Clawfoot Refinishing (Pt. 2 of 4?)

I know I'm getting a little sure of myself putting part 2 of 4 up yonder in that title bar but listen you guys, I really think that this might be possible in less than 40 steps. Really. But, before I tell you guys the magnificent things I have done to that tub, I need to clarify something just in case anyone out there in the internet is searching "refinish clawfoot tub" and comes across this post or more importantly, the last post. I made an oopsie and said to use "Rustoleum High Performance Protective Enamel" between sanding(s) to get a smooth finish. DO NOT do that. My apologies but in the haze of wrapping and parties and family and ham (so much ham) I told everyone to put ENAMEL on instead of PRIMER. Okay, so here's what you want to use if, like us, your tub was already stripped of any paint and was just rusty rusty rusty.

Because, did we have rust?

This stuff is great and it's made specifically for what we needed it for. If you're stripping layers of paint off, then you might go a different route for primers but for us, this was perfect. As you can see, I got a quart of it and it looks to be plenty and I got it at our neighborhood ACE hardware.

Alright so now that that's out of the way, let's get to the good stuff.

When I last left you, we had gotten the tub inside and I had started sanding off the rust.

A little refresher.

We went:

Rusting hulk in the driveway. 

Less rusty in the laundry room.

And after one coat of primer we went...

Don't worry, the primer is that rusty color already so this won't be what it looks like when it's finished. I am leaning toward a darker final coat though just because it would take a while to cover this up with white and also because we already have about a million different shades of white in that bathroom and I don't need one more. I'm thinking maybe a really dark gray or black with a slightly matte finish because as Conan so kindly pointed out, "Matte finishes hide blemishes" and even though it's pretty smooth, it still has some bumps here and there.

I really am so pleased with how it turned out. FYI for the lip, I used this nifty drill attachment called a flap wheel. It wasn't exactly perfect and this may not be its intended use but it worked pretty well and I intend to use it on the legs (clawfeet) as well.

Judge for yourself:

So there you have it. I think I'm going to do one more coat of the primer with a less "toothy" roller and then it's paint time, folks. That's right, four easy steps. Wish us luck!