[MoogLe]

FAQ: Can i dye my black shells? or can i dye my red/purple/insert color here shell?

Answer: the principle of it is, you can only darken and not lighten, thus black hoppers will happily stay black, and as for the other colored hoppers, you're most likely not going get the color you want on there and it will probably turn out so dark that it's gonna look black


If you want to color your own plastic pieces try this one.

I AM NOT SAYING THIS WILL WORK FOR EVERYONE, TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I suggest using a clear plastisc to test before using actual plastics.

Pieces can be dyed multiple times


What You Need
•Rit® dye. One package is sufficient, really. That should cost you less than two dollars. Some supermarkets and *marts carry the dye, if you don't have a craft store that's close enough to you. Craft stores tend to have a better selection of colors, though.

•A 2-quart saucepan. The dye may color the pan, so I don't suggest using a pan you need for cooking. Go to the Goodwill or something and get a ratty old pan, or buy somebody a nice new pan in exchange for their old one.

•A strainer that fits the pan. Now, this one isn't super necessary, but it does keep the pieces off the bottom of the pan, and makes it easier to pull the pieces out all at once. Again, don't use one you need for food, though.

•Something to stir with. I used a piece of dowel, but anything's fine. Don't use your best wooden spoon.

•Plastic intended to dye.



How to Dye
Get all your materials together in one place.

Pour the dye packet into the saucepan, and add one cup of hot water. Stir this until all the crystals dissolve.

Add another two cups of hot water. This will fill your 2-quart saucepan nearly to the top, with maybe 3/4 of an inch left. This is good. Turn on the fire very low, and heat the water to just below boiling. You want it steaming hot, but not boiling.

Put the pieces into the strainer. Make sure none of them are nested. Lower the strainer into the dyebath, making sure that all the pieces sink.

Set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes. Every few minutes, stir the pieces around with the stirring implement.

You might also want to lift the strainer out to make sure that none of the pieces have gotten nested. Note that they'll look very dark when you do this, but this is only because of the dye on the surface of the pieces.

When the timer expires, pull the strainer out and rinse the pieces under warm water. You can start with the pieces in the strainer, but after they cool, you can pull each one out and rinse it separately to remove all the extra dye from the surface.

Let the pieces dry on a paper towel, or other absorbent surface that you wouldn't mind accidentally staining.

Viola! You have sucessfully dyed some pieces, though maybe not the color you were aiming for.

You can dye several pieces in a row using this potful of dye, though you may need to add more water as time passes. You can also use this pot of dye to dye any cloth (or whatever) you may want, it really hasn't been affected by the plastic. Be aware that the cloth and plastic probably will not wind up the same color.


To increase color (darken)
1.Increase the heat of the dye bath.
2.Increase the duration of the dye bath.
3.Increase the concentration of the dye bath.
Those first two are dangerous. If the pieces get too hot, they will begin to melt. I have a stash of semi-melted pieces that are a wonderfully dark shade of teal to prove it. (Interestingly, the pieces begin to melt from the sprue point.) Even if they don't melt much, the plastic will begin to fog with a myriad of tiny cracks. This effect is referred to as "crazing".

this guide was copied with the permission of the original writer on AOG, freeloader12345, thanks and nice guide,

here is how i went about dyeing my revy:

i used a dye brand called Dylon i found at a drugstore since i couldnt find RIT, i also didnt keep my water heated, i just boiled allot of water, then dumped it in a thick bucket, dropped in my dye, dropped in my hopper, and in about 10 minutes was done, this way you dont really have to worry about the plastic melting since it will only cool down, if you need to keep it hot just keep adding more hot water

hope this guide was as helpfull to all of you as it was for me, and if anyone can contribute some pictures of the process would be great(although not completely necesary), i dont have a digital camera but i'm gonna see what i can do


Keywords (disregard this, just for searching purposes):

- dying hopper
- dye hoppers
- how to dye your loader
- how to dye your hopper
- colorize hopper/loader

[brodude2002]

very awesome.

-werd
brodude2002

[Kanadian-Kaos]

Using RIT dye (Royal Blue and Kelly Green = Aqua), I dyed my Evolution 2 a nice shade of Dark Aqua Green. I found that the Evo used a hard type of plastic that would not retain any color at moderate temperatures...

I literally had to boil the water to get the plastic to change color (boiled it for 40 minutes). Try at your own risk and do not let the plastic sit on the bottom. I did this in a huge metal bowl on the stove so that all pieces could be dyed at the same time.

My viewloader lid and evo paddle (both test pieces) changed color in less than 5 minutes.

[SonGoten]

you forgot to post one of the more important thing.. You have to wash the parts with like dawn soap.. To take off any oils that mught be on the plastic, or else it takes longer to dye,,
alohaz

[MoogLe]

i didnt do that, and it worked out just fine

[kerdon]

anyone have finished product pics?

[£LB]

I will in half an hour.

[MoogLe]

i do

[SpyderXtra4]

Hey,
I just wanted to thank you for this idea. I wanted to buy some blue shells because I had some clear ones. I only payed $1.50 to get some blue shells and battery door. I'll try to get a pic up soon.

Thanks again for the idea!

[MoogLe]

[Rman209]

Man moogle that is one sweet *** hopper (oh yeah, and the gun too!)

[MoogLe]

thank you

[Rain]

Wait so do you have to take apart your hopper into pieces or can you just dump the hopper in there? Also does it matter if the lid is shut or open?

[MoogLe]

well unless you wanna fry the electronics you have to take it apart, and yea you can do the lid too but i didnt do that, doesnt look as good IMO and the lid is already weaker than the rest of the shell so that could be something to think about

[spydervenom]

i boiled my raceways for 20mins and they barely picked up any dye at all.

i got sick of that, so i boiled some regular water, put some dye in a plastic cup(all dye, no water), put the cup in the hot water and let it sit all night.

still didn't take any dye

[MoogLe]

that's wierd, what brand dye did you use?

[Kniner]

damn i like your new hopper color moogle

wat kinda color did you use? u think i can dye a black ricochet to a dark teal color?

[MoogLe]

thnx but i dont remember the color # but the name was something like desert brown

and no you cant dye a black hopper, only clear hoppers, maybe you would be able to shift the color of clear blue or smoke hopper by a little but not by much, the only one you can really dye are the clear ones

[MoogLe]

found the little pack with the dye i used, the color is called Desert Dust

all it says on the pack is

DYLON

53

Desert Dust

[ImSoConfused]

anybody dye a egg succesfully? im thinkin bout dying mine black to give it a smoke look. someone above said it ahrdly picked up hte dye. any pictures or anything would be great.. thnx.

[MoogLe]

i've seen dye'd eggs