TRACK RUST

AMMO of Mig Jimenez TRACK RUST, a pigment for track rust

TRACK RUST from the Spanish maker AMMO of Mig Jimenez is a pigment, that is, a very fine colored powder, not a liquid paint. The shade matches the darker, settled and older rust that collects on the tracks, the road wheels and in the recesses of the running gear of military vehicles. The powder is applied to a finished model and creates a matte, dusty texture that paint from a brush or an airbrush can hardly reproduce on its own. It is supplied in a jar with a volume of 35 ml. It is neither a kit nor a ready-mixed paint: it is modeling chemistry for finishing and weathering work.

Use

The pigment settles and hardens in the jar over time, so stir it thoroughly and loosen it up before every use. If you thin it with a fixer or a thinner, keep stirring during the work as well, because the pigment sinks to the bottom quickly and the jar then gives out only clear thinner.

• Always work on a cured varnish coat, not on a bare base coat: otherwise the thinner used for wiping would damage the paint beneath. Where you apply the pigment thinned and wipe the excess away, a cured gloss varnish pays off: the excess wipes cleanly off a smooth surface without staining.
• Apply the dry powder with a soft brush into the hollows, between the links and into the corners where rust would collect in reality.
• Let it act for a while and then wipe the excess away with a brush or a cotton swab slightly dampened with a suitable thinner (typically an odorless thinner or mineral spirits), which at the same time fixes the pigment in the places where it is to stay.
• Work in layers. Several light passes always give a more convincing result than one heavy dose; both the color and the strength can be combined with other shades of rust and dust.

The main tip for realistic tracks: tracks are the most stressed and the rustiest part of a vehicle, but the contact surfaces, the outer face of the links that rubs against the ground and the inner teeth that the road wheels run on, are on the contrary worn down to bare metal shine. So rust belongs in the recesses, on the sides of the links and in the connecting pins, while the polished faces should be left shiny (for example burnished with graphite or a metal shade). It is exactly this contrast of rust against polished metal that makes tracks believable.

Who it is for

For modelers of military vehicles and dioramas who want to move a finished model from painted to used. Also suitable for figure painters and for builders of buildings or wrecks, where rust suits metal structures.

Safety: this is a fine powder, so do not breathe it in, do not blow into the jar, work in a ventilated room and use respiratory protection during longer work. The thinners and fixers used with the pigment are flammable and their vapors are irritating, so make sure the area is ventilated, protect your skin and eyes and do not use them near an open flame. Keep out of the reach of children.