How to... need to learn to make my stock look rusted

[railbuilderdave]

Being new to this weathering I would like to know if anyone can point me in a direction to learn more about how to use vinegar, salt, and rubber cement to accomplish the great looking models I'm seeing here.  I have figured out some of what is being done but I’m not sure how one uses salt or vinegar to make rust on a plastic model.
Thanks,
Dave

[Ryan87]

Welcome to the list Dave!

Salt is used to create Pealing Paint effects. It's applied after the base coat and is brushed off after the second coat taking some paint with it (giving the layered effects seen on Tom's models)

as for vinegar  if you place steel wool in vinegar it will dissolve into a rusty sludge. Also if you strain out the Sludge & chunkies the rusty vinegar left over makes a great wood stain...

[railbuilderdave]

Thanks for making me feel welcome. 
If you use salt would the first layer of paint then be your rust color and you paint the color of the car over the rust? 
With the steel wool you are creating a stain for wood and something like flaks of rust to be applied to the model?  Would you use cheesecloth to strain out the sludge?

I have so many questions but right now I'm going to read the PDF that has some basics from what Tom has done and I'll save any more questions till I've read that.

Thanks,
Dave

[tom mann]

Thanks for making me feel welcome. 
If you use salt would the first layer of paint then be your rust color and you paint the color of the car over the rust? 
With the steel wool you are creating a stain for wood and something like flaks of rust to be applied to the model?  Would you use cheesecloth to strain out the sludge?

I have so many questions but right now I'm going to read the PDF that has some basics from what Tom has done and I'll save any more questions till I've read that.

Thanks,
Dave

Yes, the first coat of paint is the rust color.  Then, wet the areas that you want to show rust and sprinkle salt on them.  Wait until everything is dry, and airbrush the final color.  When that is dry, brush off the salt to make the rusty areas appear.

[Ryan87]

Dave,

The one problem I found with salt is it's generally too large for N scale (however I have an experiment I want to do and I'll share it if it's not a total flop)

As for the Steel Wooigar To Separate it I just drain it into another jar carefully (no need to strain)
the sludge left behind (what's left of the steel wool) is what I'm assuming Tom wants to play with.
It can be applied wet or let dry into a rusty powder (I have a big jar of it I haven't done anything with yet ???)

As I said before the vinegar part can be used as a wood stain (what I original used the stuff for) You can get a number of effects depending on how long you soak the wood (it's great for getting a nice dark weathered gray)