Old and rusty metal

Metal can be everywhere

Metal can be used as an improvised armor for cars, tanks or buildings. It can be a door or a gate. In the world of tabletop, it is common to use plastic card for metal purposes. The polystyrene is really thin and flexible. You can glue it with superglue and cut it with a sharp knife like a scalpel.

You can also weather your vehicles and let it look very used, by adding some rust, stain and streaking

28mm Painting Guide

First, you need some colors. We usually recommend Vallejo and Citadel colors:

• Vallejo German black brown
• Vallejo chocolate brown
• Vallejo dark rust
• Vallejo orange brown
• Vallejo orange rust
• Vallejo light rust
• Vallejo Wash light rust

You need some kind of foam or a foam brush for getting a nice and pure texture. Also, some regular brushes or an airbrush for applying the paint.

Making metal plates

1. Prime your polystyrene plastic card with German black brown and let it dry for a second.
2. It shouldn’t get completely dry, you still need to stamp it with the foam or foam brush. In this step you will add a nice texture.
3. After drying, you can add the rust by stamping it with the foam. Use the orange rust, the light rust and a little bit of orange brown.
4. Bring all colors together with the rust wash.

Rust, stain and streaking

1. To create a chipping effect (without real chipping) star with the German black brown and paint the edges which you would like to look used with very thin lines. For an even older and more used look, you can use the chocolate brown instead of the black brown.
2. To get a smooth transition between the dark chipped area which you pained the step before, you will add some light rust to gain a natural look. Apply the paint with a thin brush and afterwards use a flat brush and stump it a bit.
3. Add a little bit orange brown and orange rust to get a more smooth transition around the chipped area.
4. You can add water to the orange rust or orange brown and make a little wash for some corners, where the rust has pooled.
5. For streaking, you can dilute the chocolate brown and the orange brown a little bit. Add the streaks with a round or flat brush like oil paints. It is very important to not overdo this step.
6. A thin layer of staining can be added with the light rust wash.