A Mustang to Dye For

[7000in5th]

Has anyone one ever dyed a model car kit? In a thread over on Slot Car Illustrated, Jeremy posted this:

As noted in the post, it was done in a pot of water and liquid Rit dye over low heat, including the chrome wheels. He has done metal models also! BTW, Rit dye comes in lots of colors, the pink was mentioned because someone's daughter wanted a pink Mustang slot car.

Anyone ever been brave enough to try this? Just wondering.....

[george 53]

Brave enough to try it? Yeeesh this the FIRST I've ever seen/heard about somethin like this! For those who can't paint well(me included) this may be a GOOD thing. I wonder if a basecoat would affect the final color.Seems like it would come off like a clearcoat candy color. Veeeerrrryyyyy interesting!

[Rick Schmidt]

I'm diggin this idea just cause its different. May try this on a scrap body myself just to see how it looks and works

[B-dub]

hmm I never thought of this before.. a lot of guys on an atv forum I'm on dye small plastic parts all of the time and I never thought of it on model cars... and I can't paint well so this may help me

[torinobradley]

I've used dye to color the nylon parts for my radio controled cars and have read where some dye their light colored hot wheels and die casts. I am sure it would work with raw unpainted plastic but I don't think the color will be as uniform. The plastic and nylon parts I have dyed and seen dyed have had subtle variations dependant on the shape of the castings. Edges tended to be different colors than the flatter areas and so forth. When you dye the paint, it is different because the color is more uniform and not dependant on penetration of a semi-translucent material so much. I guess it would also depend on how much white pigment/material is actually in the plastic parts. Possibly, the more opaque the part, the more uniform the color.

All I can suggest is to try it out. If you don't like it, grab that can of primer and it's over...

In any case, if you guys try it out, post pictures and methods for all us curious folk...

[Abell82]

You really don't need hot water, it just speeds up the process.

You can use cold water, BUT if you leave it in too long, it will get VERY DARK depending on the amount of dye, and the amount of water.

I have also seen easter egg coloring, and food coloring used.

Basically it's just staining the paint, or plastic with dye.

[Terry Sumner]

An interesting idea to be sure. I would think that you would have to get any bodywork done and do it very well. Get rid of all the flash of course and mold lines etc. But I also think maybe you might have to polish the body. My reason for thinking this is my concern about the finish...will it come out sort of flat? Or will it come out glossy? Maybe with a highly polished surface it might come out glossy...I dunno.

Interesting though....

edited for typo..

Edited March 25, 2009 by Terry Sumner

[Jon Cole]

I've tried it to tint windows, but I wasn't impressed. Use an old sauce pan. Mix the dye into the water. Bring it up to a rolling boil. Turn off the burner, and then lower the part into the pan in a wire basket.

Leave it there for about three minutes. As long as the water is not at or above boiling, it should be OK.

I forget which mag I read this in. My first attempt barely tinted the windows, but no warpage. Suggest using a double batch of dye (use both bags in the Rit Dye box)

Oh, and if you spill any dye on your wife’s stove, don't say I didn't warn you! (TIP: Use side burner on outdoor gas grill, over the lawn)