How to paint LEGO?

[Project Black Brick]

Humm, you bring up a good point on which technique should be used. In my own opinion I would use a fine tip brush and apply light coats, let dry and repeat till full coverage is achieved. Reason I say this is because of all the small nooks the paint needs to be applied to. I also think if applied in a thick coat it might crack when bent? Sorry I cant be more helpful. 

[MAB]

I wouldn't use it. Isn't that stuff more paint than dye, forming a rubbery like coat? If so it will crack when you bend the parts. I'd use fabric dye instead. Also a good idea to get some old parts (the same) and test it.

 

 

[BarfolomewMog]

On 7/29/2023 at 10:11 PM, Project Black Brick said:

use a fine tip brush and apply light coats

 

On 7/30/2023 at 7:38 AM, MAB said:

more paint than dye, forming a rubbery like coat

 

 

Hose on the left had the vinyl dye applied with a fine point brush.

Bending and rubbing caused the paint to flake off just as you suggested.

Luckily a neighbour had an old can of the same stuff so I didn't have to buy any.

The middle hose has soaked for 2 days in a jar of vinegar based egg die that my talented wife uses to create her Ukranian Easter eggs each year.

I'm about to go interstate for a few days for work so I'll try some fabric dye when I get back.

In the meantime, I'll keep the middle hose in the dye to see how it goes.

Thank you both for your input!

 

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by BarfolomewMog

[BarfolomewMog]

Hello again!

So after an extra week of soaking, the hose remained unchanged from how it looked at the 2-day mark.

I ordered another 10 hoses from a local Bricklink store; see below for the ridiculous packaging by Pedro!

 

After a bit of research, I purchased a bottle of Rit DyeMore Synthetic Fiber Dye (for use on polyester, nylon and acrylic).

No true "black" colour exists in this range. The darkest colour available is "Graphite"

The normal ratio is 1 bottle to 6 gallons, so after a bit of conversion to the Metric system I decided on using around 300ml water and a splash of dye (probably around 5 ml).

The pair on the left are the result after half an hour of simmering/ boiling the dye mix.

The middle smiley hose is a genuine Lego black hose.

The pair on the right has had a further half hour in the dye but no visible difference to the first pair.

The thicker hose on the far right was originally LBG and this after an hour in the dye. It's turned a really dark bluish green.

It spent another hour in the dye when I threw the rest of the hoses in, but didn't get any darker. Looks kind of cool though.

In conclusion, this dye worked fantastically well on the clear plastic (It looks blacker than the genuine Lego part) but not so well on plastic with a preexisting colour.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by BarfolomewMog

[MAB]

They all look pretty good under those light conditions. Do the connections still work OK? With ABS bricks I found low temperatures (about 50C) but long times were better than short times and boiling.

[BarfolomewMog]

The connections are fine and I'm really happy with the end result.

Next, I'm going to try to darken up a couple of the fatter pearl gold hoses, probably check every 5 minutes so I don't over cook them.

I'll try a lower temperature as I lost at least two thirds of the liquid through evaporation in 30 minutes of simmering last time.

Might throw in a couple of clear windscreens as well just to see what happens.

Cheers