I have been getting some accolades about the rust bucket car.. Thanks everyone, it truly is a great looking job in person and I love it. I have had a few offers to buy it and orders from people who want one themselves. Pm me if you are interested.
If you are adventurous and have some time on your hands, here is basically how you do it. It does take some time and the decals on the outside are a pain.
There are about 7 layers of paint on the car. Three layers on the inside. Each panel is painted a different color so if the car wears the paint off the outside a different color is revealed. Then there a backing coat and sealing coal with rustolium. That stuff really protects the paint. Before, the fascolor would rub off on any wear points light tire rub or around the body posts. Now it stays nice.
On the outside I first scuffed the body up and layed a thick coat of a reddish brown "rusty" color. While it was still wet I sprinkled table salt on it.
Then I painted the various body panels different colors. Faded and muted works best as these are supposed to be colors that got painted over in the vehicles life time. There are a few spots where I simulated body filler and replacement panels. You may never see them but they are there.
Next, you take a special paint that has actual iron dust in it. I got it at michaels crafts. There are two parts, the iron paint and a rusting agent. Paint the car in the spots where you want the rust to show. I would do this in stages as the longer the iron paint dries, the deeper the rust color gets. Paint a few spots here and there, let it dry a day and then paint a few more spots, you can even layer over rusty spots you already did.
I don't know if the "layering" of the rust actually works and shows but what the heck, it may be an extra step but at this point, why get in a hurry!
Once the iron paint has dried to your liking, coat the iron paint spots with rubber cement. This is where you can get artsy as you will remove the glue later and iron paint will show through as well as any of the base layer paint coats. Try let the glue over lap the iron and the color in a few spots and in other spots don't coat all of the iron paint with glue. This will best simulate the random effects of Mother Nature as paint peels from rust and weathering.
Finally, paint you final layers of paint. In my case it was the white. I then painted the red stripe and then the green pin stripes. Lastly I painted all the logos. This was tough as when I removed the paint masks some of the iron paint was prematurely revealed. In those spots I recovered it with rubber cement and continued to paint. Once this one done I thought that the car needed something so I repainted the one door a different color.
Once complete and dry, you take duct tape and tack the body, removing the rubber cement and revealing the under layers of paint and iron paint.
Sand down the body to age it to your liking. This is where you will remove the salt and get that pitted look. Try not to sand all of the iron paint off either.
Finally, you use the rusting agent by brushing it on the iron spots. You can use a sponge, a rag, or a brush, it doesn't matter. Let it sit. The next day, hit a few spots with the agent but leave others alone.
This is optional but I think it gives a more layered and random look.
That is it, Your done. Now that you intentionally beat and aged it, go accidentally beat it up!