Rust it up

[Jaybo]

I was asked in another thread to show how I created the rusted look above. I just recently learned how to do this myself and thought I would pass it along.

There are a couple of different ways to accomplish this, I'm just showing you how I did it.

This is what you need:

• Orange latex paint
• Wood glue or Concrete Patch mix
• Dark brown latex paint wash created with half paint and half water
• Mahogany Wood Stain
• Garden spray bottle for brown paint mix
• Cheap chip brushes (these are the really cheap paint brushes)
• Sea sponge
• Oatmeal
• Sand
• Drop cloths to work on (this gets messy)

This is what you do:

1. Coat the prop with either lots of wood glue or a layer of Ready Mix Concrete Patch.
2. Now throw sand and oatmeal into the glue or the concrete patch. This will create a nice texture on the prop. The oatmeal will create the flaky metal pieces, and the sand makes it look rough and uneven. If you used the concrete patch, you can also dab at the material to make it lift up into little peaks.
3. Now you wait and let this dry. It's best to wait a day for it all to cure, but you can dirty it up after about an hour if you're in a hurry. You just run the risk of a longer drying time once we start adding the paint and a chance the finish will run and drip more than you like. Think herding cats. It can be done, but it's not easy or worth the effort.
   
4. All dry? Good! Now take your sea sponge and use it to dab the orange latex paint over the prop. We aren't painting the prop, we are just dabbing it with the orange in strategic places on the prop. You don't have to use a sea sponge, but they sure are handy. You can also just use the tip of your chip brush to stab the paint onto the prop.
5. While the orange paint is still wet, take the spray bottle of watered down brown latex paint and spray the prop. Let the brown wash mix with the orange paint and run.
6. Now take the mahogany wood stain and drip it onto the prop to dirty the piece up and create the dark spots of corrosion. It will be very shiny at first and look more like a massive amount of bloody tissue than it does rust. Don't worry, this will tone down as the piece dries.
   

That's it! Now go make your Momma worry about you getting tetanus and foaming at the mouth.

Here's a boring video of the two pieces shown in the photos above. The finial of the pipe on the right was made using wood glue and sand, no oatmeal. The actual pipe the finial is attached to is made using concrete patch and sand, no oatmeal. The sword is made with oatmeal, sand, and concrete patch.

YouTube- Faux Rust

YouTube- Faux Rust

[halstaff]

Looks great and easy to do! Looking forward to trying it out.

[DarkLore]

It does look great! What's the secret to keeping mice out of your oatmeal coated props?

[Jaybo]

Originally Posted by DarkLore

It does look great! What's the secret to keeping mice out of your oatmeal coated props?

A Daisy Red Rider BB gun and D-Con? LOL!

Leave the oatmeal out if you are worried about vermin. No matter how much you try sealing these things from pests, they will get to it anyway if they are hungry enough. I've lost paper mache props that had numerous layers of latex paint and spar urethane. When that cute little mouse decides he's hungry, you can't stop him.

Truthfully, you can get close to the same look by playing with the texture of the concrete patch.

[Bascombe]

That is a great rust job! If you're worried about mice, try substituting coarse sawdust for the oatmeal. I have also used tinted shellac in a process similar to this.

[DarkLore]

It looks like a great effect. I wonder how it would work on pink foam to create a big iron door or some of those large plastic chains (w/added padlocks).

[Spooky1]

Wow, that look like real rust, thanks for the how-to Jaybo. To think, I was just leaving things out in the rain to get that rusted look.

[RoxyBlue]

This is a really nice effect and you can't tell it from the real thing. Well done!

[dave the dead]

Nicely done! Your props look like relics now.

[HalloweenZombie]

That's a handy how-to to have. Guarantee I'll be using it some time soon.