Dye a clear canopy !

The plastic makeup will determine how much dye the canopy will take.

The Process

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1) Get some Rit Dye 2) Get a stove safe container that can hold the canopy submerged 3) Dissolve the Rit in water 4) Heat water between 120F-140F 5) Submerge canopy in water 6) Check the tint every couple of minutes until the shade desired is reached

Warnings

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1) Some plastics will deform if the water is too warm. Start at 120F and work your way up BUT BE CAREFUL ! 2) Some plastics simply will not take dye, no matter how long you leave it in.

Hints

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1) You can use cold water, but it is not nearly as effective 2) Test a piece of the canopy flashing before doing the whole thing 3) Adding salt to the water sometimes helps stubborn plastics to take tint 4) Use anodizing dyes in place of Rit. Anodizing dyes will not fad in the sun like Rit.

Hope this helps...

CJ

In addition, you want to combine Royal Blue and Black dyes for a proper tint. Straight black is supposed to come out kinda brown. I think its 2 parts black to one part blue but I could be wrong there. One thing I do know for sure, dye the canopy BEFORE cutting it out of the extra material. Chance for warping is high and you would rather the extra edges warp than the canopy. I have done it both ways and leaving the material on is the best. Got warping both times but the warping was on the extra material when left in one piece.

There are several good threads about this on RCUninverse.

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 15:53:15 GMT, "CJ" wrote in :

Yes. Some won't dye at all, no matter what you do to them. I've had some success by spraying stuff inside such canopies that is designed for painting the inside of RC car bodies.

To make sure that you're seeing the true color, rinse the canopy and hold it up in GOOD light.

I also wear latex gloves when prepping the canopy and doing the dieing in order to reduce fingerprint smears.

Amen and amen. I can say that 190 F water is too hot. :o(

I've always used Rit. None of my airplanes have lasted long enough to have the tinting fade. :o(

A combination of black and blue Rit works better than black alone--if you want a greyish-black tint.

Marty

Use denatured alcohol and black Rit dye. Use 1 bottle of dye to on quart of denatured alcohol. Keep dunking the canopy in it until it gets to desired darkness. Also, use rubber gloves or you'll have black hands for a few days.

You can also paint the inside of the canopy. I took some testors model paint and painted stars and a background color on one of my canopies. Looked good and was something I hadn't seen before.

On 31 Oct 2005 05:31:49 -0800, "JJVB" wrote in :

The RC car guys do this all the time--they paint their lexan bodies from the inside.

The folks who paint the gel coat in the mold for fiberglass pieces also paint from the inside.

They do amazing things.

Marty

Testors 3 oz. Spray Transparent Black Window Tint

On 31 Oct 2005 08:47:19 -0800, "Bob Neville" wrote in :

I think that's the stuff I used.

You need to wash the inside of the canopy well with a mild solvent that won't melt the plastic but that WILL get rid of all oil and scum.

Otherwise the tint will "fish-eye."

Don't ask me how I know. :o(

Marty

Tamiya makes a special paint and tint in spray cans for lexan R/C car bodies that is sprayed on the inside.

Works great and is fuel proof. PS-1 to PS-45+

Many standard and some wild colors and several colors of tint.

Can mask and do multipal colors. Tape the framework and spray the tint. Remove the tape and and mask the tinted area and spray the framework color or vis versa. Have seen 4 and 5 layer color bodies done this way.

Hugh