Sometimes you're the windshield...

[dvandom]

...and sometimes you're the bug.



The point of dyeing rather than painting is that it won't rub off, so you can color on pieces that would otherwise scrape paint. But the plastic used for TF:A Legends Bumblebee is very non-porous, the above is the result of 72 hours or so of soaking. I tried cranking up the heat to a near boil to see if that'd help, but it ended up warping the plastic so badly that it can't transform anymore. I may try salvaging it as an "actionmaster" sort later, but for now it goes in the Fail Bin.

Comments

[misanthrope1.livejournal.com]

Sorry!

[viscous.livejournal.com]

My sympathies.

These questions come because I am planning a dye project myself. Was that blue or green dye? Did you manually strip the paint first? Did you use acetone?

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Green dye. Acetone paint-stripping (using a Q-tip). Washed thoroughly in soap and water before dyeing.

Trying Legends Jazz now, and I mechanically stripped the paint there with the wire brush disc on my Dremel. Doesn't seem to be working any better.

BTW, this plastic doesn't just soften and sag at high temps, it shrinks like a Shrinky-Dink. There's numerous dimples on top of the warping.

[diosoth.livejournal.com]

The paints Hasbro uses currently will come off very easily with rubbing alcohol. Use the 91% stuff and just rub at the paint. Or if you're stripping a full piece, just drop it in alcohol and let it sit for a bit, then rub off. May take a bit as the alcohol soaks into the paint, but you won't risk any plastic damage that acetone can cause.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

I'm good enough at using acetone that I don't have damage problems. :) However, turns out Jazz is even less dye-able than Bumblebee! Gonna use it as a testbed for automotive touchup paint instead. I've decided it's gonna be green one way or another....

[diosoth.livejournal.com]

Transformers plastic is probably resistant enough to use acetone on very sparingly. G.I. Joe plastic, however, that's probably a no-no, considering the heads, limbs, and any accessories are PVC.

I got some use out of the superglue trick for tightening loose joints. Only, not with a toy. Gamecube controllers tend to get wobbly control sticks as their plastic wears from years of use, and they're generally impossible to fix. The 3 pieces that make up the component box for a stick- the X axis, Y axis and central rod- all work to let a player move either one or both axes and movement sensors on the ends pick up the stick monvement. It was a matter of dropping the glue into the center of the stick parts and moving the thing like mad as the glue dried.

I almost returned it to a decent factory level of use. This worked despite the internal grease lubricant interfering and chunking some of the glue up, which required scraping at with a tiny screwdriver and prying out with pointed tweezers.

The electronics expert in me was hesitant to try this in case the glue damaged something... but eh, if it didn't work, I wouldn't be in worse shape than I was with the thing.