Playing around with Lifecolor’s Liquid Pigments – Rust Wizard Review

I do some experiments on techniques or modelling products now on then; I might as well share them here. Here’s the previous post about the different media you can suspend your pigments.

 

I saw these new products mentioned in armorama, and they did look interesting. While I tend to avoid paint/weathering sets, I thought I’d give it a go, since rust is something that is difficult to do, and new methods are always welcome.

I’ve been experimenting with this product for a while now, and here are my thoughts about it.

One thing that is very important is to apply the product to a flat (matte) surface (as in flat paint, although a level surface does not hurt, either). It flows quite freely, and if the surface is a little bit satin it will just flow into the recesses as an ordinary wash would do. This in itself can give you a nice rusty effect, but this is not what we’re looking to achieve here. So: always use it on a flat surface. (Unless you DO want a rust-wash; this is a perfectly good use of this product.)

Most of the paint flows into the crevices even on a semi-matte surface like this

The standard Tamiya paint is perfect base to use it on, since it is very flat, however the remover solution that comes with the set does seem to attack the paintcoat. If you plan to use the remover, use a very, very, very flat enamel based varnish. Testors Dullcote is just not flat enough in my experience.

Patience is important using this product: you have to wait until the subsequent colors dry, otherwise they just mix into one rust tone. While this is only slightly annoying with brush application, I have to say I would not consider using an airbrush if I want to apply it in several coats. It’s a major pain in the neck setting up everything every hour or so for a one minute spray session, so I think I’ll stick to the brush application for now. I have to say, though, it does spray on very nicely, and you can do some very nice shading with this product.

I ended up applying the pigments starting with the lighter and brighter colors and finishing with the darker colors. Most cases when you have a rusty surface, the darker colors dominate, and you only see patches of bright rust. This order you ensure that only small amount of the yellowish rust will show, and hopefully it’ll result in a more realistic surface. There’s nothing stopping you applying the lighter colors (yellows and oranges) with a detail brush after you applied the base, dark rust color, it’s only my take on this.

The remover does remove the washes after they dried; it really works. (I was a bit curious as the wash dries into a pretty resilient layer.) If you want to selectively remove layers of the pigments, you have to seal the surface with varnish after the individual steps.

 

 

Still wet after application. Lots of tide marks, not very pretty. Most of the contrast disappears with drying, and there are no tide-marks left.

Same piece after drying- the transitions are not that stark any more

Second color applied- simply dabbed on with a brush.

Third color, same method. The idea was to show more of the dark rust colors, and have the brighter ones only “shine through” at the edges

The fourth rust color added.

Same method applied to the other end of the plastic part

A brush with the remover solution was used to gently rub off/ blend the rust colors. As you can see it did remove even the base Tamiya paint. (The effect is not bad, though, but it’s worth keeping in mind

The complete sprue: the left one had the pigments applied using an airbrush, the right one we used a brush. Both had been worked with the remover solution

Conclusion?

Well, it’s mixed. I prefer the whole “do it yourself” school of modelling, so my opinion is a bit colored by this. (I do use products that work much better or simplify things greatly; but I tend to avoid sets that are aimed at specific models… like DAK weathering sets, or 1941 German Uniform Color Modulation Sets.)
Anyhow. This product is essentially pigments suspended in a carrier medium. They are very fine, so you can use an airbrush to apply them. This is definitely a plus. It is water based, so no nasty chemicals there; it’s another great thing about it. On the other hand they don’t really provide you with a magic bullet to produce a heavily rusted tank.

The best method of use I found is applying the pigments and after the product is dry, reapplying or adjusting it with a brush loaded with water. Since colors mix readily, if you want to use contrasting colors (yellow rust on top of red rust), you should wait until the red is completely dry. If you apply them while the underlying layer is still wet, your yellow will tone down considerably by absorbing some of the red underneath.

Overall it is a nice product; it has its uses, but it is important to stress that it will not give you a standalone solution for rusting your models: other techniques, such as rust colored paints, oils, etc. have still their place. It will give you a way to enhance the effect of the other techniques, rather than replace them.