Rust scale removal methods before paint?

[TurboDSM]

TurboDSM
I think what you may be looking for is a tannic acid type conversion coating like por15 and many others... one that converts the brown rust to an inactive BLACK magnetite... and seals the surface with a water based latex primer..that you can paint over with enamel once set up.. and dried.. here is a link to one of those products... there are a zillion of them with about the same recipe..

http://www.corroseal.com/technical/productdata.aspx

the tractor collector community swears by that class of stuff and it works..
hope this helps
Heiti

So a self etching primer?

Now I can't decide what to do...lol

This thing doesn't need to be perfect. Etching primer sounds a bit more simple with less room for error than phosphoric acid/primer process. I suppose it might depend on how much rust I'm able to physically remove before hand.