Reactive / Rusting paints, Iron, Copper or Bronze paint and catalyst 500ml

Reactive Patina effect paint for arts, crafts, decoration 

My reactive rusting / patina paint contains a large amount of metal which will rust / patina naturally in the same way as a piece of solid metal would, if you treat it with my catalyst solution it will start to show a colour change in 30 or so minutes and give a natural looking patina / rusted appearance over the next 2 to 3 hours, the rusting effect / patina will continue to develop over the next 24 hours. 

For the Bronze and Copper it is important to spray the last coat of reactive paint with the catalyst solution when it is still wet, for the iron paint you should wait till the paint is just dry, this is the best time for the patina catalyst to start work.

The paint is water based and gives a waterproof finish so can be used but inside and out. We also have a primer available which will seal the item that you want to patina, this will both seal the item before the reactive paint is applied and help to protect the original item from the effect of the patina solution.

Each bottle of reactive paint / primer / catalyst contains 500ml, the paint gives an even rich coat that is very easy to use covering most thing with 1 coat but we recommend 2 coats just to make sure that the finished patina coating coat looks rich and natural.

There is enough of the patina solution to coat the painted area twice, I normally spray the paint once whilst it is still wet and then again once the first layer of patina solution has dried, this also gives you the opportunity to spray some areas twice and others just once which helps to give a more variegated finished look.

I have used this paint on many pieces of art from adding a real metal effect to Warhammer pieces to making inexpensive garden ornaments look like vintage solid copper items, the guttering around a house, the external flue for a wood burner, plant pots, picture frames, there are as many uses as you have ideas to try the paint on.


The patina solution will also work on any solid clean copper / Iron / Bronze in the same way as it does on the reactive paint.


If you need to prime your item and have chosen to use our reactive paint primer then paint the surface of the item to make sure it is sealed, this will prevent it soaking up the reactive paint and allow for a better patina finish, 1 or 2 coats will be OK, then leave until completely dry, overnight would probably be long enough but it does depend on the atmosphere that the material the item is made from.

For the reactive paint, once the primer is completely dry, give the item a coat of paint and leave It to fully dry, for Copper and Bronze give it a second coat and mist it with the patina solution whilst it is still wet, for Iron paint allow to just dry before spraying with the catalyst, be careful not to overspray the patina solution you don't want to create any "rivers" of solution that will wash off the paint.
Once the first application of the patina solution has started to dry you can spray it again, as the solution is almost dry you will start to see the patina colours form, if there are areas that have less than you want then you can lightly spray these areas again, leave the piece to dry, the patina will continue to intensify over the next day or so.

You can either have a smooth finish to the paint or use a thicker coat that will give a further of interest to the final patina.