Steamers, AHM, IHC, Mantua, and others, come thru with boiler handrails and grab irons made of stainless steel wire, left in its natural state (bright shiny chrome luster). The prototype painted them black to match the engine, and possibly highlighted the grabs with safety yellow.
The stainless wire is shiny and slick, and doesn;t look like it will take paint well. And prevent the paint from chipping off when handled. My blackening liquid, “Blacken it” only works well on clean brass.
Anyone know a good way to tone down the bright chrome handrails? Is there a pickling solution that works, on stainless steel? A primer? Some sort of gun blue solution? Replace the stainless with brass and blacken it?
Rubbing the stainless steel with emory cloth won’t darken it but might help it take paint better by giving the surface some tooth.
Some form of sulfuric acid might work, such as the stuff auto supply stores sell to get rid of battery acid buildup. How concentrated it is I do not know; you don’t want to eat away at the metal itself. If you need to dilute it the standard advice is to add acid to some water, not water into some acid. And be careful about fumes, eye protection and the like.
Sounds like an outdoor project.
How you’d safely dispose of the stuff when done is another unknown. Extreme dilution would be recommended.
David: I have been using weathering powders(“soot” or black) mixed in 70% alcohol. It dries to a dull sooty appearance,is easy to remove if you don’t like it,and is easy to re-apply if handling rubs some off.
I just paint them steam engine black (for a new loco look) with a small brush. I also paint the wheels. Acrylic paint works fine after a good cleaning. Simon
If you can get your hands on some dilute nitric acid it can be used to “passivate” stainless steel. This treatment cleans the steel and leaves it with a dull finish that will accept paint. You need to be careful with nitric acid on some low quality stainless since it will cause it to pit.
I’ve had no problem painting them with the same paint I used on the boiler. Except for my brass which are of specific prototypes, I’ve always stripped, redetailed and repainted the others to match as close as possible to my chosen prototype.
Try “Neo-Lube” from the Micro-Mark website / catalogue. Goes on nice and smooth with a small brush, and dries to a flat “almost black” very dark gray, similar to Engine Black paint.