Page 24 - July August 2017

I love using pigments to model rust because they have a slight texture that is very convincing and they are so easy to use. The important thing is to put them into a carrier such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA) which enables you to use them like paints.
The pigment usually brushes on much darker but as they dry they lighten and achieve that chalky texture which stands in for rust at smaller scales.
I don’t seal my structures but even unsealed, pigments applied with IPA are fairly robust.
There are now a large number of brands of pigment – I’m using Mig Pigments because I already have them but AK interactive and Ammo by Mig are very similar.
Rust has so many different shades it’s worth looking at what real rust looks like so that when you start to apply
to your models it looks realistic. Look carefully at how rust tends to run downwards as rain falls and washes downward. The rust staining colour at the top will likely be much darker than at the bottom.
So as you start to apply the pigment diluted with ISP you will need a number of different shades of rusty colour, try
to use the darkest colour at the top working down to the lightest shade, this will give the appearance of “authentic rust”.
The rust run marks are done with a very fine brush and just let the brush do the work by dragging it downward.
24 ROUNDHOUSE - August 2017