So would you like to share some of your secrets? I've got one I'd like to tint, but failed to using the ordinary Rit dye method.

Kerry

hey Bob, nice site but i could not locate the Testors article. Can you point me to it?

thanx V.

Here's my first tint job... posts #2 and #16.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3959856/tm.htm

They said this canopy couldn't be tinted...

The photos make it look darker than it really is... in person it's perfecto!

If you don't mind my butting in, what temperature was the water that you were using?

Bob M

The thread that's linked in above says he used the hottest tap water his faucet would give. Most hot water heaters are set in the 130-150 degree range.

The Rit dye packages say to use hot water and mention adding salt and a touch of soap.
I used two packages of black, one package of Navy blue, the right amount of salt for the 3 gallons of water I used, and a touch of soap. I had to put in a new hot water heater a couple of months back and it's supplying water that "steams" and you'd not be able to keep your hand under as it comes from the tap without burning your hand. I was a bit worried that it'd warp the two canopies I tried to dye so cut some off the flanges and tested it under the faucet. The Rit instructions mention stirring the stuff so I did about every 5-10 minutes. When the two canopies came out of that dye bath after over 3 hours, they rinsed off as clear and undyed as they went in. I think the 3 packages of Rit dye cost me about $10. That was $10 down the drain. Wish I'd thrown in some shirts or something so the time and money weren't so completely wasted. I also bought a new bucket for this. At least I now have a new bucket.

It's a dead simple process that works when it works, and is a total waste when it doesn't. And nobody has said boo about how to predict if your canopy is one that'll dye or not.

Hay VASEK, your right, I just went back to his web site and all the stuff about the tint is gone. Sorry about that. His tint info was part of the write-up he did about the Excelleron 90 he was working on. I guess after he sold the Excelleron he removed all the info about it, which had a net blue tint canopy. As best as I can remember he cleaned the inside of the canopy with alcohol and sprayed just the inside with a couple of coats of Testers Blue Tint and left the outside clear.

I hope this helps, if not, sorry for steering you in the wrong direction.

OB

Wow Overnight to dye a canopy ,Sorry I don't have that kind of time ,as a rule it takes me less than 30 mins to get the results I want .
I to use rite dye in powdered form the liquid won't work,or hasn't for me .I don't add salt or vinegar or soap either ,maybe i'll try it though .
Prep the canopy using hot soapy water and rinse well with cold and dry it off, don't leave any water spots on it .
Run hot water in a large pan over the dye and stir it up good as you go,put it on the stove and heat it until the water is just starting to move,Although I don't use one a candy thermometer one would come in handy .160 to 170 degrees is just an estimate .Trim off a edge of the flange and stick it in the dye mix color of your choice,swirl it around for a few secs and rinse it off with COLD water .If the heat is correct there wont be any deformation and the dye will take immediately.Repeat for a darker look and don't use mommas good baking pan ,as she may get rather upset and show you the pan has more uses than you was aware of.
The only canopy I couldn't dye was one I got from a buddy off his cloud dancer arf. and I have seen several that use this same sort of material It looked ok just wasn't super clear sort of a distorted look when looking thru it.I'm sorry I don't know what the material was. This may have been the time for the salt ,soap and vinegar trick ???
Anyway I would use rubber gloves the dyes a buggar to get off bare skin and some kitchen tongs help.
Oh the mix I use one package dye to 1-1 1/2 gal water approx.If possible I like to submerge the canopy but sometimes the size wont let me so I roll it in the mixture,this seems to work ok.

I build many kits a year and so far I haven't found one that couldn't be dyed ,only a few arfs .
If the canopy looks clear with no minor orange peel look I would say its dyeable.
Heres a couple I did.

I dont have a clue as to what happened with the pics ,They have been used in here and i've not had this in the past???
I'm sure its operator error *LOL*
To err is human to really screw it up use a computer.

No prob, thanks Bob

Ok The pics made me a little PO so I had a canopy that was in need of a dye job .This one I used a mixture of black and blue 2-1 and its ok but I wished I would have stayed with just the black.Anyway it took maybe 25-30 secs in the hot dye to make it this dark..

Did you thouroughly clean the canopy with soap prior to attempting to dye it? The come with a good amount of mold release on them.

If you're asking me, then yes, I actually cleaned them inside and out with denatured alcohol and then washed them with soap and water. And if anyone didn't wash something that'd had mold release, usually the mold release is only on one side. And most vacuforming is done "naked" anyway.

There was a post awhile back in an earlier thread about how canopies fail to take dye nowadays. It was by somebody from one of the ARF importers. He said that the plastic that was being used nowadays was a type that wouldn't take dye and that none of the recent releases by his company had the old plastic in the canopies. So none of their present ARF canopies would take dye. Unfortunately, he didn't mention any way to identify what plastic you've got.

Hi Teufelhund,

You mention that you can get any plastic to take the tint with the right chemicals, what are the right chemicals??? I've had one canopy that takes the above dying method fine, and another that I have left in the Ritt dye path for a week and has washed off as clear as when I put it in. If you have another method or some additional chemicals that you put in the dye bath i'd love to hear them,

Thanks.

Good for you.
The real value of a forum is the sharing of information.
It's really nice to share the info that you can tint anything, but it'd be nicer still if you'd share the info on how.

It'd be neat just to learn how you identify the clear plastic as to type for starters.

Looking forward to your help. Thanks in advance.

Hi all Great information on tinting canopies..I've always painted them in the past..This time I would like to try tinting one..The color I would like would be a light blue..What colors/color dye/dyes should I try..The canopy is from Sig a ww11 one.

Thanks Dan

Hi All I tried to tint my Sig WWll canopy without any luck..I mixed 1 package of Demmin Blue to a gallon of hot water added a 1/2 cup vinegar and some salt..After 2 hours the canopy remain clear, so I dried IT off and painted IT..

Dan