SPA Modeler

Thanks for sniffing those out for me, Bruce! It's more than the cost of the Meng kit but I don't mind that kind of math. Overall, I'm jazzed by the affordability of plastic modeling as a hobby. It feels good to say, "I want the best" and actually have it financially attainable. Unlike my other hobbies.

jkim wrote:
I'm now looking at burnishing fluids to age/darken/rust the tracks using a chemical process.

Guys at AMPS have spoken well of gun bluing solution to treat metal tracks.

Yes its a lot cheaper too compared to the stuff AK sells

Stikpusher wrote:

jkim wrote:
I'm now looking at burnishing fluids to age/darken/rust the tracks using a chemical process.

Guys at AMPS have spoken well of gun bluing solution to treat metal tracks.

My Dad swore by Brownells Dicropan T-4. I found a good example online of how it looks:

Does the burnishing fluid give that brown rusty finish to the tracks that I see below or has that been added AFTER the chemical process. Is this a different chemical reaction than bluing?

Maybe they have an addition that causes this rusty effect, but I doubt that. The uncoated parts show me that the track was arranged after the burnishing process. I'd go with cheap chemicals (because that's what they all trying to sell you in their small bottles) and do the weathering on my own. More control on your side.

Bluing will turn it a dark grey kind of like a Tamiya German grey color. Bluing is meant to protect the metal from rusting. I blue my tracks weather them then lightly sand the raised area to show some bare metal.

May help you—



What you showed looks like a bottle of gunsmith blueing solution repackaged — the tracks however look like they are at least two weathering steps removed from the initial application of a blueing liquid. The bare metal effect could be blueing swiped off the raised sections after the initial application. However, I still count that as a weathering step! The browning on the interior sections looks like the second step to me.

I have not a clue in this area so I'm just talking about what I see on the internet. But it looks like there is a bit of brownish coloration that comes from the burnishing fluids sold by AK, UMP and other hobby specific-solutions. The following pics are all supposedly post-soak but pre-weathering.









Cost is not going to be a big issue for me and I don't want to play with gallons of unproven gun bluing fluids. So leaning towards the hobby-specific liquids. The UMP stuff seems to work well but I can't find a US retailer. I'll check my LHS to see if they have anything.