I would like to know if you have to use acetone to dye a figure.

 

No. Well...it can depend on the plastic. Acetone seems to help the plastic soften up, but not necessary. Some plastic takes dye, some doesn't, no matter what you use. Just be careful with the hot water, you can warp your figures even with water that doesn't seem too hot.

 

Would acetone work on the plastic of the current ROTF/HFTD figures without warping it when dyeing?  

 

Hard to say. Each type of plastic is different and it takes a bit of trial and error. I wish I had a photo, but I dyed Universe Silverbolt black and the white parts took dye differently.

Definitely don't use acetone on soft "safety" plastic common in nosecones and weapon tips.

 

I'm assuming because that type of plastic is already soft and does not require acetone at all!  

 

One last question  

Whats the ratio of dye mix with water for the rit dye powder packs?

Thanks for all the information so far.

 

Depends on the color, but I'd say as much dye as possible. Try to find a container that will efficiently submerge your figure/parts without too much wasted volume.

The dye is only going to darken the plastic, and retain some of the original color. So if you start with a neutral color plastic, you'll have results closer to the dye color. Dying blue plastic with red dye, will probably just result in darker blue.

And if you're just trying to neutralize a bright color, like in a high friction area, I'd just use black dye.

 

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/tutorials-how-tos/214539-how-dye-figure.html

If you've not read that, maybe some of your questions/concerns are answered there.  

 

I use RIT color dye from the box that is the powder mix.

deliciouspeter,you are correct about,if the water is too hot it can warp/melt the plastic.

I've been most successful in using the black colored rit colored dye.

certain transformers that have paint decals factory painted over the factory plastic. simply wont dye well or refuse to dye at all.

my most successful RIT color dye transformers toy projects have been. doing all the blue parts on ROTF Leader sized jetfire & turning them into black colors using the RIT black color dye.

I was also successful in using the tangerine orange rit color dye to dye a few Year 2005 cybertron leader sized megatron toy parts into orange. to create a rodimus prime custom toy.

any TF toy plastic with a extremly high gloss like energon megatron will simply refuse to rit color dye.