Making copper cable black?
 

Here's what I've been doing, has anyone found a better method? Has anyone tried gun bluing?

This is also a mini preview of the Panzer III Video Build Log.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_R6cH_00yI Suggestions are welcome.

:cool: ;) :confused: :rolleyes:

I tried blueing it does not do anything to copper

Good info, Harley. I almost spent the money on some, just for this. Now I know better. :cool:

It works great for tracks and sprockets

What you want is copper patina. It will turn them almost black. You can find it at stained glass retailers and some craft stores. I used it when I was making stained glass windows.

Thanks, I'll look into that.

I needed to change the colour of two Copper wire tow cables for a PZ4, But I needed them to be Steel coloured.
I looped a thread of cotton around the cable ends and completely bathed them in a 250ml tin of "Hammerite Smooth Silver Metal Paint",
I left them in the tin for an hour before taking them out and hanging them up to dry,
The result surprised me. It took overnight for them to dry but they have retained their Silver colour and their flexibility.
I do not know if "Hammerite" is available in the US or if it is available in Black but maybe It is a pointer as to an alternative instead of Chemicals.
Shaun.

What I did was ditch the copper and just use steel cable. The stuff I have is for garage doors. Works good and looks perfect.
Jimmy

Liver of Sulfur works on copper - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsOOWEZK_FM

Spend a week with it in Santos Brazil. It'll get real copper corrosion and you can have a fun week in this nice little Brazilian beach town.

Picture hanging wire works well, too. But, you'll want to tone it down some either with real corrosion or some washes.

If you want some real chemical fun, grab some ferric chloride (etching fluid). I used this to pit and blacken my old imai Elefant tracks and some other items over the years. You do need to wear a mask and use gloves as well as being in a ventilated room. To stop the reaction you use a water and baking soda bath. It's pretty fun as the reaction generates heat and you can see the results happen right in front of your eyes. Real mad scientest stuff!! Like I said though, handle with care. Check around for best price on amazon or ebay.

https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-...erric+chloride

I put a self etching primer on my cables, follow with Testers Modelmaster Gun Metal, then sparingly dry brush some rust on the cable and ends.