How to Accelerate - Very Quickly - the Aging of Copper Hull Plates

[aliluke]

Hi

Another member suggested I post this here. Like you - presumably - bright copper on hull plates doesn't sit well to my eyes. But there is a way to age copper very quickly - in three days - if you have the nerve to do so. I offer this technique at your own risk. When I used it on my model of HMS Fly I had no idea if it might destroy all of my work to date. I tested it on some spare copper plates before embarking on the main experiment but it still felt risky.

 

Very bright copper plating when the install is complete. By itself it might take a year or two to tarnish. Why wait?

My wife who is an architect used to work on high end resorts in Bali. Many had copper roofs but the developers hated the shine. Solution? Paint them with horse urine (whose job that was I have no idea). The copper tarnishes very quickly. I don't own a horse and even if I did I wouldn't want to collect its pee but...I make urine too so decided it was worth a try. Not a pleasant smelling chemical although it's a smell that I'm kind of used to until I flush.

To ensure it didn't soak into the upper boxwood woodwork, or anything else., at first I did a very intense job of masking (I don't have a picture of that) but I found out that I didn't need it and it actually wicked my pee up into the woodwork which caused a panic. So I took off the masking. Then I brushed my urine onto the copper plates with fingers crossed. The reaction is very fast, in some areas it was almost instant. Some verdigris happened and then some spots of bright copper remained. You can wipe back the verdigris and the bright copper bits turned out to be CA glue residue which is easy to scrape off. Early applications. It tends to bead (first photo) and I just carefully spread it ot with a brush.

Verdigris kicking in on first application. You can also see the little bright spots where glue is covering the copper.

Second application. the copper is turning brown but more bright spots appear. Get rid of the glue.

 

Applications continued - two per day which suited my bladder. Between coats I wiped it off with water before applying my urine. Still some bright spots to work on...

I was unsure if my urine would keep eating at the copper so I wiped all of it off with water and then sealed the copper with Testors Dullcote. End result after three days. Variable with some verdigris but I like the look. Eight years later it still looks the same.

 

Port:

Starboard:

 

Good luck if you want to try. It worked for me but no guarantees.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[Bob Cleek]

So what were you drinking before you peed in the cup?  

 

The resident chemists can probably give a better suggestion, but I'd be interested to see if a similar result might not be achieved using a solution of water, amonia, and table salt. If so, that would avoid the chance that your living room or wherever you display the model won't acquire the aroma of a dirty gas station mens' room. You might also consider bringing a urine sample to your urologist. The reddish tinge to that in the cup pictured is concerning!  

 

Thanks for having the courage to share a very interesting technique. Great photos, too. 

[aliluke]

Hi Bob

No smell afterwards at all. I think the key component of pee is uric acid and this is what reacts with copper. I wouldn't go near ammonia for this...that would be much more scary. No blood in my urine - just weird colours in the photo. I found the morning pee was better than the late afternoon's - much more concentrated in the am! 😁 That might be related to pm's beer. 🙃

 

A

[allanyed]

Alistair,

Thanks for posting this in this forum as well.  I think a lot more folks will see it and benefit.  Please take this as a compliment when I say for me this is by far the most interesting/unusual/bizarre/extraordinary subject I have seen here in a long time and happy that you posted it.   

Allan

[Jim Rogers]

Or use this product. Sorry for the upside down picture.

[Gregory]

You want quick?

Overnight in an enclosure such as a plastic bag with some chopped boiled eggs.

[allanyed]

The hydrogen sulfide in the hard boiled eggs makes sense.  Hydrogen sulfide metabolite trimethylsulfonium is found in urine so it all makes sense. .... I think......  they both will discolor copper as well as other metals.    I feel like I am in chemistry class back in high school!   

 

Allan

[_SalD_]

Alistair, very interesting method for aging the copper plates.  I just might have to try it out on my current build.  The one thing I'm not sure about however is which morning pee I should use, the 1AM or the 3AM or the 5AM or the 7AM.😉

[allanyed]

3 hours ago, _SalD_ said:

The one thing I'm not sure about however is which morning pee I should use, the 1AM or the 3AM or the 5AM or the 7AM.😉

Spoken like 50% of us Floridians,  Whichever, I wonder if for faster working liquid, should we eat a few hard boiled eggs before you go to bed, or at least the egg whites as that is where the HS comes from.

Allan

[whitejamest]

I would, for various reasons, love to be able to reject this method out of hand. But I have to admit that is one of the most attractive copper patinas I've seen on a model...

[Gregory]

 

This is the  cupola from my Resolution.  It started out as copper leaf then treated with the boiled egg method.

[whitejamest]

That's very attractive as well Gregory. How fragile do you find a patina like that is? Does it rub off to the touch? 

 

And is that just one night's exposure in a bag with eggs? 

[Gregory]

The copper leaf itself is very fragile, not much thicker than a layer of paint, but the patina showed no signs of coming off when  I buffed it.

With something like copper tape, you might have some wiggle room to burnish some of it off, if it is too dark for your taste.

 

It actually ended up a little darker than I planned.  I did leave it overnight, but I wish I had of monitored it and checked every hour or so.

This was a very small piece, and I did it inside of a zippered sandwich bag with one egg.

I was thinking with something like the hull of a ship, I would make a framework to drape plastic over and put my eggs under

[aliluke]

I'm glad that my method has generated this discussion. I never thought of boiled eggs. I guess my urine trick allows some control for a large area as it is brush on and you can re-visit areas that haven't worked. Plus it is free and something you otherwise flush away at all hours of the night apparently. I might try the egg method on some copper leaf that I plan to use for the belfry on my ships bell - that is a tiny bit that might be a little hard to pee on...

 

Cheers

Alistair

 

[Dr PR]

What is the "Sophisticated Finishes" product? The company makes several products, and I can't read all of what is in the photo.

[Auger]

39 minutes ago, Dr PR said:

What is the "Sophisticated Finishes" product? The company makes several products, and I can't read all of what is in the photo.

I believe it’s the, “Patina Green”.

it gets mixed reviews online. One reviewer said lemon, vinegar and salt worked better.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Auger

[Dr PR]

Thanks.