Tinting Plastic Windows
 

Hi All'
Putting together a Hangar 9 J3 Cub. Would like to tint the windows any tricks? Have it soaking in hot tap water and ritz dye. Hasn't changed in and hour. Probably let it soak fo 12 hours.

Thanks
Al

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

Sorry, but thats just not going to work for you.It will never penetrate the plastic. Auto window film or spray is the best way to go. coat the inside , so the fuel does,nt get to it.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

Thought about that. It won't melt plastic?

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

I beleive the spay film is poly-carbonate , try a small test spot first if you can.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

I tinted the canopy of my Four Star 60. I used RIT black dye. Water was under boiling, but still hot. I only wanted a light tint. I think 30 seconds was all I left it in for.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

That turned out nice, I stand corrected.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

It's all good! :D

I also put my Dubro composite landing gear in there, and turned it from white to black. That took an hour!

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

I'm building a FourStar 40 and want my canopy totally black. The plane will be yellow so it will help with orientation. I was going to spray paint the inside because I do not know if RIT will make it totally black. Any ideas? Should I just spray it? Will spray paint distort or damage the canopy in any way?

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

I've used RIT liquid dye in hot tap water to tint windows and canopies too. I seem to remember hearing somewhere that some types of clear plastic won't take a tint, though. According to local folklore, the RIT liquid works better than the powder version. Black dye will give you that nice smoked glass look. The longer you leave it in, the darker it gets (it'll never get totally black, though).

Here's a pic of a Great Planes 1/4 scale Cub that I RIT dyed the windows on. Disregard the solid triangular windows (lost in a crash).

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

I`m not sure how the plastic will react to being painted. Krylon and Rustoliem [sry spelling] make a spray paint just for plastic. Not sure if it`s fuel proof.. Our local Wal-Mart has it. The biggest thing when painting plastic is getting good adhesion and starting with a clean surface.
I`m also building a 4* .40 and think I`ll give Kmot,s method a try.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

If you want to tint the canopy, do what I do. Do away with the dye method because some newer plastic don't take in the dye. Forget about other guys telling you that you need hot water, vinegar and the canopy will take... If the canopy doesn't take, it ain't gonna to take in the dye regardless of what concoction you have. Go to the store and look under Testors paint section (NOT Pactra as I find it hard to use). Testors have smoke, blue and green. Microwave some hot water and stick the can in water for 5 mintues (not 2 or 10 but FIVE). Then spray inside of the canopy but make sure you mask the outside. You will see that it sprays evenly and it will give you that beautiful tinted look without the mess of the dye. Can you imagine spilling a 2 gallon bucket of dark blue dye on the white carpet in the living room? DP

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

If you have an airbrush, just get any acrylic water based paint, and paint the inside. That is what we do with clear car bodies. Or you can buy a spray can of paint designed for car bodies and use it. It is important to first wash the insides with warm water and liquid dishwashing soap to remove the production oils. And use blue masking tape to mask the outside. Blue tape does not leave an adhesive residue.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

Hi All,
I tried to tint the windows with navy blue Rit powdered dye with hot tap water. Let soak for 24 hrs. Nadda. Rinsedit and wiped it clean off.
Went to a couple auto parts stores (Auto Zone & Pep Boys) neither one carries spray tint any more. I'll stop at the LHS tomorrow, but he'll tell you anything to make a sale.
Any other ideas? Might just leave it as is. Want it to diguise a smoke system mounted above the servos on a removeable platform on the CG.
Thanks for all the ideas.

Al B

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

HI all,
Went to the LHS, and bought some Testors tint. Only comes in one color. With enough coats it would be black. I used too heavy of a coat and it came out as a 50 ft. job.
(Looks good 50 ft. away)

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

I've painted the inside of numerous canopies with black Rustoleum spray paint with excellent results if you want it solid and not tinted.

Jim

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

Here's another paint product you might want to give a try. I use it to paint the bodies for my nitro trucks (can I say trucks here?):D. It's called Faskolor and is made by Parma. It comes in a multitude of colors and is a water base product, so it would have to be applied on the inside, this keeps it from getting scratched also. Some unique schemes can be had with a little airbrush use.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

Most of the kits in production are made right here in the good ol USA. They use a different plastic in the canopys then the chinese ARFs. I have tinted the Four Star, the Somethin' Extra, a Super Skybolt, GP Extra 300, and a Sportster. The Four Star ARF's canopy is made overseas, and will not take the dye. I did manage to get a little color into a Formosa 2, but it was in my brew the same amount of time as my Somethin Extra, and the SE's canopy came out 4 times darker. I use a large 5 gallon bucket with a snap on lid so I can reuse my dye brew. In that bucket is 2/3 bottle of black rit and 1/3 bottle of navy blue. Gives a nice smoky look. I use a submersible water heater to heat it on my concrete garage floor. 150 degrees works well with minimal canopy warpage. Do not cut the canopy before you dye.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

I just finished a SIG Fourstar 40 (picture attached) and painted the inside of my canopy with Plastic Enamel spray paint that I got from Lowes. I took my time and sprayed thin coats and let it dry for an hour or so between coats. I think I ended up with about 7 or 8 coats. I think it looks great. It not 'tinted' though so I don't know if this is what you are looking for. I was not going to add a pilot so I just painted it so it would contrast the yellow.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

RIT dye works well, but I have also used Pactra transparent plastic model paint to tint the polycarbonate canopys on my helicopters. light coats worked best until you get the desired tint.

Rod;)

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

I did the black liquid RIT thing on a Great Planes Aeromaster canopy circa 1984 and found the plastic accepted the dye fine but the color came out dark reddish brown-not black! (Yes the dye in the bottle was obviously black).

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

Next time add 1 part denim blue with 2 parts black. A nice smoked look will result.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

This is kind of a side note but ritz dye works very well on nylon if you want to tint control horns or white nylon bolts.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

Whats the ratio for dye to water. A 40 size canopy in a subsequent sized pot. 1 Gallon of water to full box of dye?

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

They use a spray called VHT Nightshades to tint car taillights, it's a semi-transparent tint. I've used it on taillights, and it holds up for years. Bonds very good to plastic, as it's made to bond to plastic. It is semi-transparent, so just keep adding layers until you get the darkness your looking for. I've never used it on RC bodies, but I don't think it would melt the lexan.

RE: Tinting Plastic Windows
 

If I'm not mistaken Rit works on butyrate but not acrylic.