Okay, so there are two ways of weathering with salt. The first one has been expertly practiced by my main man El_Uly, coincidentally on the same car, to great effect. But I am talking about the other one.
The idea is to “mask” areas that you want to show rust or bare metal through the top coat. So in order to do that, follow these steps!
1. Strip, baby, strip! Use your favorite method of getting rid of the paint, be that acetone, heavy duty paint stripper, carburetor cleaner, etc.
2. Brush water onto spots you want to show through the top coat.
3. Sprinkle salt (table salt, kosher salt, any salt. Rock salt and coarse salt might be too bug, but you can always crush them up a little bit.) on the water. The salt will stick to the water and form a bit of a barrier. The idea is that the salt will make it nice and irregular on the edges, leaving a weathered, flaky-looking finish.
4. Paint! I used a spray can of primer and then red gloss enamel, both by Rustoleum, but you can use whatever you like, obviously. I don’t judge.
5. Brush the salt off using a toothbrush or some kind of stiff bristle. Don’t go too stiff though, I’m not talking about a nylon or copper brush. Just something that can get the salt off.
6. Admire the results! Now you can add some rusty colors to your car, or leave it as is, the car is your oyster.
Let me know what you think! Too much? Not enough? I am going to fade the paint a little bit with some slight wet sanding tonight to finish it off, and add a few choice spots of rusty colors.
The next weathering technique I am going to try involves hairspray. But first I am going to play around with this salty one a little while longer.
Happy Friday!