For the current custom I'm working on I plan on dyeing Fireflight (the upper arms, upper legs, waist, and any pontential rub points that are brown) and Skydive (everthing that's in that garish lavender).

The problem is that I think Fireflight's limbs (circled in red) are made of unpaintable plastic and I don't know how well that kind of plastic accepts dye.
Also is it possible to only just dye only a bit of a part, like dyeing the ball sockets(circled in green) using a rack or stand of some sort?

Also how likely is it for dye to seep through after the dyed part is painted and discolor the new paint?

Edit: I forgot to mention that I plan on using black dye.

 

The parts circled in green are pretty dark already. At best, you'll turn them black ( or near black ).

 

I havent had any problems from the dye coming through on the paint from my customs... What I try to do is dye the plastic the same as my base color for the figure... The reason I do this is to help remove the problems of rub spots... Here are a few pics for examples...


Here is SG Richochet... Dyed red to hide rub spots from doors and hood...


SG Protector armor... Dyed black to hide rub spots from all the hinges...

If you have any other questions PM me... If I am able to answer them I will, I can help the best I can...

 

Very impressive customs!

 

Thank You...

 

Nylon (I hate the "unpaintable plastic monicker..) resists dye nearly as well as it resists paint, but with some acetone and a LOT of time, you will be able to shift the shade a bit, just not as much or as quickly as the other types of plastic.

My favorite dye-technique is to dye everything that's functional (i.e. all the joints, etc. often the "rub points") the darkest compatible color in my intended final color scheme (often black, it's rare where you can't get a little black into a color scheme!), and then either not paint those parts at all, or else paint them in ways that will "incorporate" any chipping into the final look.

I've also never had any issue with dye bleeding through paint, but I usually let the parts cure for a good long time before applying any paint, which may help.

D/L

 

First off thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it.

Thanks for the offer. And those customs are fantastic.

Thanks for the tips.

I was actually planing on dyeing all the joints black but I'm not sure whether or not the plastic used for the upper arms and legs(circled in red;see first post) of the energon A-10 mold are made of nylon.

Also how long do you allow the parts to cure?

 

One thing I do is sand the pieces down before dyeing... IMO the plastic seems to take the dye better... For me I usually allow the plastic to sit for a day two at the max, of course I have also painted right away... When I paint right away I never have had any issues...

 

Black should do you well  

As for how long, that is REALLY hard to predict. Even among "paintable" non-nylon plastic, different plastic types will take the dye better faster than others, with (again) the nylon family needing ages to accept the dye.

If you cold-dye them, I would give it at least a few days to a week (and if there'y any nylon, you're still bound to need longer, if it will ever work!)

If you use heat (which works MUCH better, but which required greater care, and MUCH greater care and protective measures if you use acetone), I've found that most parts will start shifting shades after just 5-10 minutes, though it may take a log longer depending on how dark you want to go. Nylon, you'll need 20-30 minutes just to get the parts to start shifting hues, and possibly hours to get it to any kind of dark shade...it's stubborn stuff.

Also, and be VERY mindful of this (not so bad with the small figure you're using though), if parts need to "match" eachother color-wise, be sure you DYE THEM AT THE SAME TIME. You'll never color match perfectly across different batches. Even in the SAME batch depending on how dilligent you are with your stirring, it can be hard to get a color match (and again, across different plastic types, forget about it).

If you're dying to achieve a base-color, it's not much of an issue, but if you want to have any dyed part presented unpainted, you've got to be very careful to get them done at the same time as anything that needs to match, no amount of tinkering will ever get it *just right* otherwise.

Hope that helps!

I wanna dye something now!

D/L

 

Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it.

By the way destrongerlupus, it was actually because of your awesome Roadbuster dyeing tutorial back on Kidbash that inspired me to take up dyeing, so again thanks.