Our communal garden - a standard feature in Scottish tenement buildings - has been donated a very substantial, but tired, traditional garden bench which I've offered to revive.

The naturally greyed slats have sanded beautifully, revealing a knotless red hardwood which I'm assuming is mahogany, not the oak I first expected. The cast-iron ends are quite ornate (and heavy) and their tatty paint has eventually relented after days of Nitromors, hand- and electric-brushing, and sandpapering, followed by thorough POR15 degreasing.

After luckily spotting some metal primer spray of German origin in the "middle of Lidl" at a bargain price, the ends have now come up nicely after two coats and I'm keen to finish them off in a British Racing Green or something similar.

Looking through the choices of good quality top coat it seems it's pretty limited, basically Hammerite or Ronseal, and I'm tempted again by the aerosol versions due to the detail involved as opposed to brush application.

Has anyone got recommendations for these, or their method of application, or experience they'd like to share? For example, does it matter that some of the options are "direct to metal" when there is already a solid primer base?

I spray Hamerited some cast iron garden furniture about 20 years ago. Some direct on metal and some onto an existing flat primer finish. Both lasted about 10 years before needing to be redone. The paint I used subsequently only lasted about 5 years before flaking off. Bang for buck I don't think you can beat it. My tip; use petrol for anything that needs cleaning up subsequently, much cheaper and just as good as hamerite thinners.

Yup - I think Hamerite isn’t bad. I use it for Alfa’s suspension parts and I’m always pleasantly surprised. I also have some cast iron “antique” bed frames that had been restored by a specialist and he recommended Hamerite.

Cheers chaps - have gone for a couple of rattle-cans of Hammerite smooth from t'bay...