Looking for a good rust color PLA, preferably matte finish. I’m planning a print of a Titanic wreck, and would like to have a decent rust filament.
I find many brown filaments, but very, very, few that are rust color, a red-brown.
Thanks for any help!
If you want DECENT…
Grab some red iron oxide from the hardware store - available where you find all the concreting stuff and dirt cheap.
Grab some cheap kit of water based acrylic paint from the arts supply store.
Preferably something that has white, black and something clear in the colour pack.
The brushes should be fine and soft, some with a broad tip, some with a fie tip for details.
If you mix the oxide with, for example, cheap white base paint you will find that you can add awful lot of powder before the paint becomes too thick and that you can also add water to make it a bit runny.
The white base will be barely visible like this and you really only one the paint as a binder for the oxide.
Try some patches on white paper and spread this oxide paint out to see how different levels of coverage affect the overall colour and brightness levels.
You can add a tiny amount of black to get a darker look to offset whatever white is left from the base or start with a clear base instead.
Assuming you want to paint certain details anyway:
Consider giving a small test print a layer of not so quick drying clear coat from a spray can.
Than use a fluffy make up brush or fine sieve to sprinkle it all with the oxide powder until you have an even cover.
Let properly dry, then brush off all excess to get a fully rusted print.
From there it is much easier to apply shades and other variations on top 
Thanks for the great advice! I’d never considered making my own paint, but that makes sense.
The powder application approach seems like it would really give a realistic dull finish. Applying a little clear paint with a fine brush, then sprinkling the powder, would allow that to work on even small details. Intriguing!
I could suggest checking out FilamentColors.xyz. It’s difficult to suggest a specific filament since only you know the exact look you’re going for. This website has swatches from tons of brands and SKUs to compare, and you can search by color value if you’re trying to get real specific. Otherwise, you might be looking at post-processing as the poster mentioned.
I never used this personally, but have been interested in it for some time.
check out the red bambu cf pla
protopasta copper filled pla has a decent rust color and is matte or almost flat
Thanks, that’s really interesting! I hadn’t thought of a copper option. That’s a pretty fascinating filament, especially with the copper patina options (different from iron rust, of course). The as-printed color does look rather rust like. I see there are two suggestions to consider that one.
The carbon fiber does darken that red a lot. Thanks for the suggestion!
On my second spool of this stuff, “red Granit marble” it kind of has that deeper brownish rusty color especially when it’s up against a black. I’d say the swatch on the right is closer to the actual color than the 2 pictures they have. if it’s not perfect right out of the printer it would still make a good base color to start off with and then just dirty up a bit with yellows and oranges. Cheers
Thanks for the suggestion. I searched on brown first, no luck. Then searched on red, and sure enough there was a “rust” color listed. I was even able to order a spool through Amazon. It’s a smaller company (Polar), but had a few good reviews.
That’s a comprehensive website for someone looking for a specific filament.