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Comments
Thanks again...
Alan
I just ran the wires across the top of a center beam. I then ran them down a black tube on the right inside of the building. You can see this tube in the pictures.
Thanks again for sharing your pictures with me...
Alan
John
Alan
Alan
Here are the steps I followed:
Put on Rubber Gloves and Shop glasses. I did this process in my basement.
1 - Poured about an inch of Etchant into a plastic container.
2 - I filled up 2 plastic bowls of water about 6 inches deep.
3 - I cut my panels to size.
4 - I dropped about 4 of them at a time into the bowl of Etchant
5 - You will need to take your tweezers and stir them up a bit and periodically push them into the Etchant as they like to float to the surface.
6 - The time can vary based on each panel but after 2-10 minutes, the panels will begin to "sizzle" as a chemical reaction has taken place and the panel will begin turning black. Some panels will react right away..other will take a little while to react.
7 - At this point, you have about 5-10 seconds to fish that panel out of the solution and to drop it into the first bowl of water. The longer you leave the panel in the solution as its "sizzling", the more it will turn the panel blacker...to the point where it starts to disintegrate. I let a few of the panels reach the disintegration point which I show in the pictures. Once you've fished a sizzling panel out of the Etchant with your tweezers, continue to hold some of the panels in your tweezers above the bowl of water until the sizzling has stopped...then drop it in the water. By doing this, it will give you a different weathering effect then if you drop a panel in the bowl of water while it is still sizzling.
*Note you need to wait for that sizzle to occur in order to get the weathering effect. I've read people's comments that have done this process and say the panels don't show weathering. The reason is they didn't wait for that chemical reaction to occur. Again, it can take up to 10 minutes for some of the panels to under go this reaction. You also need to keep stirring solution with your tweezers and or pushing the panels into the solution as they float to the surface. I promise, your tweezers wont melt.
8 - Once I fish out the 4 panels from the Etchant and have them soaking in a bowl of water, I add 4 new panels to the etchant. Once all the panels have been weather and have been in the water for at least 5 minutes, I pull them all out and place them on a paper towel to dry.
9 - The first picture shows the weathered panels on a paper towel after they dried for 10 minutes or so. This is the part which many folks complain that their panels are only black and that this process doesn't work.
10 - This next step is the most important step. You will notice that some of the panels drying on the paper towel have left a light orange stain..that means that the Etchant hasn't been completely washed off the panels. You need to take every single panel on the paper towel and put them back into that second bowl of water. This water should be clear and should be the first time you are putting anything into this second bowl of water. Let the panels soak for another 5-10 minutes. You are doing this second soaking process for 2 reasons. 1 - You need to make sure to wash off all the Etchant otherwise your panels will continue to be eaten by the acids and 2- The introduction of the water the second time is where we get the rusting effect.
11 - Here I have pulled the panels out of the 2nd bowl of water and let them dry on a new piece of paper towel. After 20-30 minutes, the rusting effects will begin to appear as seen in pictures 2 and 3. No chalks or paints have been added to the panels at this point.
12 - Add chalks or paint to the panels as desired. I will probably had some chalk to some of the panels to help mute the shine.
Recap: Don't be afraid of this process. Use Rubber Gloves and Eye Protection and you'll be fine. I originally was doing this outside but the weather was 38 degrees which was effecting the chemical reaction process so I moved it down into my basement.
If you need any further clarification, please let me know...
Alan
Marty
Thanks for the idea...now I will. Just need to figure out where I'm going to find something small enough to put in those bins...
Alan
Thanks again for the suggestion...
Alan
DJ
Alan
DJ
Alan
DJ
http://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-Ferric-Chloride-Liquid/dp/B008UH3SAE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428071447&sr=8-1&keywords=etchant
It says the solution is a Dark Brown which is the same color of the stuff I use...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_6?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=ferric chloride&sprefix=ferric,aps,306
DJ
Alan
DJ
Karl.A
Karl! Thanks for the feedback. Question...do you know how I can make tractor tread marks / wheel ruts in the dirt? Once I wet the dirt and press the wheels into it, it clumps up on the side of the ruts and for the tractor treads, the dirt sticks into the treads and actually pulls up the dirt.
Alan
The dirt is sticking to the wheels because they have tooth, some sort of resist is required to prevent the dirt sticking.
Thinking about it, one thing that worked well for me in a similar situation that should work well here, (and now I am eager to try it again)
Wet the dirt so it is plyable, lay some clingfilm over the area to be indented, roll the wheels over the clingfilm, make the ruts, and or wheel impressions etc, leave the clingfilm in place undisturbed until the dirt is dry again. Then carefully remove the clingfilm. that should work perfectly, its how I 'planted' my trestle several years ago.
The clingfilm will act as the barrier and if left in place until the 'dirt' is dry the imprints should come out sweet.... let us know, should work great.
(sample/scrap piece of scenery to experiment/practice on first obviously)
Karl.A