Dyeing Success!

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Its no secret that I love Black Couplings and I have been fortunate to source black plastic regular Hook and Couplers but I also wanted the odd styled white couplers in black also. The big 'Push' hook/couplers and the longer couplers that are commonly found on the DD51's and DE10 Diesels are what I desired too. Painting or using a permanent marker which just laid a thin layer on the outside of the plastic always easily chipped or rubbed off showing the white underneath. Until now I have had to live with the white ones...until now because I have successfully Dyed these Black.


Rit Dye makes a product that is for synthetics acrylics and some plastics. https://www.ritdye.com/type/dyemore-for-synthetics/


Strange thing about this Dye More for Synthetics is there is no Black. Thankfully they have a recipe chart for mixing to get the colors you want. The recipe are also divided into the size are what you are dyeing. I used the recipe for dyeing Buttons. For black I had to use...


10 Teaspoons Graphite
1 Teaspoon Racing Red
½ Teaspoon Sapphire Blue


I used a cheap Dollar store pot and utensils pictured below. I made some hangars out of sturdy Clothes hangar wire to suspend the items in the dye and to keep them off the bottom of the pot where it is much hotter with more chance of disfiguring the plastic.


My first test with a regular hook and coupler came out great but the hook seemed to have swelled a tiny bit as the 'T' part was hard to fit into the slot on the train. The hook was also somewhat softened in the hook area. Still able to use but not perfect. The coupler was perfect. Also I must add the the heavier Push Hooks were not affected at all.


Its important to note that the second Test I tried the heat at a lower setting but the parts did not fully become black so the heat is important. My success came at a temperature just below boiling for an hour
and as you can see came out pure black. I also tested the finish and it wouldn't rub off and I had to use a file to grind off the black to reveal the white under the dyed plastic. Off course the true test will be the constant running of trains with these dyed couplers to see how long they will last but as of now I think there won't be any problems.

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[-] The following 5 users Like Super's post:
  • chrisjo, mod thana, MuddyPoppins, ripley802, violater
You can find black couplings on some older Plarail, like Seibu 2000 and the Limited Edition Rotary Snowplough. These are retired around 2003 or 2005. But why the red and blue and their different portions?
What would Graphite be like by itself?
Maybe dull?
Probably dark to medium grey?  Enthused by Super's experiment, I just ordered some iDye Poly Black.
(This post was last modified: 01-20-2020, 07:34 PM by Super.)
[-] The following 1 user Likes chrisjo's post:
  • violater
@Vio
Getting black Plarail couplings through buying trains is too few and far between for my needs as I have used hundreds. I have sourced through a seller that owns an injection mold company who makes them and I have bought literally a few hundred of them. Which reminds me that I should order more as my stock is down to about 50 sets and I am always worried that he will stop offering them and I don't want to run out for the future world purchases.

About the recipes for mixing colors they have mixes for you to attain dozens of different variations to match the color you may need. What is odd is that a pure black is not available which I would think is in every color pallet. Yes, its weird to me that Racing Red and Sapphire Blue is part of the mix to make black.

@Chrisjo
Will be interesting to hear your test results using a different product. That iDyePoly seems to have a similar instruction that its the heat and time as the key step but I am wondering that because they state to bring the water to a boil and keep it there for 30 to 60 minutes may be too hot for the plastic but your test results will prove that right or wrong.

I can't remember what member here at BPT's that tried to dye a Thomas or some other trains shell a different color with heat and the body warped a bit. One thing I liked about the Dye More is that its liquid and they have formulas for how much to use for different sized items so you don't use a whole pouch for one dye batch.
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Yes!
Temperature and time are the key...
Too hot will warp the plastic.
Too cool will not penetrate and stick, and no extended amount of time will help.
Play nice & have fun!!Smile
[-] The following 1 user Likes MuddyPoppins's post:
  • Super
Have you tried this product before Muddy?
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[-] The following 1 user Likes Super's post:
  • MuddyPoppins
Lol... yes Super.
I tried to turn you guys onto dying these engines and parts instead of painting them about 4 years ago.
My only successful “dips” were turning a Thomas and an Edward shell green, and a blue caboose purple. Many warped shells (Dodge was the worst) and chassis though.
I first saw a video of toy restorer use it to change the pedal color of a vintage bicycle about 5 years ago.
Play nice & have fun!!Smile
[-] The following 3 users Like MuddyPoppins's post:
  • chrisjo, mod thana, Super
Ah...it was you then Muddy. Did you use the same Rit Dye More for Synthetics of regular Rit Dye? Might you know where that Thread is?

Here is Muddys experience using regular RiT Dye on a Thomas body a few years ago. https://blueplastictracks.com/showthread.php?tid=2437
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