Anchors and chain, colour??o

[Defiant911]

I thought I’d tag my question on the end of this thread. the anchor chain supplied with my ship is brass colour so will need painting black.
do you paint the chain black or is it better to just try and source some black chain?

[Ian M]

Far better to get black chain as painting can clog up the links. Not to helpfull if you need white of grey chain though.

[Defiant911]

Far better to get black chain as painting can clog up the links. Not to helpfull if you need white of grey chain though.

Dont suppose you know where to buy it other than China or USA on EBay?

[boatman]

WELL Carl black chains are best if you can get them but on my tiger they are painted white an ankors are ship coluor

[Tim Marlow]

You can use metal black rather than paint. It doesn’t clog up the links. Carr’s make loads, and gun blue works as well.

[Defiant911]

You can use metal black rather than paint. It doesn’t clog up the links. Carr’s make loads, and gun blue works as well.

I’ll have a look for that paint. In my head I was thinking of holding a length of chain straight between two clips and then spray paining. My concern is when you bend the chain into position afterwards your probably end up seeing the brass bits that didn’t cover under the links?

[Guest]

Carl, I believe Tim is referring to this kind of product, which chemically blackens the metal, rather than being a coating on top.

(I'm not sure if that exact one is suitable, it's just an example)

[Tim Marlow]

Yep, that’s the sort of thing. Long established manufacturers are these two.

https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/carrs/solvents-cat2

https://bagnallandkirkwood.co.uk/product/birchwood-casey-metal-restoration-products

There are a good number of suppliers for these so search a bit for best prices if you want to go that way. I would expect the one illustrated by Andy to probably be a repack of this stuff.

[Ian M]

You can make a super-saturated solution of copper carbonate (CuCO3Cu(OH)2) and regular, over-the-counter ammonia, The copper carbonate could be purchased at a good chemists. these days.... It is also used in pottery to colour glazes with so that might be a source.
Mix it outdoors as the ammonia is not to good for you and stinks like hell. Add the copper into some ammonia and stir well keep adding until the liquid can no longer dissolve the crystals.
Keep in a tight closing plastic bottle of tub. To use, degrease the brass and place in a shallow dish with some of the solution. It helps to turn the part and stir up in the liquid once is has the darkness you want, remove and rinse well in clean water. The solution can be reused quite a bit so pour it back in a container.

As a side note if you need to bend small wooden parts, (like planking for a model ship) if you soak the strips of wood in ammonia it softens the long strand cells of the wood so much that you can tie a knot in it! Rinse under running water once 'soft' enough and bend around to the desired shape. leave to dry. then glue in place.

[Tim Marlow]

Copper carbonate is also sold as malachite. Don’t use ammonia without reading this first though....especially the disposal regulations.

https://www.fishersci.co.uk/store/msds?partNumber=12696727&productDescription=500ML+Ammonia+solution%2C+0.88+S.G.%2C+1%3A2+dilution&countryCode=GB&language=en

[Defiant911]

Yep, that’s the sort of thing. Long established manufacturers are these two.

https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/carrs/solvents-cat2

https://bagnallandkirkwood.co.uk/product/birchwood-casey-metal-restoration-products

There are a good number of suppliers for these so search a bit for best prices if you want to go that way. I would expect the one illustrated by Andy to probably be a repack of this stuff.

Thanks Tim, would
You use the brass black or one of the other black options?

[Tim Marlow]

Depends on the metal Carl. Brass black works best on brass and nickel silver works best on nickel silver, for example....I would carry out a thorough degrease with an overnight soak in meths first though, any grease will stop the reaction occurring. I’ve used Carrs brass, Carr’s NS, and birchwood Casey (on steel) and all work.

[JR]

You can make a super-saturated solution of copper carbonate (CuCO3Cu(OH)2) and regular, over-the-counter ammonia, The copper carbonate could be purchased at a good chemists. these days.... It is also used in pottery to colour glazes with so that might be a source.
Mix it outdoors as the ammonia is not to good for you and stinks like hell. Add the copper into some ammonia and stir well keep adding until the liquid can no longer dissolve the crystals.
Keep in a tight closing plastic bottle of tub. To use, degrease the brass and place in a shallow dish with some of the solution. It helps to turn the part and stir up in the liquid once is has the darkness you want, remove and rinse well in clean water. The solution can be reused quite a bit so pour it back in a container.

As a side note if you need to bend small wooden parts, (like planking for a model ship) if you soak the strips of wood in ammonia it softens the long strand cells of the wood so much that you can tie a knot in it! Rinse under running water once 'soft' enough and bend around to the desired shape. leave to dry. then glue in place. :smiling3:

Does it burn !

[JR]

When I lived in Hong Kong in the 1960's we used to get to look round US Navy ships when they were berthed in the dock yard. Most impressive Pete.

Well, there's HMS Belfast. Also Warrior and Victory.
You're right though, there are quite a few places in the US where you can park free, pay a few dollars, and you're free to wander round warships and/or aircraft all day. I always tried to seek them out when work took me to the US. The photo above is Battleship Cove, in Maryland.
Pete