@Wildcat , here is an outline of my process, on these grips, and generally how I proceed on the RaT-ina / faux tina process.
@Uncle Shish , this could be a guide for some of your work if you go rust-ina on your build as well.
First, I get a really good look at what I want to match, in this case the saddle. How many, and what colors / hues do I see? What are the shades of red, there is a little orange in there, black, and the transition to black which is gray. Then I gather those paints, from my stash and buy new if needed. I have used rattle cans over the course of 3-4 years in a lot of cases. Warm the old cans in hot water and shake well before each use. (a hint I picked up on here from
@GuitarlCarl )
Second, I start with a light coat of whichever color I want as a base, which will usually be the color I want to see the LEAST of in the finished product. In this case of the grips, that was the Satin Cinnamon. Again, not complete full deep coverage, but some Cinnamon on all parts of the grips.
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Then, the main color I saw in the saddle was kind of a deep reddish brown, and standing in the aisle at HD, this Behr (a new rattle can brand for me, but I've used their house paints extensively) Deep Espresso Satin caught my eye. So I applied that to the grips, in the same fashion, coverage all over but not complete.
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Finally, there was some black worn in to the middle part of the saddle where dirt had been ground in, leather oil build up from treatment, and pressured from the seated rider and imbued it into the leather. I did a VERY light and spotty few shots from the Multitextured Aged Iron black color to simulate that. I should mention that I let each color dry, but not completely - still a little tacky, between each coat.
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What saw after all this, was that the paint (remember Satin still has a sheen) was too shiny. And how to take care of that? Nothing is older than dirt. So I rubbed a fine grade scrubbie in the dry dirt at my feet, and lightly rubbed / brushed it on. Then I used my hands to slide back and forth to get the big specs of dirt grains off, and then rubbed it by hand some more to bring out some of the Cinnamon undercoat in spots. After that, I got out the Dead Flat Clear, and shot a couple of light layers, again from about 2-3 ft away, of that on as a final finish. And yes, the clear does stick to dirt!
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After it was all said and done, this is what I ended up with. A grip that looks a little bit like old leather, with hints of the colors in the original, 100 yr old saddle.
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RaT-ina is not an exact science. But it has become a fairly systematic 'recipe' if you will over the years for me. All from trial and error, and watching what others have done on Youtube vids. Two rules to keep in mind:
1. Keep going! It might look like c.r.a.p. at points along the way, but keep your vision and press on!
2. STOP before you think you are finished! If it looks good enough, it probably is. Don't second guess yourself!
