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Yeah.....I don't even know where too begin to post this here...so..oh well...here it is.....

This was done as part of a quick challenge in an FB group "Post-Apocalyptic Modelling - Welcome To The Zone!"

The task was to take a simple plastic bottle cap, and make it look like a rusted old metal one.

I really had not time to do this..but it seemed fun, so I took 45 mins and gave it a shot.


First step was to run over it with the car.

Step #2, was to spray it with black self-etching automotive primer (to make sure to create a well bonded base coat for the subsequent layers/finishes.
Belatedly I decided that some of the exposed/crushed edges needed some thinning/refining.

Because this is full scale this is actually really simple....and since there were no "rules" as to how we go about finishing the cap, I took an easy-out/short-cut to the rust finish.

Third step...and this was primarily as a back-up/precaution in case things did not work as I anticipated, I randomly sponged on some dark toned AMMO rust tones. These were dried with a blow-dryer, and were immediately over-sprayed with some, DullCoat....which was also promptly dried with a blow-dryer.

Step #4; Now here is where the "easy out" came in; ..and this is not something I would recommend for a scale model, as IMO it only works/looks correct, in full scale or pretty close to it.

I randomly dabbed the cap with various thickness/thinned amounts of "Iron Base" from Sophisticated Finishes....I worked, and stippled it to build up areas and edges to vary the grain/coarseness of the eventual rust.

Step #5; Next, the cap was sprayed with hairspray, and just before the hairspray was completely dry, I sprinkled randomly coarse ground salt onto the cap.

Step #6At this point I mixed an "off-white" (to replicate an old/aged/weathered white, and one that I could come back in and do lighter 'mapping' on if I so decided) color using Tamiya paints and water, and airbrushed it randomly over the cap.

Step #7; I then took some Tamiya red, into which I poured/mixed some of the left-over off-white tone, to lighten/fade the red. This was airbrushed on through an Eduard metal star stencil. (Instead of just holding the mask in place, I should have put more effort into holding/attaching it tightly to the surface, so as to get a crisper edge....but I was in a hurry and lazy. )

Once this was dried with the blow-dryer, I applied a coat of Vallejo 'Satin Finish' (applying this at this point was not my preferred way to go, and did not yield the result I really wanted....but I was out of Tamiya 'Gloss Clear' to mix into the actual colors.


Step #8, was to scrub the salt with a brush, and use Windex and a brush to chip the paint.

Once the chipping was to where I felt it was okay, I brushed on the "Rusting Solution", and let it do its thing.

The cap 15 minutes after the application of the "rusting" solution.

And some shots of the cap this morning (set in what would be the apocalyptic scene ), after the solution had time to fully do it's job (the bottle says the solution is active for 24 hours).

A bit more in context

...and nothing is complete without the B&W glamour shot.

This challenge is really weird ...    ...

... and THIS looks like as it would be a part of a chocolate-coated marshmallow ...  

Yes, the pitfall of using our phone for photography under fluorescent lights.

I love it!

Fun challenge, and excellent results!

You do seem to be getting the hang of how to use paint. -- Russ

Yes Russ Marc may have figured out the paint! But we already knew that 
It's backing the car over the bottle cap that he's still trying to perfect 
MPH

Great -err, crappy looking finish on that bottlecap! Is the tattered stuffed animal to set the apocalyptic scene like the one from Breaking Bad?