I’m sure there are many people who have never heard of Mr. Surfacer, or have only heard of it in passing. So I thought I’d put together a quick explanation of what it is and some of the uses for it.
For an explanation of what Mr. Surfacer is please read Part 1 HERE.
The effect we will be looking at today is that of creating textured effects to replicate heavy rusting finishes, the sort found on heavily rusted drums etc where the rust hasbegun to bubble and flake.
The photo series included here demonstrates the creation of these effects using an old already painted Tamiya Kettenkraftrad that I pick up with a boxlot of old models.
Start by painting on a layer of Mr. Surfacer, not too thick as then it looks a little overdone. As it starts to dry stipple it lightly. Once dried use the blunt end of a hobby knife to push down any areas that are too poiny or raised.
Paint with the base colour of the model and then drybrush the highlights with a lighter shade of the same colour. If you’re just rusting bare metal then paint the whole thing a dull grey, or for burnt rust use a dark brown.
Add a bare metal burnishing rub to the areas around the rusted area and a dark gun metal wash to the rusted area then apply a layer of “old rust” coloured pigments or if you’re not using commercial pigments this can be made from a mix of brown, red and orange pastels and chalks ground up and mixed together.
Go over the rusted areas with a lighter shade and also use this as a rub along areas where water will run and collect the washed away rust staining.
Finish with a light redo of the dark rust colour in spots to add highlights, together with small areas of runs and staining done by using a small, fine tipped, moist brush.
And there it is. This one was a little rushed for this article so it could be done be better, but you’ll find that a little time spent fine tuning the finish will give you the result that you’re after.
Please note : the choice of the Kettenkraftrad was simply a case of it being handy and isn’t meant to necessarily represent how a rusted one would look.
