I tried using Blacken-It on a set of Friul tracks and the results are not very good. The inside of the tracks looks great but the on the outside there wasn't enough penetration in between the links. There was almost no darkening at all there as they are still the bright metal color. I tried resoaking them, but there was no change.

I guess my choices now are buying more and trying it again, or painting. I'm not sure how successful painting would be as the coating the blacken-it left comes off as a fine dust when I rub my fingers over it.

Any suggestions?

When I did my Friul tracks with Blacken-It, I used an old toothbrush to make sure I got the solution in all the nooks and crannies on the tracks, otherwise you can end up with dead spots where no reaction occured. Make sure you wear gloves too.

I'm not very familiar with Friul tracks, but, is there some kind of residue or something on the tracks that should be cleaned off that is keeping the reaction from occurring? Just a thought.

I don't think so because it was just in between the tracks where it didn't take. The road surface and underside came out fine. I even tried brushing it in with a paint brush the first time I did it to make sure there was good coverage.

I have just used Friul Metal track for my Panther A late..
Perfect... I love them,
An artical I was refered to mentions to wash the links before Assembly .
Which I did do, then it mention that the tracks may need a second dipping.
That was also done.
After the second dip, there were some "blanks" inbetween the track cleats.
To cover these up I appled an oil wash of Black and Burnt Umber, when dry, add Pastels....
This come out perftect to my eye

It maynot be100% coverage but the mix of oils and pastels cover up the inconsistencys....


This is the link to that artical:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=95064&messageid=1108419463