Hi guys I wanted to show you what happened to my friul tracks when I put them in Blacken it ...Cool for tracks but I'm glad it wasn't a machine gun !! Has this happened to anyone else ? Looks really awesome ,but wasn't expecting that.





Rick
p.s. I added more pics of my sherman in the Rivet review section

Wow! That really gave it a realistic look! Who makes Blacken it?

Don

Excuse me, but let´s start with this question: What is "Blacken It"?!?

Thomas

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=60864

Blacken it is a liquid that is supposed to 'blacken' metals.

The look is very authentic - I wouldn't touch it. But I agree a 50 cal would look awful with it.

AMAZING!
was it normal metal (without paint or anything?!) before you put it in blacken-it?!

Yeah I just put my tracks into the liquid ...everything turned a muddy brown color and voila !

Rick

I Think it depends on the metal you put into the bath, and how long you let it sit there. I put some brass park gates into it, and it turned them a greyish black albet chalky color. I then dipped em in rust all and it came out great. Seems it works differently with die cast metals!

That,s what I figured ...glad they turned out this way ,but how scary is that ..lol ..For all you friul users give it a try!

Rick

I thought this stuff was supposed to make it a blackish color, not a brownish one. I do a lot of chain work on my 350 scale ships and this color would not be high on my list, guess i'll stick to the old fashioned way have to admit it is perfect for tracks, problem is Ican't afford a track set that costs more than the kit !!!!!

blaster76, give it a try on some of your chain. Just do a small section as a test. I use Blacken-It and find that most things I put in it turn a black/very dark gray color that looks really good for most purposes. It does depend on the metal and how long you soak it for though. Good luck!

Does anyone have any idea what is the chemical composition of Blacken It? It is not available in Poland and ordering it from US would be difficult because it is dangerous material to send by mail. But I could find some substitute localy if I only know what this stuff really is...

Pawel

Hi guys -

I have just joined this site and thought I would chip in my 2 cents on the Friuls + Blacken-it. I have used them on about 10 different models and really love the combo. I wouldn't use for for MGs or anything of the sort, just items that require heavy wear like chains, tracks and spare track links.

I wrote an in-depth article on Friul construction and finishing on missing-lynx.com in their Tricks & Tips forum. Some of you have probably seen it I sure. I am going to be posting the last installment tomorrow (Sept 23) to wrap it up and hopefully it helps you guys out.

Not to repeat myself, but a few quick notes. First, I usually do at least 2-3 soakings of the tracks to get the first color. The more coats the darker the result. Obviously the color is closer to "Brown-it", and I use it as a "basecoat" before the final steps. I think there is a common misconception that you just put it on and that is it. Actually I do about 4 steps of weathering total to get the final result.

After I have the base color I want using Blacken-it, I apply a couple washes of oil paint to adjust them accordingly. ie - a black/burnt umber wash will help get a blacker color if they are too rust colored, or a rust color wash if the tracks are too black for the subject matter, etc. After that I do the pigments, again working for the final look and then i finish them off with the sanding of the contact surface to bring out the worn metal.

You can see my latest in the ML constructive forum with my Churchill MkV.

I hope this has been helpful and feel free to ask me offline if not entirely clear.

Best, Mike

Hi Michael. Theres already a few links in different threads, to your churchill and friuls tips. Great tips, as blacken-it is something Id like to add to my methods also. Great work also with the pastels ... that churchill looks stunning. Welcome to the site!

Pawel,

if you can get some PCB etch it works like blacken-it, but it does have a problem of eatting the brass rods I use to put the tracks together with

I may be way off base with this, but I think the composition is basically the same stuff as people use for gun bluing, like on real gun barrels.

Here's some Linkage.... I think Armorguy is right
http://www.geocities.com/budb3/arts/meth/mtlbkn.html

Can blacken-it be reused or should it be discarded after the first use?

Someone with a bottle of Blacken-It can confirm this but I think it is made of: selenic acid, copper chloride, and copper carbonate in denatured alcohol.

/not a chemist/

Shaun

Thanks Franck for the welcome. Very cool site.

I throw it away after each use. I tried to reuse it when I first was trying it out but the results weren't what I wanted, it just kind of redeposits the residue from the first application. I find I can get about 1-2 sets of tracks weathered from one bottle, less for the big tanks like the Tigers.

I checked the label and it says it contains (doesn't given ratio):

denatured alcohol
seienous acid
dilute copper chloride/copper carbonate

It's nonflammable, but it will take a few years off of your life if swallowed. The company is A-West and they make products for the railroading modellers including some other weathering agents for wood, brass, etc that I have not used or seen in person. Might have to go check it out and report back.

Mike

yeah... I was going to say, I kind of fell into Blacken-It on accident. I went to my local train store to try to find something to weather wood, and the train guy sold me Blacken-It...well, Blacken-It won't work on wood, but I didn't know that at the time. I kept the bottle anyway and have found several uses for it. A-West' s product for weathering wood is supposed to be great too, though I haven't found it yet. It would probably be good for us modelers to use on old wooden structures or crates and wooden boxes that have been sitting outside for a while. Just a thought. Also, a trick for using the Blacken-It: I put just a little bit in a ZipLock bag with my metal part. Then I can kind of squish it around with my fingers in the bag and move it all around. The Blacken-It evenly coats the metal part in question. This works well for me and I waste much less of the product. Happy Modeling!

Vodnik, now that we know what this thing is made of, are you willing to try it out? :-)

I used a product called "Weather It". Just apply it to wood, I used balsa to build a pier, and it ages it to a weathered grey. The more you apply, the darker the finish. Works really good.

Patrick

Cool for tracks but I'm glad it wasn't a machine gun !!


Why not??? i think that would give it an authentic battle scared look, besides the size of the machine gun matters.

Hi guys,

Here is the link to the final part of the Friul article and how I weather over the Blacken-it.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=95064&messageid=1096001114

Yes, I agree a well worn MG could be treated along with many other parts for that matter, especially on a knocked-out tank - but the parts would have to made from metal originally as it doesn't mork on plastic or resin.

Cheers, Mike

Sure I would. But I still haven't got a clue where to get selenic/selenous acid :-(

Pawel