Steerpike

That sort of stuff is extremely popular in the Phoenix area, for some reason - all imported from Mexico. But they ALL look EXACTLY like that, from a 'rust finish' perspective, and I don't think anyone even thinks to do anything about it. I suspect it will last longer than your lifetime without any attention. It's not a Morris Minor encountering salt-laden roads in the winter time!

Nutek

I think he looks great as-is.

If I was going to try anything, I would probably go for LOTS of PPE (dust mask/eye protection etc.) and an angle grinder with a wire wheel. it will shift it but I an not sure it will improve it.

Norri

They are designed to be rusty, Corten steel develops a layer of rust very easily.
Your t-rex is in good company:

username.exe

On reflection I think I was going for 'perfection', and should have listened to my wiufe who told me the same thing you all did. I'll embrace the rust!

Pulaski

I am supportive of Nutek's view, but it you want to de-rust and paint it, I would use a simple hand-held wire brush available for a few dollars from Home Depot or Lowes) to remove the loose rust. Then use any generic rust treatment, which you should be able to find in the paint are of the same store where you found the wire brush. After rinsing off the rust treatment, you can use either spray or brush-on Rustoleum brand primer and paint to finish the project.

Steerpike

Here in Scottsdale, the 'rusted metal' look is quite the thing in new houses. At a new housing development I was exploring recently, they installed a brand-new gate, and then chemically treated it to accelerate rust development so it looked 'old and rusty'. There's a house I see every day now on my walk that has a metal roof, metal railings, etc and it's all intentionally rusted. The rust from the railings stains the concrete below it and it's obviously a 'look' they are going for! I'll see if I can get some useful pics tonight ...

I do recall, though, in UK, rust was the kiss-of-death for cars, back when I was young (1960s)! Rust would eat through the sub-frame and lead to very expensive damage. I don't know why it would be so devastating to cars and be superficial in a situation like your T-Rex ... I also don't think that's an issue any longer in UK cars, is it? Better materials perhaps? Better coatings, processes?

Pulaski

The bodies are zink-dipped - have been since the 80's. So long as the zink layer is intact the body will stay rust-free.

My '89 Alfa 164 had had a minor scrap to a wheel arch before I owned it, and that was only place where rust has taken hold.

RICH

I think he looks great with just the hat😜

Nutek

RICH

zzrmark

Old boat builders trick for rust or treating new steel hulled vessels, no paint required.
Clean back as best you can, wire wheel on a 4 1/2" grinder would be my weapon of choice, with goggles unless you fancy hedgehog eyes. Leave your cleaned up steel outside overnight to acquire a new fur coat of rust, then slap on copious amounts of raw linseed oil, wipe off the excess with clean rag. DO NOT leave oil soaked rags any place where fire could be an issue as they can easily self combust.
The surface of your steel will acquire a nice, hard, black, sheen that will never need attention again.

A shortcut route is just to knock off 'dead rust' (the solid flakes) and slap your oil on it as is, the finish isn't quite as nice and can be a bit hit and miss keeping off new rust.

Pulaski

Interesting. ..... And the reasons this works is that linseed oil doesn't persist as an oily film, it is a ln oil that oxides/cures to a hard laquer-like finish, and is stable enough to be painted over, which is why it can also be used as a finish for wood.

Steerpike

I've heard this said before. How does something 'self-combust' at nominal air temperatures of 80 degrees? Is there some localized reaction taking place that leads to an elevated surface temp? Fire is a magical thing ...
A bit of further research reveals ... oxidization ...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics...ous-combustion

scrubbedexpat091

Someone learned this the hard way last year in Vancouver, they left linseed soaked rages on their balcony. Was quite the fire.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...rags-1.5161775

Pulaski

It looks like you found the answer.

It is the same with the tung oil I used to finish the back and sides of the guitar kit I am working on. I was using shop towels to apply the oil, and several times, out of curiosity I wadded up an oily towel to see what happened. I was disappointed to find that, even over a period of several hours, far from autocombusting, none of the rags ever felt any warmer than ambient temperature.

Per the news article that Jsmth linked, I didn't leave the rags in the sun, so that may be the difference.