I used the search feature for Blacken-It and didn't get any hits specific to weathering wheel sets so I thought I'd just start a thread to ask if anyone else has tried this or has any experience with it? I"m fairly pleased with the results as to the variety of texture and color that Blacken-it provides, although a rusty brown would probably be more prototypical. If anyone is interested I will post pictures as best I can given the camera I have. When compared to most prototype photographs that I've checked these compare quite well, in my opinion. The problem is that the process is fairly labor-intensive, but as I have not not tried hand painting any wheels yet, I can't say if using Blacken-It is more work than painting or not. I'm also still experimenting with different procedures and techniques and it appears that there may be easier ways to accomplish some of the tasks, such as cleaning the corrosion off of the wheel tread. For the last batch of eight cars I just ran them around a test oval to clean off the tread and then just cleaned the track itself, rather than trying to clean each individual wheel tread. That process seems to work fairly well, however, I was also using an ElecTrakClean at the same time, which I think simplified the track clean up process. Once the tread and the needle point on the axle are cleaned up the rolling characteristics are the same as a non-blackened set of metal wheels. I tested this out by creating a fixed incline, then using the same car, changing only the wheels sets, allowed it to roll down the incline (ala a pinewood derby race car), then measured the distance of how far the car rolled. The tests were repeated multiple times to remove any outliers from the results. Disappointingly, non of the metal wheel sets rolled as far as a clean set of Microtrains Derlin low profile wheels. I was surprised by that result as the plastic wheels would consistently roll a significant distance farther. However, be that as it may, I am pleased enough with these results that I intend to eventually convert all 300 cars in my inventory. And as an additional side note, I had previously tested the pulling power of a 2-8-2 that I have and it would pull 27 IMRC 40' reefers with MTL trucks and wheels and a caboose without slipping the drivers. That same engine will pull 25 of those same IMRC reefers with the weathered metal wheel sets. I expect as those wheels acquire more running time they will continue to become smoother with less rolling friction and the number of cars that can be pulled will go up. The main areas where I'm still experimenting and trying to come up with the most efficient procedure is 1) cleaning of the axle needle points and 2) cleaning the wheel tread, and whether the wheel tread needs to be cleaned by hand at all, or just let the running clean it up then clean the track afterward. The pictures are quite bad and I apologize for that. I need to learn how to take close-ups, but at least they should be good enough to give an idea about how the blackened wheels actually look. The truck side frames still need to be weathered, but that will be a different project. Thank you for any suggestions or ideas.
Hey Chief, that wheel looks great. I like to use the AIM mixed with liquid hairspray as it adds texture. Oh, and I am extremely cheap at times and came up with this wheel jig. Bend, I have not tried Blacken It so I could not comment on it.
I did a video not too long ago about machining down the the flanges on pizza cutter wheels . In that I did use blacken it to blacken all the wheel sets . I left the wheels in a bit longer than usual and the blacken ate all the nickel off the wheels leaving the copper from the orginal plating job. I only took off enuf to cut the flange down to .250 " dia . I'll look see if I have a foto of them .
While I do not know about its' conductive ability I do know about its' corrosiveness. In fact I forgot something one time and the brass etching was basically eaten away in a short time. It is one of those things that needs to be watched carefully when in use and as soon as the item has darkened adequately it needs to be removed into a rinse bath. But I would be hesitant to use it on tender wheels, or caboose trucks, or any other where electrical pick-up is needed without some testing for conductivity. Also putting the wheels or items into a small glass custard cup and then putting in an ultra sound bath will give enough agitation to speed up the process and get an even coat. Also the items to be darkened need to be absolutely clean, especially free of oils prior to the operation or you can get spotty results.
Do you have a link to purchase that template, by chance? Edit: never mind, I found it: http://www.minutemanscalemodels.com/product_p/302.htm Thanks.
Sure are, well scewer to be more accurate. Four of them fit nicely on the N scale wheels and eight in each batch seems manageable with clamps on each end.
Painting may not be much more labor-intensive, and indeed may be easier, assuming you create some handy jigs for holding wheelsets and airbrush bunches of them at once. IMO, painting is about the only way to achieve realistic coloration. Wheels on solid-journal trucks have a distinctive color, which is a combination of grease from the journals and dirt from the roadbed. By contrast, wheels on roller-bearing trucks will tend to have a different color, which is basically the rust of the wheel with a dry dirt patina. There are of course many variations, but these are the predominant colors.
