u/Foxhood3D

Spent the past weekend blackening my HL Jagdpanther’s Tracks, idler and Sprocket. Being made from die-cast Zinc. they are susceptible to cold blue treatment turning dark rather quickly. Quite happy with the result as it looks quite natural and in a way was less of a hassle to do than painting.

Ofcourse next step is to put them back on and send the destroyer outside to get them roughed up.

Exact process I followed.

1. Cleaned the metal parts with dilutted Green soap, scrubbing with a brass brush until no residue from past adventures remained. Afterwards rinsing thoroughly with water.
2. Dragged the parts through a small tub with Isopropyl Alcohol and again applied the brash brush thoroughly. Trying to get the parts as free from any contaminants as possible.
3. Dragged the parts through another small tub with a little bit of Birchwood Super Blue (used in total about 120ml of the stuff). The parts turned black in seconds. I let the chemical do its thing for about a minute before rinsing thoroughly with water.
4. Finally treated the parts with WD40. Which helps protect the coating itself, keeps the pins rotating freely and keeps it from turning very dull.

Between every major step I ensured the parts were completely dry. Since the Blueing agent is highly caustic I also did everything outside and wore nitrile gloves during the entire process. Always practice personal safety when dealing with chemicals!

(first image shows final result, second shows them mid-process)