Questions Paint or Dye.

Who here has dyed figures instead of painting them?
How would I go about dyeing Neo Viper heads black?
Just dump em' all in a bucket full of Rit?
Any insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks

I haven't tried dyeing plastics, but I have tried to dye fabrics. I don't think a dye would stick too well, because the plastic isn't porous enough. It would probably take many tries to get the depth of color that you want.

Dye works, but it's often not a permanent solution. Your best bet is to heat up some water on the stove, not boiling but simmering hot, add the dye and then soak the pieces you want dyed in there for about 20 minutes or so. It will come off when you touch it for a little while after, but not all of it will come off.

However, over time the dye will be absorbed into the plastic and the original color will show through.

I've used dye as a 'base' coat, to give something a different color before I painted it, but other than that dye is pretty much not good.

Dyeing - JCWiki

an in depth analysis of all you need to dye joes.

good luck.

im going to say Both =)

I've worked with dye before and it works pretty well. I've mostly used it to die things black, but I also successfully turned a blue Snake Eyes green using yellow dye. I've had better luck with the plastic Joes are made from than with Star Wars Figs, but they still take to it pretty well. Always add plenty of salt to the water, mix the dye and bring it to a boil. Any torsos that you've split or thighs that you've separated should be put back together so they don't warp. Use a sieve to keep parts off the bottom of the pot or they'll warp. Let the dye cool to a low simmer and add your pieces. Keep an eye on it and check on it regularly to see how its coming along and nothing is warping. When you are checking on the color rinse off excess dye to get a truer look at how dark it is. When you've achieved the color you want remove the parts and rinse them in cold water and then throw in an ice bath for a few minutes and, rinse them one last time and you should be good.

Thanks for all the responses guys!
I only want to dye some neo viper heads, so I don't have to worry splitting torsos, thighs, or any of that stuff.

You think dyeing something that is originally silver, black will look ok?

Originally Posted by Beckley

Thanks for all the responses guys!
I only want to dye some neo viper heads, so I don't have to worry splitting torsos, thighs, or any of that stuff.

You think dyeing something that is originally silver, black will look ok?

Thats hard to say.I've dyed Sigma 6 Firefly black and his silver pads turned a darker silver.Also,for some reason.The lowerlegs don't take black dye to good.

I have done this in the past. The way that I have the best results is to dye the part multiple times, boiling water, long soaks in the dye, wipe off excess.

Eventually this will build up a really strong quality base, but still isn't quote opaque enough to my liking, so then I would take some Citadel black paint, and apply 1 or sometimes 2 very thing coats just to get that deep black where it looks totally solid.

If you do it right it will look almost factory. Sometimes it gives a cool effect to leave a little of the undercoat showing through, almost like it's marbleized.

if it's just heads, why not paint?