metal art, to paint or not to paint ???

[fun4now]

so i been playing with this piece for almost a year.....ok maybe a little longer.
so i'm getting closer to finishing it and cant quite decide if it should be painted or left as bare steel ???
i plan on working on the base a bit still and then staining it a dark mahogany or deep reddish color.

so what do you all think, paint or no paint ???

not the best pic's i'll try to take a few better ones later tonight.

[hytekredneck]

i'd clean it up and spray water from a bottle to let form a little rust then clearcoat it

[KBar]

I wouldn't let this rust because of too many details. Once it rusts, everything will just blend together.

[triggerman]

James,

You and your other half have so much talent. I'm jealous.

[fun4now]

thanks TIG

[dabar39]

James, that piece is pretty cool looking, nice job. Half of me says to leave it the way it is and the other half says to paint it, either way it will still look good. Glad I could be so much help with your decision Dave

[Winger Ed.]

Wow.

You might think about just clear coating it with a high end
epoxy/catalized clear like they use on car paint jobs.
Then display it someplace that has a roof over it rather than being out
in the exposure/harshness of full weather.

That'd protect it, but you wouldn't lose the details and 'effect'
(for lack of a better word) it has.

.

[wildfire]

I really like the concept and it turned out great. I'm the type that has to paint everything and I would be using an airbrush on it to big out it's strong points and then clear it.

Bead blasting it and letting it naturally rust would look nice as well. Either way It's nice imaginative work and you the artist will have to decide

[fun4now]

dabar39 James, that piece is pretty cool looking, nice job. Half of me says to leave it the way it is and the other half says to paint it,
that is exactly my problem. i picked up some air brush stuff for it a wile back with the intent of painting it. but now i just don't know ??? i like it in steel but at the same time ??? summer is the soonest it might bet put on display, so i have time to decide, just cant.

i think it would look really cool with black orange red and yellows all worked into it to look like a lava ball and a mostly red and black hand. it could look really cool in paint, at the same time paint takes the steel away...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
i'll wait and see if some thing just jumps out and screams at me.i suppose i could take a better pic and list it on e-bay as is for a ridicules $$ and see what happens. i can always offer to paint it for the buyer if requested, at the same time some one might want to paint it themselves ??

[Blboise]

I think I'd have it sand blasted shiny and then try the hot linseed oil finish. If you've seen some of "hotfoots" stuff on the other boards you can get some fantastic deep golds, maroons and bronze colors that still let the beauty of the metal though.

The bell here is done that way.