How to encourage rusting of zintec sheet

[badabec]

To make a panel look authentic, ie 60 years old, I need to make the new panel look rusty.
It is zintec. I've ground off the zinc coating, left it outside in the rain and it still looks brand new.
Next will be hydrochloric acid.
Any ideas?

 

[arther dailey]

calcium chloride

 

[Cobbler]

Ordinary salt, it rusts your car quick enough!

 

[OJCar]

Yoghurt.

Seriously!

 

[BrokenBiker]

Vinegar

 

[colnerov]

Battery acid.

 

[Blobber]

Yoghurt.

Seriously!

That's probably the best use for it
Shouldn't exist as a food product as far as I'm concerned

 

[Ross365]

For sure, anything containing chloride is likley to make something look aged, but the problem is that if you only wash it off with water, some of the chloride will almost certainly "cling on" and start more corrosion later. You have to buy special solutions of chloride remover to get rid of it all.

 

[tom2207]

stand it in the back of a landrover for twenty mins ,,,

 

[DanZac]

I'll pop round and paint it for you if you want.

Within 10 minutes the paint will have peeled off and it'll be well on the way to rusting away, judging from everything else I do.

 

[More Amps]

Bleach can be used to weather galvanised steel so it doesn't look shiny and new, so I would expect coating your steel in neat bleach should have the desired effect...just don't forget to rinse it off thoroughly.

 

[julianf]

Sodium hydroxide will strip zinc.

For example, if you ever need to weld nuts, and theyre zinc coated, leaving them over night in a NaOH solution will remove the zinc.

(ive done this a number of times, so i speak from real experience)

If you then want to add "petina" to mild steel, phosphoric acid works nicely. Will go black initially, then some greens, then if you leave it longer, it will get the browns.

If you want to halt it at a certain colour, a more tollerant clear coat will "fix" the job.


This thing (i mentioned it last year) was built for an exhibition. It was all fresh mild a week before -

I understand you cant see a lot of it in that photo, but the contrast between the insides (that i didnt intentionally treat) and the lower end is obvious.


(i didnt touch the pole though - that was out of our well!)


The job got a bit of "fame", all be it in a very limited circle -

 

[julianf]

better photos -

early treatment (notice the lower one thats much more "brown" also -

Itll carry on quickly once its started. As in, if you dont watch out, and leave it a couple of days too long, it will just be rusty brown, and the blues and greens will have gone.

 

[Shedendman]

Post it to FORD,it'll come back next day rusted no probs

 

[GRW]

That's probably the best use for it
Shouldn't exist as a food product as far as I'm concerned

I like Yoghurt..... however my favourite thing about it is the words written by the excellent, sadly deceased Terry Pratchett (I may be paraphrasing a tad)...
"I don't like yoghurt. It's just a cheese that isn't trying hard enough"

 

[brightspark]

iron sulphate for moss removal i did a load and the wind blew some of it all over my white van a week later the whole van was brown didnt know what it was and wouldnt wash off i had to teecut the whole lot and it still discolured the paint and wouldnt all come off so chuck some of that on it and wet it instant rust

 

[Dcal]

Brick cleaner will remove the zinc in a few minutes.
After that or will rust for fun.