QUESTION Painting Vs Dyeing Hands

[Lord Mongo]

Kind of trying to get a concensus

The reason Dyeing seems to give mixed results while painting can match the paint scheme/colors on the head or costume.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Dyeing is a decent way of getting colurs for stuff that's gonna be handled a lot. The dye soaks into the material. 'Course, that only REALLY works on porous materials.... like the vinyl Mego heads. On rigid, or self oiling plastics it doesn't work so good 'cos the colour doesn't soak in. Paint works better; but doesn't stick so good to stuff like original Mego plastics. Heads either, sometimes. Any kind of thick, heavy paint will rub off a head, and can crack - even if sealed. (Differing temperatures will cause the material to expand and contract, which will crack more rigid paints and sealants.) For heads, you can use actual vinyl paints; which work awesome but come in very limited colours.

Your bestest bet is to get bodies in the colours you need, or cast repro parts in polyurethane and paint them. Most model-class RTV resins take paint really well. I usually cast and paint hands if I need them in odd colours. Painting originals WILL work, but most paints will rub and chip if the figures get played with a lot.

Don C.