simonharris1 Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Hi All, A quick question..... Can anyone recommend a clear coat to put on my intentionally rusted steel sculpture? My other question is, do all clearcoats darken the steel? I suspect they do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Simon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Hi Simon. Are you trying to stop your sculpture rusting at a certain point in the rusting process? You know, pictures help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 What environment makes a big difference too. No clearcoat is needed in a strong vacuum, say on the Moon. Here in NM the UV destroys car coatings, on a beach,... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Welcome from the Ozark mountains. Knowing where in the world you are located would help with answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonharris1 Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 9 hours ago, Nodebt said: Hi Simon. Are you trying to stop your sculpture rusting at a certain point in the rusting process? You know, pictures help! Sorry about that. More information would be helpful of course. As you can see in the image, my Sculpture is of an Australian Wedge Tail Eagle. He is made from Mild steel than his beak which is Stainless steel. It is all thin steel really. His "Under body " is about an 1/8 of an inch but everything covering his body, as in feathers is 1mm. Sorry I am not good with converting metric to imperial. He is intentionally rusted but I dont want him to rust away completely. Too many hours of work for that! If there is no fix for this, I guess I have to accept that he is an indoor Eagle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Welcome to ifi, there's a lot of great people on here and lot's to learn. Awesome sculpture! Well, I was just asking out of curiosity and future knowledge. I just let my sculptures rust, unless as you say it's an indoor piece. This may be of some little help, a start anyway: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Howdy from eastern Oklahoma! That’s an awesome sculpture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Nice work, beautiful sculpture! I prefer VHT Flame Proof exhaust paint in satin clear for my sculptures. Over rust has been fine in my experience. It has curing instructions but i have had good experience just air drying. Being outside, sunlight can really heat metal up. It does darken the appearance a bit. The hard part is getting it fully coated. I'd suggest being able to hang it different ways to get in the nooks and crannies with coats. Make sure the piece is Dry and Warm when spraying. A heat gun can help to prep the piece. I've also not had issues touching up spots later on that started rusting again because I didn't get into a crevice. I've used other clearcoats that just didn't hold up. I've not yet tried automotive clearcoat, but that is expensive and would need a flattening agent added if you didn't want high gloss. Another I have used was satin or matte clear Duplicolor engine paint in spray can. It worked well too. I just prefer the exhaust paint more. The name brands i mention are just the ones I have found to spray the best, dry fairly fast, and work well. Other brands may work as well. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 11 hours ago, simonharris1 said: Australian Wedge Tail Eagle What a great sculpture. I gather (SWAG) that you are in or very near Australia. Have you seen this yet? A great bunch of folks there. OZ roll call - Everything Else - I Forge Iron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Welcome aboard Simon, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you'll have a better chance of meeting up with other members living within visiting distance. Nice sculpture, I like it. Do the "feathers" flutter in the wind? Do you have more sculptures to share with us? We LOVE pics. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 What Frosty said! Where there's smoke there is fire. I bet you have done other works. Share if you like. Metal sculptors are welcome here. They put up with me..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonharris1 Posted March 6, 2022 Author Share Posted March 6, 2022 4 hours ago, Daswulf said: Nice work, beautiful sculpture! I prefer VHT Flame Proof exhaust paint in satin clear for my sculptures. Over rust has been fine in my experience. It has curing instructions but i have had good experience just air drying. Being outside, sunlight can really heat metal up. It does darken the appearance a bit. The hard part is getting it fully coated. I'd suggest being able to hang it different ways to get in the nooks and crannies with coats. Make sure the piece is Dry and Warm when spraying. A heat gun can help to prep the piece. I've also not had issues touching up spots later on that started rusting again because I didn't get into a crevice. I've used other clearcoats that just didn't hold up. I've not yet tried automotive clearcoat, but that is expensive and would need a flattening agent added if you didn't want high gloss. Another I have used was satin or matte clear Duplicolor engine paint in spray can. It worked well too. I just prefer the exhaust paint more. The name brands i mention are just the ones I have found to spray the best, dry fairly fast, and work well. Other brands may work as well. Hope this helps. Thanks very much. That's great information. I will see if I can source that locally here in Aus. Do you have to apply heat to set it or can a hot day in the sun set it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 No need to heat to set it. Between 70-90°F roughly 21-32°C? it should be fine. I only mention heating the piece to remove moisture. I can tend to think in my local climate which has been cold and damp lately haha. Don't be afraid to see what your local car parts stores are selling for exhaust or engine spray paint. Might be different brands but just as good. No need to import brands sold in the US. That could get pricey. Try some locally available ones on test panels to see how they work and hold up. I'd rather test then jump in on a nice sculpture like that with no doubt a lot of time and effort. Also see how they change the rust color to make sure you are good with it. The eagle can live inside till you find a product that you are satisfied with. It is not fun wire wheeling off a clear and re-rusting. It just never turns out the same as the original coloring. I have also used the ones I mentioned on top of fairly cured color spray paint to good affect. I do notice there is little effect color wise on stainless. So that is good. Other things I've heard used is boiled linseed oil that may need to be reapplied every so often, and darkens the rust color considerably more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stash Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 Like Das mentions above, I use BLO (boiled linseed oil) and sometimes tung oil, applied ambient temp, excess wiped and just bake in the sun. I find I need to touch up or re apply every 18- 24 months or so. I want to try Danish oil at some point- DO is simply a mix of BLO and some urethane varnish, something I could mix myself. I would just be concerned about the urethane component causing peeling. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 Stash, one reason I think is heat. that is why I've come to engine exhaust paint. Funny enough, I've sold at shows where someone pointed out that the candles were melting in my candle holders. Metals get really hot out in the sun. Minus reapplying oils or waxes often, high temp paint is made for the abuse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonharris1 Posted March 7, 2022 Author Share Posted March 7, 2022 Mate I forgot to ask you a question.... Does that VHT clearcoat darken the metal much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 A little bit. Depends on the steel or what you start with. Don't know of any coating that doesn't darken the metal a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 Test piece. Under preferred starting temps. Bare and sprayed with VHT. VHT driedish and linseed oil applied after. vht in the middle. The pictures dont do it justice. Linseedoil is still wet. Vht is dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 Thanks Das, Steve and Simon. This may add a new dimension to my projects. Simon, I hope you stick around and show us how it works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonharris1 Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 Guys, thank you so very much for your help, especially you Das! The pictures are great and pretty well cover what I need. Das, do you put linseed over your VHT? I would have thought the hot sun would make short work of the Linseed? Over where I am from we get some pretty hot summers, that's for sure. You seemed to like my Eagle, if you wish there is a short video of it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 No problem Simon. I only use the VHT. I don't add anything on top. If you did add linseed oil on top you would not be able to touch up with the VHT again unless you degrease the whole thing and that would get messy and ugly. Stick with one product. The linseed oil was just to show a comparison in how it looks over rust. I can see how my one statement should have been worded better. I stated added linseed oil after., I should have said "added linseed oil to another section to show a comparison". As of last I checked that linseed oil was still wet on the panel. It would eventually dry in heat or sunlight. The Danish oil Steve mentioned might dry faster. I personally just stick with the VHT only. A sculpture that layered will likely need touched up after the initial coats. One solid coat is all that is needed but it is difficult to get into all the tight spaces. I would do some light coats spraying in towards the nooks and crevices then a solid outer coating. It sets up fairly fast so you can inspect as you go to see if you got it well coated. Thanks for the video with the info and more detailed pictures. Great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Nice video! Thanks for sharing. I learned a lot from this thread. Mayby it's time I started protecting some of my own outdoor work.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 You should. They will hold up better. They will last a while anyway but I like to give them more of a fighting chance. Not only that but some people put the sculptures in their homes and most don't want to get rust on their hands when touching something. Even for non rusted metal it helps. If humid enough even the stuff I coat with bees wax, blo, and turps mix might start rusting if not reapplied once in a while. For most things the clear coat is a one and done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 I'll try it out. I was going to try painting some of mine in gaudy bright colors like those chickens, just to see if I like it, but I just can't do it. I like rust too much, so I'll try your tips. I've been making scrap sculptures for a while so some may have actually disintegrated a bit by now. I use metal barrels quite a bit so who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Thank you for the video Simon it was not only informative but well done. The music was a pleasant background I could hear you clearly over. Most people have music turned up so loud I can't understand them, even if I didn't mute it to avoid the pain. It also opened a real rabbit hole of further info about Waalitjs. I love a good rabbit hole to explore. May we see more of your work, please? Okay there it is, the rabbit hole that came up with your video shows more of your work and a couple shots of your shop. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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