What's the best suggestion to give something a rust effect?

would you paint something metalic and give it a Rust-colored wash?

would you paint something Rust-colored and give it a metalic drybrush/wash?

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What I do for rust is paint the whatever it is in a metallic base coat. Then decide where the rust will be and mask it, masking slightly more than what I want the rust to be, then paint the item whatever the top coat is (can skip this if it's supposed to be a natural color, such as raw iron). I like to use pastel chalks for rust; I'll get red and brown and make some dust from them. Then, using a foam brush or coarse hair brush (rust isn't neat), I daub on some clear coat or adhesive, then use another brush to 'flick' some of the dust at it until it builds the effect I like. I like to cover the whole area that as masked off. Once that's dried, I'll use whatever color the top coat was to brush on, again with a coarse brush or foam brush, at the edges of the rust, to give the peeling/bubbling paint look.

I've used this technique a few times. It isn't bad, but I certainly haven't mastered it yet.
http://www.scalemodelguide.com/painting ... ips-salt/#

I will say, having a real world item to look at for reference helps a ton. Even if it is just a alley dumpster or someone's beat up car. Anything that shows what the dents and scratches actually look like color wise.

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Base color of choice, then weather with something like gunmetal (mild dry brush and also some splotches) to show some scrapes of the top coat, then brown, copper, and reddish brown splotches, focused mostly in the exposed metal areas, then some reddish brown powder I have (residue I saved from one of those dinosaur excavation kits), which I mix in at various stages to get the texture down.

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