How to Dye Wheels

[M pro 38]

As I have my dyeing info in my Avante Black special post I thought I would make a new one with just info on how to Dye your wheels

Lets start

You will need to get some Rit dye in the colour that you would like to dye your wheels

Remember you can’t dye your wheels a lighter colour. "get Rit dye only! Ebay has plenty of colours"

1 make sure your wheels are clean and free from any dirt “new wheels are the best to use”

2 Make sure you have covered up anything you do not want to get dye on as once it’s on it’s on

I have my setup as pictured

The Dye pot will forever be from now on your dye pot… do not try to use this for food again!

Water tray is used for lifting the wheels out the dye and having a place to give them a wash to see if there dyeing ok

Setup your wheels so there lifted from the bottom of the pot as we do not want any warping “a quick trip to the garden and I had this setup”

3 start to bring the water to the boil, once boiled add the dye to the water and mix in “how much your need depends on the colour of the wheels and the colour of the dye”

I find that dyeing white wheels black takes more dye about 3/4 of a pack and longer cooking time 50 minutes to get them really black, but the red dye only takes 1/4 of a pack and only 5 minutes dyeing time.

4 Add wheels to the pot for cooking and keep them under the dye

5 every now and then take all the wheels out and put them in the water tray to make sure there dyeing ok “ taking them all out at the same time will also make sure they dye evenly across all the wheels” if the colour is not ready yet re-add to the dye.

6 Once you are happy with the colour remove all the wheels from the water tray and wash under a tap and then dry

Once dried off you are done

So fare I have dyed 5 sets of wheels, 3 new sets for show and 2 for running

Show wheels

And to come

Hope this helps someone

Update!

The only wheels in this pic that have not been dyed are the pink wheels

Really liking the oringe wheels

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

That's pretty cool. The wheels you showed look great.

-Paul

[bakaguyjean 7]

You can also dye natural FRP and anything else plastic. Here in Japan I can get "Dylon" dye,it comes from England and is a power form of dye that works really well.

I have been dyeing wheels,servo savers and uprights along with natural FRP. It ties the whole chassis together.

[mr crispy 2293]

Great tutorial M pro, I've got the give this a go soon. When you're finished do you keep the used dye for another session? Ive read some people can get 2-3 times out of them.

[apsilon 0]

You can also dye natural FRP and anything else plastic. Here in Japan I can get "Dylon" dye,it comes from England and is a power form of dye that works really well.

I have been dyeing wheels,servo savers and uprights along with natural FRP. It ties the whole chassis together.

You can dye uprights? I was under the impression that the Tamiya parts other than wheels couldn't be dyed. I was actually planning on dyeing some wheels tomorrow so if uprights and knuckles etc can be done I'll do those as well for my new Super Hotshot as I don't really want the few red parts.

[bakaguyjean 7]

You can dye uprights? I was under the impression that the Tamiya parts other than wheels couldn't be dyed. I was actually planning on dyeing some wheels tomorrow so if uprights and knuckles etc can be done I'll do those as well for my new Super Hotshot as I don't really want the few red parts.

You can do them but it needs to be a darker color. I normally do the uprights that are like the ones on The Hornet. Hot Shot red might be hard to cover with anything other than black. You can just test part or the cut of tree that holds the parts. You do understand this is only shin deep,if it scratches the color under will show.

[Kevin_Mc 411]

I didn't know you could get Rit dye in any colour other than black so I've had to paint some wheels silver. I'll be looking on eBay and getting them done properly. Thanks for the guide!

EDIT - cant find any silver Rit dye, had anyone mixed them to get silver? I read that 1/2 grey with 1/4 black and 1/4 navy blue will give silver but I dunno if I want to try it.

[apsilon 0]

You can do them but it needs to be a darker color. I normally do the uprights that are like the ones on The Hornet. Hot Shot red might be hard to cover with anything other than black. You can just test part or the cut of tree that holds the parts. You do understand this is only shin deep,if it scratches the color under will show.

Thanks, I'll do some testing today as the wheels I'm going to do will be black and that's what I want for the rest of the parts. I was going to paint them so that would scratch and show anyway so not too concerned if dye does the same, I just didn't think it'd take at all.

Kevin_Mc, I've never seen silver dye. Closest I think you could come would be a light grey. If you want a nice silver then paint is you're best bet.

EDIT: The red parts don't work. I tested a piece of the sprue while doing the wheels and it came out slightly darker but definitely still red. Maybe 2 or 3 packs of dye in as little water as possible might get somewhere but I doubt it.

[eriknyg 2]

I'll do this, or dye trying!

Thanks a lot!

[M pro 38]

First post updated with one more pic with more dyed wheels

[simondo 0]

I`m really impressed by your results, thanks for the update

I will be giving it a try in the near future

[apsilon 0]

They look great. I can see in your pics that the light weight Avante wheels (I think that's what they are) have a good vibrance and more of a gloss finish than the other wheels. I noticed the same thing when doing mine last weekend. Twosets of wheels, similar if not the same finish yet once died the Avante wheels had a higher gloss.

Can you tell me if the lemon yellow is noteably lighter than the yellow Tamiya shocks? I think it is but hard to tell the true shade in pics sometimes.

[Will16 45]

Sounds like a great method. I've been trying to find a decent turtorial for ages!!

Quick Q-Can you dye yellow to red???

[skip665 169]

Necropost alert!!

Had a go at this over the weekend on some M-Chassis wheels - removed the chrome first using Mr Muscle Oven Cleaner - it went well but I have learnt not to boil the wheels in the pan - even using the stick method as I had to throw a set out as they are now nicely warped! Still, live and learn

[XV Pilot 1936]

I have successfully dyed numerous sets of wheels without boiling them. Far safer and less likely to lead to warping! My method is as follows:

1.

Bring a kettle of water to the boil, and once boiled, pour into a disposable plastic container.

2.

Add your choice of Dylon dye to the water, and mix well.

3.

Place wheels in the dye/water mix, ensuring full submersion with no air bubbles clinging to the wheels (as these would lead to light patches).

4.

Place container in a microwave oven, and warm it for a minute on full every 5 minutes or so, in order to keep the water warm without it getting excessively hot.

5.

Check intensity of colour periodically, and remove wheels from dye when satisfied.

6.

Rinse, dry and enjoy!

[wood5tock 864]

Tried this myself to great results for SHII, although one of my Jack Rusells did get a orange splodge from somewhere when I was doing them...

[JeepnMike 150]

Word to the wise.. Never ever use anything like tongs to pick up a wheel out of the dye pot. Your wheel WILL end up warped. In fact, I wouldn't use any method other than what the OP suggested for lifting a wheel out of the dye pot. They are really soft when they are in the boiling water. I managed to ruin two sets of brand new wheels this way

Great post with excellent details!

[Vrdetailing 1241]

Does this only dye the surface ? I have painted lots of wheels with sucess including flip paint.

[XV Pilot 1936]

The dye penetrates a tiny bit, so it is not just the surface that is coloured. Light scratches don't show, but heavier ones do.

[chevelle 997]

I know this is an old thread but "Great Write Up" I called past my local craft supplies store tonight and found they have a good range of the RIT stuff

[mr crispy 2293]

If you can't find it locally this UK seller has a good range of colours and less than £3.50 delivered!

I'm going to try this green out on my Maverick Scout project

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=321215518878&globalID=EBAY-GB

[mr fog 22]

well glad i found this.