I think it looks pretty good. I would also give a look into the aforementioned suggestions. Maybe something with a slightly smaller diameter. As for the silver highlights, a bit of controlled dusting may work well. You also might want to do something tedious, but more controlled, like using a size 0 or 1 brush and mix a metallic medium to give the impression that the silvery highlights are woven in the cord. This might be risky but the movie version seems to have certain "brushings" of silver, as opposed to an all over look. E xp eriments. E xp eriments.

Hammer away at anything and you'll get there.
Great start, leave it in there until something else jumps out to your eye.
Good suggestions from Deimos too.

I think the Captain has the best idea, altho' it is probably the most labor intensive as well.

But both he and Thrandy give good advice: E xp eriment! And leave what you have in the display until you come up with something better!

Thanks guys for all the suggestions! I'll give a few some test tries and let you know how they come out.

[quote=""Jamanticus""]Still doing some final additions to the finish of the Witch-king's sword. Very fun to distress.

Here's just my darkening of the pitting on the blade, with more pics of the final product to come:




Put Renaissance Wax on all the sword hilts and blades I weathered so the finishes wouldn't tarnish any more than I wanted them to in places where I removed the protective clearcoat.

Please, give me some advice for more distressing techniques![/quote]


Did you simply use acrylic paint to blacken the pittings?

Yep, semigloss black acrylic paint was what I used for that. Just wiped it all over the blade with a paper towel, let it become half-dry, and used some steel wool to take the paint off of the non-corroded bits.

Cool thanks, I think I got some black acrylic paint left to try that with ma Ringwraith sword.
Does steel wool scratch the blade btw?

Nope, well, coarse grades of it probably would, but using extra fine steel wool won't scratch

Hope you have fun aging your Ringwraith sword!

Never ceases to amaze me what you guys can do with a few materials and your swords. Good luck with yours, Naz! Gives us some pics when it has finished, precious!

Will do, going to start in the weekend.
I need to buy some steelwool.
I currently only have flat black acrylic colour but looking at my MC Sam Sword I think it should be fine.
Too bad, I don't have any testing material, I don't wanna screw up that rare sword but acryllic paint is removable right?
Would you recommand 0000 steelwool or 000.

00 would work best. The other two will clog up too quick. The 0000 would probably polish the paint rather than remove it.

[quote=""Thranduil""]The 0000 would probably polish the paint rather than remove it.[/quote]
Incidentally, this did happen to me recently with flat black paint. I honestly didn't know it could be made shiny until that point

So you're suggesting 00, too? =)

I don't want it to be shiny, love the flat black of Sam MC, so that's how I want it to look like.

Yeah, 00 will do quite nicely. This is just one reason it's so great having Thranduil on this
forum, he knows exactly what you need to get a crafting job done.

How I imagine a typical conversation with Thranduil goes when discussing how to make something:

Person :"I'm planning on using some stuff to make this thing"
Thrand" "If you use this other stuff to make that thing it'll be easier. And try only using a little at first"
Person: "Thanks, I'll try that"
Same person, a few days later: "Whoa, that turned out great!"

Haha, I hope it turns out the same for me.

BTW: Is there anything clear varnish or something on the blade that I should remove before painting? Not talking about that oil stuff, already removed it.

[quote=""Nazgûl""]Haha, I hope it turns out the same for me.

BTW: Is there anything clear varnish or something on the blade that I should remove before painting? Not talking about that oil stuff, already removed it.[/quote]
No varnish but the oil needs to be removed so the paint can stick. You can use paper towel and any of these, paint thinner, naphta, lacquer thinner, acetone.
If you use the latter two, don't get it on any part of the hilt.
When you can wipe it and the paper towel stays clean you're ready.

Btw, let those paper towels air dry for a while before you throw them away, and do this outside so you don't have fumes hanging around.

Thanks for the compliment Jaman , you too are a great source of help in here as well.

Thanks for all the information Thranduil & Jamanticus, I'm quiet confident my sword will turn out great.

Has anyone of you ever tried weathering with moist coffee grounds. I've read somewhere that it helps rusting steel and the pictures looked quiet cool.

Right before the start one last question.

Do you guys think it's necessary that the paint is not dry when using the whool?

My color is drying pretty quickly and I would prefere to paint the entire blade to get the best possible result. =)

Using steel wool, you'll be able to achieve the finish you want even if the paint is completely dry. That said, if you strip the paint when it is still very wet, the steel wool will sort of peel the paint instead of abrading it. On the other hand, if you strip the paint when it's been dry for a week, it'll take a bit more effort than if it were still not completely done drying. I'd say to paint the whole blade, wait around 30-45 mins for the paint to dry a bit, then to go at it with the steel wool.

And coffee grounds, I recently did use those to age some paper. They work absolute wonders for that, but never tried them on swords. However, I don't think they'd put a patina on the Ringwraith blade since it's stainless steel

I was gonna say, coffee grounds work great for aging parchment. Never heard of them being used on a blade though.

I've seen it a while back on a series about a gunsmiths family in america called "Gunsmoke".
They used it to age a sawed off shotgun, however I have no idea what guns are made of.

I've painted the entire blade now, unfortunaly the steel wool hasn't arrived yet so more pictures tomorrow.
Right now it looks horrible.

Hehe, the beginning of something great!

As for guns, for ones made with standard non-stainless steel, wet coffee grounds could do a nice job of patinating the material since they're slightly acidic. Just could put the bit of the gun you want old-i-fied in a bin of damp grounds and come back a week later. I think. I have no idea if what I just said is true or not, hehe

[quote=""Jamanticus""]Using steel wool, you'll be able to achieve the finish you want even if the paint is completely dry. That said, if you strip the paint when it is still very wet, the steel wool will sort of peel the paint instead of abrading it. On the other hand, if you strip the paint when it's been dry for a week, it'll take a bit more effort than if it were still not completely done drying. I'd say to paint the whole blade, wait around 30-45 mins for the paint to dry a bit, then to go at it with the steel wool.

And coffee grounds, I recently did use those to age some paper. They work absolute wonders for that, but never tried them on swords. However, I don't think they'd put a patina on the Ringwraith blade since it's stainless steel [/quote]
Concerning the first about steel wool, I'd add that fiber from the wool can stick to undried paint, then you have another problem.

As to coffee grounds on carbon steel; Yes, for pitting purposes (as said coffee has acids in it), but on stainless you're gonna wait a long time.

If aging a Wraith sword is on your mind with these UC stainless blades, make a sleeve around the blade, fill it with salt, and WET it down, it'll rust just right. The highest grades of stainless steel are for under saltwater (and they still rust-it just takes a long time). These UC blades aren't made for that. Wet salt will attack that blade in a random way, it will eat at all the Carbon, the Chrome & Nickel won't respond as fast.

Could be interesting, I don't own any of the dark swords myself so I can't play guinea pig.

Thanks again for your helpfull information.
I'm currently not planing to rust my sword, I'd love to but the RW sword is my grail and I don't want to screw it up.

So I started with the blade today, the result is awesome, but hard to photograph with a digi cam. I've finished half of the blade now, still lots of work to do but it's worth it.

Some crapy pics.
Bottom half is finished, strange it looks darker on the non-painted parts. ôo
I actually like those black smears across the blade. Will probably finish the entire blad and do another painting to smear the wet paint.

Turned out great! you gonna try it out on the Witchking sword next?

Brilliant! Now THAT looks like a sword the Ringwraiths would carry

[quote=""Jamanticus""]Brilliant! Now THAT looks like a sword the Ringwraiths would carry [/quote]
Yeah, what he said^^^^^^^^^^

[quote=""N2darkness""]Turned out great! you gonna try it out on the Witchking sword next?[/quote]

Thanks! I don't have the Wiki sword anymore. I sold it a few weeks ago and got a MC Sting.

[quote=""Jamanticus""]Brilliant! Now THAT looks like a sword the Ringwraiths would carry [/quote]
[quote=""Thranduil""]Yeah, what he said^^^^^^^^^^[/quote]

Thank, you too. Without your help I would probably still be trying to get the damn color off with 0000 wool.

Preparing for the second painting this weekend to fill some spots were the color went off durch draging. Especially on the edge the gaps are not so deep.

Not exactly UC, but not really worth making a new thread for.... yet!

Been testing out some new carbon steel aging methods, and on the burner right now are two spearheads.



Reason for the distressing isn't so much that they were badly aged to begin with, it was just that the finish was not well-done to begin with. Uneven grind marks that didn't blend with one another, stuff like that. Figured I might as well make them look interesting while fixing their surfaces.

Also working on my HEWS some more.

Interesting indeed. What methods are you trying out to age these carbon blades? (i've always wanted to try aging a sword...just never got around to it lol).

Hhhmmm...do i see a couple of custom Rohan spears in the making?

Remove the rustiness, and we get these:





Guess I turned the weathering dial kinda high on these, probably the only time I'd go higher were if I were to do another Ringwraith piece.

Mustard, salt, vinegar, ketchup... yes indeed, with a simple slew of sloppy joe ingredients a piece of carbon steel can go from this:

..to exceptionally beat-up.

[quote=""Jash""]Interesting indeed. What methods are you trying out to age these carbon blades? (i've always wanted to try aging a sword...just never got around to it lol).

Hhhmmm...do i see a couple of custom Rohan spears in the making? [/quote]
Indeed, the reason I got that longer spearhead in the first place was because it bore a resemblance to a Rohirrim spear!

So far, I've used mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, bleach, salt, and hydrogen peroxide. All of them work beautifully in their own right, and I'm thinking right now that there's almost nothing even slightly corrosive that won't work on rustable steel.

I started with this wonderful guide, covers tons of different areas of antiquing, from blades to grips to hafts. http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_antique.php

Only piece of advise I'd stay away from in there is the technique they advise for applying vinegar. As you can see on that basket-hilt sword, it doesn't so much look like it got rusty as... well, that someone sprayed it with rust-accelerating chemical Spraying is absolutely fine, but absolutely flood the thing with it until there's no more surface tension in the vinegar droplets and you won't have the artificial effect they did.

Here's my reworked, less crusty HEWS too:

[quote=""Jamanticus""]Indeed, the reason I got that longer spearhead in the first place was because it bore a resemblance to a Rohirrim spear!

So far, I've used mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, bleach, salt, and hydrogen peroxide. All of them work beautifully in their own right, and I'm thinking right now that there's almost nothing even slightly corrosive that won't work on rustable steel.

I started with this wonderful guide, covers tons of different areas of antiquing, from blades to grips to hafts. http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_antique.php

Only piece of advise I'd stay away from in there is the technique they advise for applying vinegar. As you can see on that basket-hilt sword, it doesn't so much look like it got rusty as... well, that someone sprayed it with rust-accelerating chemical Spraying is absolutely fine, but absolutely flood the thing with it until there's no more surface tension in the vinegar droplets and you won't have the artificial effect they did.

Here's my reworked, less crusty HEWS too:


[/quote]
Perfect timing Jaman .
I needed some advice on brass, and that link told what I needed to know.
Thank you for your constant efforts and info!

Those spear heads look great Jaman. I've recently become interested in spears... after watching the Game of Thrones season 4 trailer

Thanks for the tips! Now i just need to find a piece i'm comfortable e xp erimenting on...lol. I also collect antique swords - so i've always had mixed feeling about aging the pieces in my collection. Hhmm...i do have a few "cheap" Windlass daggers around here somewhere...

[quote=""Jash""]Interesting indeed. What methods are you trying out to age these carbon blades? (i've always wanted to try aging a sword...just never got around to it lol).

Hhhmmm...do i see a couple of custom Rohan spears in the making? [/quote]

For real! That larger spearhead looks exactly like a Rohan spear blade. Can someone please make that happen?

Jaman, I really like what you've done to those spears.

I really like the look of the Windlass Greek spear head and I'm considering purchasing it to create my own custom spear and I would like to do some slight ageing to it.

Could you share the process you went through to get your blades looking like that? I know you mentioned your materials but, unless I've missed it, you didn't tell us how exactly you did it

EDIT: missed it in plain sight sorry Jaman

EDIT AGAIN : in that guide I can't see anything about pitting the blade. Did you do that by hand or was it because of the spray coat on the blade?

Gosh, just think how cool the MC Samwise swords could have looked if they took lessons from Jamanticus! All they needed was love and hotdog condiments!

Are those both Windlass spear heads, Jaman?

[quote=""Nerdanel""]Gosh, just think how cool the MC Samwise swords could have looked if they took lessons from Jamanticus! All they needed was love and hotdog condiments!

Are those both Windlass spear heads, Jaman?[/quote]
When it comes to the aging down process we are certainly blessed to have Jamanticus in our forum.

I hear Bob Marley singing in my head, "He be Jaman, jaman...

[quote=""Lindir""]Those spear heads look great Jaman. I've recently become interested in spears... after watching the Game of Thrones season 4 trailer [/quote]
Glad to see you've picked up a spear interest, Lindir- strangely, I think Chivalry: Medieval Warfare got me into pole arms to begin with. I just was so impressed with the simple and elegant (yet effective) design of the Vanguard's default weapon that I decided to look into the history of it, and was pleasantly surprised with the breadth of it. There's also the added benefit of a pole weapon replica being significantly cheaper than a sword of the same quality

[quote=""Jash""]Thanks for the tips! Now i just need to find a piece i'm comfortable e xp erimenting on...lol. I also collect antique swords - so i've always had mixed feeling about aging the pieces in my collection. Hhmm...i do have a few "cheap" Windlass daggers around here somewhere...[/quote]
Ah, I can imagine how having actual antique weapons would change one's perspective on distressing. One can create a very good aged finish on the right type of steel, but it just can't compare to the real deal.

[quote=""Lindir""]
in that guide I can't see anything about pitting the blade. Did you do that by hand or was it because of the spray coat on the blade?[/quote]

You can do the deep pitting multiple ways. The simplest way is to do Kit's method for his Orcrist and use this dremel bit (can't recall the name at the moment) in select places.



Just beware the dremel trying to bounce!
For a more involved process if you're going for heavier concentrations of pits, you can stipple the metal with paint, hook it up to an electro-etching setup and any bits you missed will look like they were once horribly rusted. Finally, if you want to go for the absolute most corrosion, dirt and strong acid in a plastic tub!

[quote=""Nerdanel""]Gosh, just think how cool the MC Samwise swords could have looked if they took lessons from Jamanticus! All they needed was love and hotdog condiments!

Are those both Windlass spear heads, Jaman?[/quote]

I do wish they hadn't messed up and made the pitted areas *raised* on the hilts of Sam's sword and the Witch-king's dagger. That particular aspect has always been what's bugged me the most about those pieces.

And you are correct, both spears are Windlass. I highly recommend them if anyone's looking for a quite decent-quality spear that's also a great price.

[quote=""Thranduil""]I hear Bob Marley singing in my head, "He be Jaman, jaman...[/quote]
Ahahaha, that made my day, Thranduil!


I've also recently actually de-aged something, got myself a lovely but very rusted English bill.... time to snap some pics!

Looking forward to see some pics Jamanticus

Here's the English bill after its rust was electrolytically converted.




I snapped a pic before it was all cleaned up, but it was on my other camera and I can't find its usb cable at the moment. To describe it before it was cleaned, though... I'd say it was solid light brown. Not one speck of clean steel in it

Also decided to see what was buried underneath decades of oxidation on two sickles I had lying around.

Jamanticus, these look fabulous! Great job! Do you have a wood shaft you're planning to use for the bill, or are you keeping it as is?

What would you recommend using to turn red rust on iron to the black, 'dead' rust? I have a few rusty iron things I wouldn't mind getting to turn that black color, but I don't have a fancy electrolytic setup to use.

Thanks, Nerdanel- I'm really happy the bill ended up being mostly intact when everything got stripped off of it. I do have an ash pole that would work to complete the whole thing, but I'm not entirely sure whether I'm going to keep this one and mount it or save the pole for a different project

A rust converter like Corroseal would fit the bill very nicely for anything you'd like to clean up. Does the same thing as the electrolysis method, no power supply required

I figured this was the best place to post this as I was inspired by the J-man to do some alterations to my standard LOTR Glamdring. I used some Scotchbrite and lacquer thinner and removed the clear coat and patina to the hilt and pommel. Some of it had already started to scratch off as it was one of the first releases that didn't come with plastic covers for the metal "L" screws. Also added a few tiny pits with a very small rotary burr on my Dremel to kind of resemble the Weta MC sword.

Looks much better Andrew! Thought I would post my weathered Witch-King sword here, I found it without a plaque and in rough shape which made it a good contender I always thought it was too clean from the factory so I wanted to make it look like it had been in the saddle with a wraith for months. I wrapped the entire hilt to make it look more screen accurate, used colt blueing on the pommel and crossguard and used various washes on the blade to make it look rustier.