With these latest terrain pieces I feel like I finally cracked the code on doing realistic looking rust effects!
The thing that I learned through trial and error is that a rust effect product (in this case Vallejo Environmental effects) actually works better over a NON-metallic base coat or primer.
I used to struggle with rust effects because I tried to hard to specifically "apply" it to areas at full strength and do it over a shiny, silver bright metallic color.
In essence this is sort of my first attempt at doing NMM (Non Metallic Metal) paint effects on what is meant to be iron and steel industrial infrastructure, such as pipes, power generators, old fuel barrels, etc.
There were no metallic primers or base coat paints used in these pieces. In fact they didn't receive any kind of metallic color with the exception of the rust effects themselves. The rust was done over flat paints of greys, browns, tans, etc.
When you have a base coat of a flat gray or a flat tan shade and you put a wash over it, the result is a very realistic looking, dulled down kind of metallic surface. I also turned to real world photos of old industrial machinery, buildings, etc. and realized that weathering and age had taken nearly if not all of the shiny indication that the machinery is made of metal.
I also saw in these photos that for aged and worn industrial infrastructure, it wasn't so much that rust was on specific areas of the surfaces while others were clean – what there actually was was a general rust-colored patina over the entire surface that is actually partially TRANSLUCENT. What I mean is that beneath the rust you can see the colors of the metal coming through, as well as any paint that may have been applied to the machinery when it brand new.
This understanding of translucence with rust really informed me as to how to apply it to these pipes, barrels, and power generators.
When using rust effects with a brush, I found that I could combine several ways of applying to achieve different effects: You can so a selective area by starting in a corner with the rust effect at full strength and then drawing out and spreading out the rust with a lighter and lighter stroke to achieve a kind of gradient effect. Kind of like wet blending brush stroke except you're doing it over a completely dry base coat. Having the rust effects fade out as they get farther and farther from the corner creates a very nice, subtle patina effect.
You can also use the rust effects purely as a drybrush where you dust the entire terrain piece with rust.
Yet another way it can be used to randomly dab it at full strength in random areas like on bolts or around rivets so that you have some areas where rust have completely taken hold on a certain area. You can also use the rust effects at full strength to kind of like edge highlighting along a corner or ridge of a piece of industrial equipment.
Combining all of these different application methods on the same terrain piece really create a highly realistic looking worn and weathered surface!
Link to more gallery pics:
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