RiT dye rather than paint

I just found these in an old box that I had put away...they were experiments from long ago when I used to try my hand at modding.
These were originally a standard blue Thomas and Edward. I used Rit dye instead of painting them. There is some slight warping to Edward, but the Thomas came out well enough to use. If the boiled water is too hot it will warp to ruined, but after a few tries or a little luck, you can easily change the plastics color to almost anything.

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[Super]

We had discussed the dying experiment some time ago and I can't remember who did the testing, maybe Tramp, not sure. They had similar results about the heat. My question on your samples is, how are the other colors not affected by the dye only the blue? Love the glittery boiler on Thomas.

Well in this case they were dyed in yellow. Yellow to blue makes green, so the cab windows were unaffected, and the yellow wasn't strong enough to turn the red to orange. What ever the primary colors are( red, blue, and yellow) in combination with the base colors, will determine what is produced. (Purple, green, orange,), with various shades by strength with heat. There is also a neutralizing color remover dye too, so I suppose pink from red, grey from black, and so on could also be achieved, but I have never tried it.
It was you and I who had this conversation a while back, but I don't think I knew where my examples were at the time.

[Super]

Thats very interesting, I would have never thought about using the primary mix of colors combined to achieve the wanted results. I would have just tried green dye and been disappointed with the results. Does the color scrape off at all? I wonder how well it would work on turning wheels to black as wheels are a little more beefier but are probably a different plastic.

Interesting experiments there Muddy, do you have to use boiling water and thus risk the warping? Would it be possible to get similar results with cooler water?

One thought for this that springs to mind is when people pick up old models where the colours have faded a bit - the Gordon's for example spring to mind - this may be a way to return them to their former glory...

That looks like it worked out pretty well! Back in my more active days of collecting 1/6 scale figures, I knew folks who'd used Rit dye on bodies and clothes. Sometimes, the material being dyed wouldn't "take" or would turn an odd color. A few people experimented further and discovered other dyes made for nylon and similar materials which would sometimes work in those difficult cases. I think one brand was (cleverly named) Dylon.

[Super]

I wonder if using an old Crock Pot (probably found at garage sales) would be a good idea. Maybe a controlled lower heat for a longer period of time may be the answer to warping.

[Super]

I have been watching quit a few dying plastic videos and some suggestions were after boiling the water you need to bring the temperature down to between 140 & 150 degrees for thinner plastic to keep it from warping. Since water boils a 212 degrees at sea level the temperature drop must be important. I have also seen suggestions that you dip your item in for a while, remove it, rinse it off, and redip. You keep doing it until the desired color is achieved. There was also a video using a product they got from Joann Fabric called iDye Poly which is supposed to be good for plastics.

Yes there are a lot of videos to learn from...I saw one of an antique dealer dying bicycle peddles red to restore a vintage bike on YouTube...that is where I got the idea from.
I like your crock pot idea too!
Also, no you can't scrape off the color it becomes one with the plastic.

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Interesting experiments there Muddy, do you have to use boiling water and thus risk the warping? Would it be possible to get similar results with cooler water?

One thought for this that springs to mind is when people pick up old models where the colours have faded a bit - the Gordon's for example spring to mind - this may be a way to return them to their former glory...

Unless you repainted the cab windows and red trim appointments, redying Gordon a new blue would work great for his body, but he would end up with green window trim and his red pinstriping would come out purple.

Re-painting the detailing wouldn't be too big a deal given a steady hand or a bit of masking tape. Getting an even colour on the main body surface is more difficult and if painted by hand is almost certainly going to show a few brush marks unless you air-brush it. So it sounds like a cool way of restoring a Gordon, the purple pinstriping could look cool and funky anyway