Recoloring TFs with RIT Dye
Grebo
color that would skip the problem of paint scraping off during
transformation... but since this requires boiling, there's a danger of
deforming the plastic, isn't there?
Grebo
Victoryleo
Here's what I do:
( 0) You must buy a box of sterile rubber gloves disposeable gloves.
because trying to clean the color dye off your hands can literally
take hours depending on how much is all over your hands.
(1)I always buy 2 packets of whatever RIT colored dye I want to use.
(2)I must admit I use black the most. (3) I basically empty 2 packets
of rit colored powder dye into a boiling pot of water.(4) the smaller
the pot the more concentrated the dye is & it works better (5) I add
the needed table salt like it says in the directions. (6) I let it
cook on the stove till it gets hot enough to dip the toy or parts into
the dye.(7) make sure the dye boling isn't too hot. I usually run the
gas on the stove at the lowest temperature. then when it kinda gets a
little hot,i shut the gas off & wait 15 minutes to let the dye soak
into the plastic. if it doesn't soak in the desired shade color. I
then put the gas back on low & let it boil for another 5 minutes. then
shut the gas off & let the dye soak in the plastic.(8) I use tons of
towels to make sure there's no mess.
oddly enough soft plastic like pvc & rubber parts soak up the dye the
fastest & are the best to change color.
There definatelly is a science & a few learning curves till you
perfect you rit dye color technique.
Some transformers have extremlty weak plastic or plastic with gaps in
it. both energon size level megatron toys have this type of plastic.
the toy parts literally distorted in the rit color dye. it was hard to
get the desired color I wanted due to the high glossy plastic.
Yes you are correct,when boiling there is a danger the plastic can
melt. you have to constantly monitor the boiling rit dye process.
Not every plastic that a transformer toy uses can get rit color dyed.
the glossier the plastic the more repelent it is to the dye. the
perfect TF toy plastic to dye are the animated dull plastic colored
toys.
White plastic is the hardest to rit color dye.
any transformers toy with plastic that also have factory paint applied
for details. is near impossible to chance it's color into something
else.
I found success in RIT color dying ROTF leader jetfires blue parts
into black. making the toy look more movie accurate & over-all a more
better looking toy.
Another success story was rit color dying all the brown parts of
universe voyager vector prime into a black colored toy.
I was successful at rit color dying a bunch of parts on cybertron
leader sized galvatron into dark orange to create a rodimus prime
custom.
Honestly toys like alternators are near impossible to rit color dye
due to 2 key factors. toys are way to shinny/glossy. some alternators
parts are made in translucent clear plastic & those parts are also
factory painted. obviously the limbs can be sucessfully rit color
dyed.
it's impossible to change the color of a translucent clear piece of
plastic. it will just repel the dye & not change color.
Victoryleo
Barricade. I just don't like the brown parts. I'm going to use RIT
black color dye to get a better looking toy. as it stands the brown
just clashes with the over all coolness of the toy mold.
My guess is all the brown parts on ha barricade were made that color
due to frenzy. because frenzy is most likely connected to some of the
brown parts on the same assembling tree of parts.
Dave Van Domelen
Here's the safe way, but it doesn't work on as many plastic types. Get
the liquid RiT dye instead of the powder, so you can control concentration
more easily. Use a disposable plastic container for the dye vat...if you
have a place to store them you can just leave the dye in there between jobs.
Soak for an extended period (like, a day or so). I use cleaned out old
margarine tubs for mine, and pretty much just leave my four current colors
mixed up (black, green, red, dark red).
It only works on some plastics, and it can give weird results...I dyed a
spare Steel Wind and only some of the plastic took up the dye, resulting in
this: http://www.dvandom.com/kitbash/redwind.JPG
However, there's no worries about warping, if you're willing to accept
the limitations. And you don't need to worry about ruining saucepans,
either.
Dave Van Domelen, dipped a spare Wind Sheer in red dye and got this:
http://www.dvandom.com/kitbash/mikroburst.JPG (red-dyed Refute never got
scanned, it wasn't much of a change).
ahsan.sa...@gmail.com
Don't suppose you have any pictures of your work?
Victoryleo
re-painting Dezarus. Don't suppose you have any pictures of your
work?"
I don't have the money to buy the exspensive professional camera's/
video camera's it requires to get the crystal clear results.
I just got into the RIT dye color game about 2-3 years ago.
...also known as Thunder
> I don't have the money to buy the exspensive professional camera's/
> video camera's it requires to get the crystal clear results.
You can get a decent digital camera for about $100 (or even less,
sometimes).
t.k.
ahsan.sa...@gmail.com
wrote:
Yeah, but good DSLR's cost a bit more. My wife doesn't like digital
cameras either, she thinks most of them aren't much better than
cellphone cameras.
Deathy might actually be right about the "crystal clear results",
particularly if you're into that sort of thing.
Zobovor
If the water's not hot enough then the powdered dye won't dissolve
completely, but if the water is too hot, it will melt the plastic. I
suggest experimentation on a junker toy until you learn the
tolerances. Which toy(s) are you planning to work on?
Zob
...also known as Thunder
> Yeah, but good DSLR's cost a bit more. My wife doesn't like digital
> cameras either, she thinks most of them aren't much better than
> cellphone cameras.
It's just taking pictures of some toys though. He's not making a
commercial advertisement or something. I've got a 4 megapixel camera and
it takes really good pictures (and they're up to at least 12 mp now).
t.k.
ahsan.sa...@gmail.com
wrote:
Like I said, some people just have different standards, and I'm
willing to give Deathy the benefit of the doubt. I have a 5 MP camera
myself, which even allows for manual focussing, but I can't manage
pictures that aren't in some way blurry and bleyuch.
I wonder what Ben Yee uses for his website.
dickga...@gmail.com
Zobovor
> I don't know if this thread is still active, but I have a question. I want to
> customize Masterpiece Shockwave into a black version, Shackwave (aka Astro
> Magnum) but worried that the RiT dye won't work because he's glossy. Is there
> any alternative to plastic dying that isn't manually painting the toy via
> brush/spray paint? Thanks!
Zob (it's a pity you Autobots dye so easily...)
dickga...@gmail.com
Dave Van Domelen
I've tried some of the Rit variants intended for synthetics, and the
results have been pretty uniformly disappointing. Rit just doesn't do
plastic well anymore.
I currently use the iPoly brand, available at JoAnns craft stores. It's
a powder, meant to be thrown in a vat all at once in a dissolving packet, but
I cut those open and put the powder into empty pill bottles. It also comes
with a goop that helps open up plastics to absorbing dye, I transferred that
to a glass jar and add a few drops to each project. Then put the dye
container (disposable tupperware sorts of things work well) in the microwave
and carefully bring it to a boil. Putting it inside a larger container to
catch boil-over is a good idea.
I'm currently in the process of dyeing a space Moonracer blue-black to
make her into Nightracer (as long as all the pins are underwater, it's
microwave-safe).
Dave Van Domelen, will post it to dvandom.deviantart.com once it's
done.
snoopa doopa
Dave Van Domelen
>Thanks for the reply. If i use iPoly plastic dye, and dip the entire toy
>in a vat and heat it in the microwave, will it actually work? Will it
>not melt the toy? Is there any way one could have a more controlled
>environment where you could observe the state of the toy? How long do
>you usually wait for the dye to completely be absorbed in the plastic?
renuke.
Note, some plastics have dangerously low melting points, especially the
clear ones! The feet on my Moonracer warped and I had to do some work to get
the front end of the car to transform (removed several tabs that no longer
lined up, shaved off parts of the insteps, put it in a vise and heated it
with a hairdryer). Unfortunately, the legs and feet are pinned together, or
I'd have disassmebled them before trying to dye.
http://www.dvandom.com/kitbash/nightracerWIP2.JPG shows it after dyeing
and reshaping, but before any painting.
Dave Van Domelen, now to post the Cyberverse Scout review.
snoopa doopa
Dave Van Domelen
>Damn, sorry about the warping! The colors still look good though. What
>temp do you recommend? Do you think MP Shockwave would survive this? I
>would like to turn a KO MP shockwave into dark grey shackwave version. I
>would take apart the clear bits from him. Is black dye easily absorbed
>vs. other colors? Thanks!
with my setup to reliably hit a temperature below boiling. A double-boiler
would be a good idea if you're serious about this (it's possible to superheat
a liquid and get it above boiling point, especially in a microwave), as well
as a candy thermometer to make sure you don't get too high.
The big problem is that there's a lot of variability in dye uptake. You
might get something to just turn a little darker, or it might go jet black.
Other than my "dye blindbox clear Gundam models rainbow colors" project, I
just use dye as a basecoat, so that parts I can't paint (joints, places
panels need to mesh) look okay. So, black edges between gray panels rather
than purple edges. Also, you can't really dye lighter, there's no reliable
plastic bleach I've found that won't just give you crumbly plastic. So you
can't dye purple gray.
Anyway, got the vehicle mode done last night:
http://www.dvandom.com/kitbash/nightracerP1.JPG
http://www.dvandom.com/kitbash/nightracerP2.JPG
Dave Van Domelen, also has dye bleed-through when applying seal coat,
because it draws dye up through the paint for some reason.
snoopa doopa
I'm probably gonna try using some other fabric black dye on shockwave. I fit doesn't work out, then might as well just use the ol' spray paint. Thanks for the help!
banzait...@gmail.com
shafi...@gmail.com
Dave Van Domelen
I've found that even RiT for polyester doesn't work very well on toys.
Regular RiT was reformulated years ago and no longer works on plastic at
all. I mostly use iPoly brand dye, acquired at JoAnn Fabrics. It works best
at near boiling temperatures, but some TF plastic warp at those temperatures
too, so there's a bit of a learning curve.
Dave Van Domelen, really needs to update his Guide to Kitbashing to
reflect all the changes in dye....