Weathering a brass prop using electrolysis

I bought a nice looking prop but its much to shiny. I like to paint the ship like its in use so it needs a little weathering. And so does the propellor. In the past I tried to do this with paint but that didnt work out well. I remembered a proces from scienceclasses called electrolyse with an katode and an anode. How that works you can find on the internet but the pictures below show how I (mis) use it.

Here's what whe start with. A nice and shiny propellor.




First an conductive fluid wich means you dump some salt in warm water and give it a goed stir.


Then the power supply. I use one with 9V DC and little amps


Then separate the minus and the plus and connect them with the prop and a piece of metal with zinc on it. Try in wich order. If you have it right the prop will produce lots of small bubbles later.


Then place them in the water. Make sure the two pieces of metal do not touch eachother. I use some clips to clamp them to the pot.


When you do it wrong the zinc piece will produce bubbles


And when you do it right the prop will produce lots of bubbles


Then leave it for some 15  minutes but try to inspect the prop during the process. It will go fast and if you are satisfied with the result stop on time. Its good to rub the prop with a rag so you can see the endresult.


Looks nice allready


And the final result. Iam very satisfied with it. I admit its a little bit ghettostyle but it works to me.