Thanks, all. I'll try some of these techniques this evening!

On Tuesday, October 30, 2018 at 5:07:55 AM UTC-5, wrote:
Hi there-

I'm very new to metalworking and am just finishing my first big project, a city skyline silhouetted offset from a background, all comprising sheet metal steel.

To create contrast, I used an oxy-acetylene torch to heat patina my background after cleaning it with an angle grinder. The patina came out really nice, with brilliant blues and magentas.

The problem came after I threw a little Renaissance wax over the patina: all the nice colors were lost and the foreground and background basically look the same. I saw one post online that said those colors cannot be clear-coated because the optic properties are lost, but it recommended waxing.

Is there any good way to get those colors back? If I remove the wax, are the original colors hiding beneath? Or will I have to repeat the heat? In either case, is there a good way to protect the metal without losing the colors?

Thanks for any help!!