darkening monosteel with ferric?

[H*3=ME]

Hi, recently i underwent a project where i was trying to make a just black and white knife with w-2 tool steel and got it to x45 belt finish and then to satin finish in hopes to etch it with ferric and give it a nice dark look to contrast the white g10 handle. i went through my standard method of etching damascus on it and ended up with a very streaky looking not solid grey. witch i would have been happy with if it was just solid even though it wasn't the black i was originally aiming for. logically i figure a high carbon mono should etch like a high carbon damascus but it seems i was wrong because even damascus doesn't look streaky at the same finish. any information would be greatly appreciated as its something id really like to do in the future and fully realize the idea for a knife i had.
also obligatory photos of the finished unetched knife.
thanks,
Hunter.