clear plastic bottle allows you to see how much of the product you get and for that matter how much you have left. The squat design of the bottle means that you are less likely to knock it over due to its low centre of gravity, which must be a plus for the modeller. It is also worth mentioning that the lid is sealed and so you know that you are getting a previously unopened bottle.

I do have a few concerns about this product, which are that there was a crystalline powder around the bottle lid in the threads, and there is nothing on the bottle to let you know exactly what you are potentially exposing yourself to. I did read the very small text on the side of the bottle; that tells you to wash your hands if they come into contact and do not ingest. I also checked the Wilder website which does not give you any clue to what it is, but it does provide limited information on its use. My other concern is not so much a concern as an observation, that observation is that for a product that is for adding a rust effect to white metal tracks, the quantity of the product is very small and you cannot exactly bath or dip the tracks to get a consistent finished result. Both my concern and observation are easily resolved if Wilder feels I have made valid observations.

I did note when on the Wilder website that it says to dip the tracks into the fluid for a period of between 7 to 15 seconds, so with a metal track run in hand I dipped the track run straight into the bottle for a period of 15 seconds. The liquid did as it was supposed to and gave the metal the brown colouration that as a rule we seek. One issue I hit was that the finished colour was not consistent on the outer face of the tracks, this was my own fault rather than the products, as I feel I should have washed the tracks in warm soapy water and allowed them to dry before attempting this process. It is my belief that the fault was mine as the colour on the inner face is consistent.

Conclusion

This product from Wilder does do what it is supposed to do, and I can forgive the lack of details on what the product is, as basic safety precautions will protect you from harm. That being said if it was ingested the medical services have no idea what it is you have ingested, and I also believed that it was a requirement under EU law to provide this information.

I cannot see a full set of metal tracks getting a consistent finish due to the limited quantity of the liquid. I believe that in the case of this product it should be supplied in a 200ml bottle minimum and preferably somewhere in the 500ml range to make dipping the tracks for a set period easy. I do feel that Wilder needs to supply more information on the product such as, can it be used more than once, and some clearer details on its use such as washing and allowing the tracks to dry before they get dipped in order to avoid upset customers who do not know better.