Kimmo Happonen shares with us his first experiment with AK Interactive's Brass Photoetch Burnishing Liquid.

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Thanks!

Thanks for getting this up. I'll try to remember to update as I get more familiar with how it works.

Kimmo

Thanks for the review Kimmo. I too have AK burnishing fluid in my stash and I too experimented a bit with it. It does seem to blacken PE but the burnish rubs off no matter how long I keep the photoetched parts in the liquid... the PE does seem to lose some of its sheen after the procedure, but it is still brass. Perhaps the PE is now more "prepped" for the paint to adhere?

I have to admit I expected something like Blacken-it on the Friuls, but this is not what happens here.

I would love to hear more thoughts about this product...

Mario

It does sound a bit strange that the blackening rubs off; the nature of the product makes it sound like that is what it is not meant to do. The stuff that you can buy in electronics shops for etching circuit boards will discolour brass: ferric chloride. It tends not to make a uniform colour, rather makes patchy browny colours partly depending on how long it is submerged, but it does dull it down and after washing, the remaining stain doesn't peel or rub off, you'd need to mechanically remove that layer and get down to fresh metal to lose the effect, I think.

So what does Blacken It do to brass?

Time will tell how this stuff really works, or doesn't. I don't have any Blacken-it so I can't say what it does to brass. I picked this up on the recommendation of another modeler who has been around the block a few times so I'll give the product the benefit of the doubt. One thing that might improve bite is to clean the etch as per the instructions on the bottle. I noticed one of my test pieces was splotchy from fingerprints. If AK were a little more interactive, we would see a tutorial and more information on their website.

Kimmo

Looks interesting

I just prime the whole model with either Mr Surfacer or Tamiya Fine,plastic,PE,resin,and metal.Works well enough,never had any paint adhering problems.I like the AK track blackening fluid,but this stuff seems unnecessary to me.

Thanks for the review, informative and amusing