I know it had been covered in here befor but i was wondering what i needed to do to dye ramjet classics red. i bought rit dye and i have him taken apart and ready to go but i need some tips before i start i dont want to mess him up.
Thanks
Full Version: Dye Job
use the search button and you'll find your answer
QUOTE (SureShot @ May 7 2008, 06:14 AM) 
use the search button and you'll find your answer
Ahahaahahahaahaaahahahahaha... **takes a deep breath** ...Hahahahahahahahahahahahaahahaahaha
use the search button and you'll find everything but your answer, lol, the search function here is sooooooooo dodgy. about 1 time in 10 you'll find what you want, but it wont be at the top it'll be on the second page of results.
That and
QUOTE (supersocialist @ Apr 24 2007, 02:35 AM)
it's awfully hard to search for dying information on this board because "dye" is too short for the search engine!
I think the answer you're looking for is:
QUOTE (tentagil @ Jun 5 2007, 12:29 PM)
Heat dye to just under boiling, if it does boil turn down the heat and let it cool a bit. Get yourself a mesh strainer, put parts in strainer and dip in dye to keep them from touching the bottom. Pull out after 30 seconds or so and check to see if they are taking the dye. Once they start to take it pull them out every five seconds or so until they have the color depth you want. Once they've reached that point dunk them in a bowl of cool water to cool them, rinse them, and stop the dyeing process.
Thats it in a nutshell. Things to watch for though, make sure the parts don't hit any of the sides of the pot, hot metal will melt the plastic quick, if the dye is to hot it will distort the plastic as well. If its taking a long time to get the color dark enough dip it in the water every 30 seconds to a minute to cool them a little to help prevent distortion. Regardless your gonna end up with a certain amount of shrinkage/distortion, but if your careful it should be very minor and barely noticeable.
And RIT dye works wonderfully, or at least has for every custom I've dyed.
Thats it in a nutshell. Things to watch for though, make sure the parts don't hit any of the sides of the pot, hot metal will melt the plastic quick, if the dye is to hot it will distort the plastic as well. If its taking a long time to get the color dark enough dip it in the water every 30 seconds to a minute to cool them a little to help prevent distortion. Regardless your gonna end up with a certain amount of shrinkage/distortion, but if your careful it should be very minor and barely noticeable.
And RIT dye works wonderfully, or at least has for every custom I've dyed.
From here
Hmmm. I always wondered if you could use food coloring? Anyone know?
I've already tried dyeing Classics Ramjet with RIT dye, with mixed results.
Different parts of him are made with different types of plastic, which will absorb the dye differently.
His white crotch-ball-joint-piece, white thighs, and white piece-that-connects-the-nosecone-to-his-back piece are made of a "softer" plastic which will dye very nicely.
The rest of the white parts will be a pain to dye, as they are much harder and don't absorb the dye very easily.
The dark grey parts (wings, feet, missiles, etc) didn't appear to dye at all for me; they seem to be made of a very hard plastic.
I managed to dye him black/purple for a G2 color scheme (it was a commissioned piece), but the purple ended up very uneven due to the plastic moulding process; it ended up looking "stained" more than dyed. In the end, I decided the purple wasn't worth it, and painted the parts instead. Sadly, I didn't take pictures of the parts (before dyeing, after dyeing, after painting)...
I think my bottom line is: unless you're dyeing something pitch-black, it's very difficult to end up with a finish that looks good.
Different parts of him are made with different types of plastic, which will absorb the dye differently.
His white crotch-ball-joint-piece, white thighs, and white piece-that-connects-the-nosecone-to-his-back piece are made of a "softer" plastic which will dye very nicely.
The rest of the white parts will be a pain to dye, as they are much harder and don't absorb the dye very easily.
The dark grey parts (wings, feet, missiles, etc) didn't appear to dye at all for me; they seem to be made of a very hard plastic.
I managed to dye him black/purple for a G2 color scheme (it was a commissioned piece), but the purple ended up very uneven due to the plastic moulding process; it ended up looking "stained" more than dyed. In the end, I decided the purple wasn't worth it, and painted the parts instead. Sadly, I didn't take pictures of the parts (before dyeing, after dyeing, after painting)...
I think my bottom line is: unless you're dyeing something pitch-black, it's very difficult to end up with a finish that looks good.
The above directions are very well detailed. ( Wish I had read those before trying on my own )
I learned the hard way to keep plastic pieces well away from the metal sides of ANY pot AND to let the water COOOOLLLL.
Although half the batch of mixed parts were lost to warpage, I still had many well - dyed pieces: everything from pvc TFs & Gundams, Zoids, Xevoz, minicons, Spawn figs, etc to full - sized Voyager TFs (well worth the full disassembly).
(Maybe obvious) Observation: The softer / Lighter plastics absorbed much more quickly, becoming 'opaque' within 1-2 hours, while
the darker / rigid plastics took 2-3 hours for the same appearance.
(Surprising to me) -After 3-4 hrs, even painted / chromed pieces absorbed the dark RIT (while REMAINING shiny!)
They all took the dye well, though I noticed a cleaner, more uniform application on the batch I scrubbed with soap first. Of course the best part (& main draw to dye over paint) is NO scraping off! After a cool, thorough bath - even the darkest dyed pieces wont rub off on you, fade or chip. All my experience is with the Black liquid RIT dye - I'd like to hear of how other brands /colors work...
(ESPECIALLY the Chrome-Dyeing method with lighter colors!) I'll see which parts I have left to photogragh & share.
QUOTE (MACHWULF @ Jun 4 2008, 02:23 AM)
(Surprising to me) -After 3-4 hrs, even painted / chromed pieces absorbed the dark RIT (while REMAINING shiny!)
They all took the dye well, though I noticed a cleaner, more uniform application on the batch I scrubbed with soap first. Of course the best part (& main draw to dye over paint) is NO scraping off! After a cool, thorough bath - even the darkest dyed pieces wont rub off on you, fade or chip. All my experience is with the Black liquid RIT dye - I'd like to hear of how other brands /colors work...
(ESPECIALLY the Chrome-Dyeing method with lighter colors!) I'll see which parts I have left to photogragh & share.
They all took the dye well, though I noticed a cleaner, more uniform application on the batch I scrubbed with soap first. Of course the best part (& main draw to dye over paint) is NO scraping off! After a cool, thorough bath - even the darkest dyed pieces wont rub off on you, fade or chip. All my experience is with the Black liquid RIT dye - I'd like to hear of how other brands /colors work...
(ESPECIALLY the Chrome-Dyeing method with lighter colors!) I'll see which parts I have left to photogragh & share.
How do you keep plastic underneath water for that long without it warping? And would a chrome fig like megatron take the dye evenly?
I wanted to share this "before & after" shot of a few dyed TF parts (from my first try). Also included Alt. Sideswipe & Sunstreaker arms for shade comparison. If anyone else has similar pics, I'd love to see them / hear of your techniques.
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