Let's see yours!
I didn't see one of these threads here so I thought I'd start one.
For those that don't know a 'forced patina' is where the patina ( the naturally occurring oxidation/rusting of metals especially brass and copper) is sped up or "forced" through the use of various methods usually involving chemical reactions and or heat application...and then typically sealed with an acrylic spray or similar to protect and stop or slow the process.
so I just got two brass Nemesis clones from fasttech, they both work great, just replaced the springs with magnets and have pretty smooth operations so far.
I decide to only patina the body tubes for the batteries and leave the connectors and end caps brass.
Well I quickly discovered something about these clones, they are NOT solid brass, did a mustard vinegar patina attempt first ( after using 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper to roughen the surface and a good wash to remove any dirt / hand oils) and as you can see in the pics below the vinegar etched down into the base layer of the the metal which appears to be some kind of copper alloy that is VERY difficult to patina.
So then I tried different variations of salt and vinegar and ammonia to very little effect.
Finally got the blue one to look decent using Miracle Grow (yes the fertilizer) and vinegar for a few days.
The green and pink one was alot more work.
First off the larger tubes seem to have less alloy and tend to patina better, the two smaller tubes tend to immediately turn pink when introduced to vinegar and like to stay that way.
So I purchased some 'Sophisticated Finishes Patina Green Solution' and set off to use that, again, it took many applications and the larger tube seemed to take it well and looks like I wanted it to, the two smaller tubes really fought turning green and would only green up in a few small areas...I spent hours reapplying the solution using different methods.
I decided to finish them that way and everything got a 3 coats Krylon satin finish and I'm pretty happy with the results.
Although I think I may try to sell the pink and green one later in the classifieds, I know I could always redo it but put so much work into it, I think someone might appreciate it more and then I could buy another brass one.
I didn't see one of these threads here so I thought I'd start one.
For those that don't know a 'forced patina' is where the patina ( the naturally occurring oxidation/rusting of metals especially brass and copper) is sped up or "forced" through the use of various methods usually involving chemical reactions and or heat application...and then typically sealed with an acrylic spray or similar to protect and stop or slow the process.
so I just got two brass Nemesis clones from fasttech, they both work great, just replaced the springs with magnets and have pretty smooth operations so far.
I decide to only patina the body tubes for the batteries and leave the connectors and end caps brass.
Well I quickly discovered something about these clones, they are NOT solid brass, did a mustard vinegar patina attempt first ( after using 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper to roughen the surface and a good wash to remove any dirt / hand oils) and as you can see in the pics below the vinegar etched down into the base layer of the the metal which appears to be some kind of copper alloy that is VERY difficult to patina.
So then I tried different variations of salt and vinegar and ammonia to very little effect.
Finally got the blue one to look decent using Miracle Grow (yes the fertilizer) and vinegar for a few days.
The green and pink one was alot more work.
First off the larger tubes seem to have less alloy and tend to patina better, the two smaller tubes tend to immediately turn pink when introduced to vinegar and like to stay that way.
So I purchased some 'Sophisticated Finishes Patina Green Solution' and set off to use that, again, it took many applications and the larger tube seemed to take it well and looks like I wanted it to, the two smaller tubes really fought turning green and would only green up in a few small areas...I spent hours reapplying the solution using different methods.
I decided to finish them that way and everything got a 3 coats Krylon satin finish and I'm pretty happy with the results.
Although I think I may try to sell the pink and green one later in the classifieds, I know I could always redo it but put so much work into it, I think someone might appreciate it more and then I could buy another brass one.
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