Colored Silk
 

Where does one get colored silk these days? SIG has some left, but mainly the lightweight stuff and I am going to be silk and doping an Eyeball. Thai silks has colored stuff, but folks say that their silk must be pre-shrunk since it take weeks for it shrink up tight. Dharma Trading does not offer colored silk. I read about dying it, but some say that when you apply colored dope, as in trim stripes and such, it can leach the dye out of the silk and it will float to the top of the dope you just sprayed.

Darehobby.com has light weight Esaki silk for $25 a yard [sm=cry_smile.gif]. I am not sure if the lightweight is heavy enough for a .60 sized plane.

RE: Colored Silk
 

You could try imitation silk. Tissue over mylar.

RE: Colored Silk
 

Or use silkspan. Available from SIG and easier to use and finishes better than silk OMO. I use it applied with nitrate dope and then prime and paint with KlassCote epoxy.

RE: Colored Silk
 

I am looking to get the see-the-open-framework look.

RE: Colored Silk
 

I've been dying the silk from Dharma Trading and have been very happy.
The only caution is you have to wash the silk with a mild detergent twice.
After a second wash, I've not had any bleed through of the color.

RE: Colored Silk
 

pd1

Do you keep the silk wet during the entire process or do you allow it to dry? I've wondered if drying would remove some of the natural shrinkage. What are you using for dye?

andrew

RE: Colored Silk
 

Are you using their acid dyes made for silk, or just liquid Rit dye?

RE: Colored Silk
 

I have about 10 yards of Dharma 5mm silk. Good stuff. They have a tutorial on their website on dying silk. I also bought their acid dye to color my silk red. PD1 is right about washing the silk twice before dying it. That will removed the "sizing" chemical in order for the dye to take. I remember using Rit dye to color silk and then using a salt in the mix to make the silk color proof. I love the translucent look of colored silk. I remember a pattern contest in Pensacola years ago. A guy, Al Pinson, was flying a Jerry Nelson Pegasus. It was done in red silk with many, many coats of clear dope. Rubbed out to a brilliant shine, it took your breath away when the sun caught it just right. It was the first time that I saw someone flying an old Bramco reed set with separate control box. The good ole days!
Frank

RE: Colored Silk
 

A good silk finish is impossible to beat for looks, IMHO. Reed sets, however, I'm more than happy to leave behind in the "good ole days". Unfortunately (showing my age here), I can remember when a tuning wand and candle to fix the slugs in the tuning coils could be found in everyone's shop.

andrew

RE: Colored Silk
 

I read the process at Dharma and it basically told of a long and involved procedure to color silk.
I thought that was a bit more work than I wanted to do.

My wife said,"try this". She handed me some new Ritt liquid dye, and an old pot.
When I finally got up the courage to try it, I was amazed.
I didn't make a mess and the silk took the dye evenly through out.
All I did was follow the instructions on the back of the package.

Basically add the liquid or powdered dye to hot water and let simmer on the stove.
I've now used the powdered dye as well as the liquid and the results are the same.

Add the already wet silk to the simmering water and stir for thirty minutes.
Wetting the silk first helps to keep the color from streaking.
Rinse with cold water and wash with some detergent, let dry.

The silk stretches out a bit while wet but shrinks back to original size when dry.

The next day wash again with a mild soap or detergent. It seems the excess dye doesn't go away completely with the first wash.

Failure to do the second wash will result in the excess dye transferring to the clear dope by way of the brush and mixing together, and contaminating the clear.

The yellow wing in the picture is a Tri Squire that I used the powdered dye on the silk.

Paul

RE: Colored Silk
 

Try habotai silk at www.thaisilks.com

RE: Colored Silk
 

I was looking for Silron a while back and was told about this site: http://freeflightmodels.com/index.html
I'm not sure about current prices or if they are still in business, may be worth a call.

George T

RE: Colored Silk
 

The RIT dye process is encouraging. Might be worth a try on a junker airframe first to make sure things go well.

RE: Colored Silk
 

I've got 50 yards of Dharma 5mm Habotai I've been using up. Those dyed pics look pretty good. I'm going to give the Rit a whirl on my next covering job.

I've had some luck with tinting dope to get a translucent effect, but its not the same look as colored silk.

RE: Colored Silk
 

The [link=http://www.ritdye.com/colorit_color_formula_guide]RIT Color Formula Guide[/link] is pretty nice. Just select the color group from the color bar and then click the swatches to find out the mixing formula for the liquid dyes. There are enough colors that anyone should be able to find several they like.

andrew