Painting brass - help needed.

[KMC]

Hi, I'm a newbie and have embarked upon building the Caldercraft HMS Snake. This gas a number of sheet brass parts and 18 Carronades, all of which are brass. I have the Admiralty paint set for HMS Snake, which includes a water based ironwork black paint. A number of the brass parts and the Carronades need to be painted black. My question is, how do I prepare the brass for painting? I've read that the brass needs to be prepared with an etch primer before painting but can anyone recommend an etch primer for this. Any tips or tricks for doing this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Keith.

[ccoyle]

Any mild acid will etch brass, even good ol' vinegar. The brass needs to be thoroughly cleansed of any releasing agents; simply scrub with warm water, a toothbrush, and a mild detergent, then rinse well and allow to air dry. Once washed, avoid handling the actual parts. Brass parts can also be chemically blackened -- doing a site search with "blackening brass" will turn up many threads on that process. A third option is to spray-paint the parts -- fast-drying flat black primer works quite well for the purpose and doesn't require a color top coat.