Your negs are much too contrasty. Print a greyscale and you'll see what contrast
you need.
<Also. I have tried mixing palladium 50/50 with platinum, and I do not see any
difference between this and pure palladium. The color, D-max and tonal range
appear to be the same.>
Even small amounts of palladium will give a much more sepia-like or brown image
tone. Contrast should not be the same, it increases with the platinum content.
The most neutral tone I got was with the printing-out process and straight
platinum.
Klaus