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Gentlemen (and Ladies) if you would be so kind as to turn your attention to this puzzle I would greatly appreciate it.

For a long time I've had a haunted key, and may I say what a wonderful little thing it is, perfect for carrying about everywhere, however...

It is the most sparkly shiney silver key I have ever seen!! Far too shiney to come from any respectable haunted residence, and this has now led me to finally ask you learned people, does anyone have any ideas how to age a shiney steel key?

Grip it tightly in your palm...

That way yu'll start to sweat on it a bit. That will tarnish it quite a lot if you keep doing it

Hi Flash,

Try painting it with a hammerite style paint, let us say copper colour, then get some brown paint dip the brush in the paint wipe most of the paint off the brush to get an almost dry brush the proceed to age the key adding rust patches with the dry brush technique, I hope this makes sence.

If I have totaly confused you do a search for Warhamer painting tips, it's a thing people do with model figures.

here you go: http://us.games-workshop.com/games/warh ... efault.htm

...you could very lightly sand parts of the key then (kinda like Leighton said) use some black or brown/sepia ink with a paintbrush and dilute it to weather it...
i used to earn good money as a kid painting other people's lead miniatures at school...glue and red paint for dried blood worked wonders...

Ah the art of the old warhammer paint job, I used to be an avid 40K gamer until they ditched epic that is

(kwaaaBOOM!!!!! that's your poncey warhound titan up in smoke marine boy, now let me introduce your army to the many pleasures of the Banelord)!

Thanks for your suggestions guys, I had thought of a paint job but wondered if any one could come up with something a bit more natural... I just want to discolour it... Abraxus' ink idea might work though...

depending on your key type if its the silver door lock key then ok but if its from the golden key set then don't you will kill it.

buy a jar of pickels clear or brown..... eat pickles..... put key in jar and monitor daily till your key is sutably pitted but not desolved.

clean then stick in flower pot for a few days.

Hoorah for MagicDiscoman!

That sounds the very ticket! Will any vinegar work or does it have to be the pickle sort? Incidentally the key is the silver version...

edit: I have now plunged the key into some clear pickle vinegar, where I shall leave it for the next couple of days, I'll let you know the result...

should take about a week but keep and eye on it.
any acid will do but vinegar is redily avalable.

Bless you MagicD,

Sir, you are a scholar and a gentleman!

Flash, is the haunted key any good? I was thinking of gettin one and knowing that you have it i means might just buy one

if done well its mind blowing and cheep too for a demo piece of magic that has got me loads of bookings so I'm a bit biased.

Delude wrote:Flash, is the haunted key any good?

If it wasn't I wouldn't be bothering to age it!

Seriously though I really like it, the version I've got is well manufactured and usually recieves a good reaction.

The effect can be achieved with an ungaffed key (and a lot of practice), but personally I like my one better, it is much more controllable.

As with all magic it is of course mainly about the presentation and the amount of practice you're prepared to put in, that said if you can spin a good tale about the origins of this key (eg. it came from the old Wilkins house at the end of the Randolph Street, you know the one with broken windows and the overgrown garden etc) then you will love this. It's tough, incredibly portable, instantly resets, and is a great reply to someone asking you to show them a trick on the spur of the moment.

Personally I rarely leave home without it so putting it into a jar of vinegar for a week is going to be difficult!
An example of this was earlier today when I went looking in my box of tricks for the key so I could age it, after a good deal of rummaging and cursing I found that it was (magically) in my coat pocket, spooky huh?

The haunted key is an essential effect. Cheap as chips and ideal as a demo piece. I never leave home without it

I've aged mine and did this some time ago - it looks much much better now.

I rubbed the plate off with some wet and dry paper and then left it in the garden for a couple of weeks.

where can i buy the 'haunted key'