re-dyeing zombie heads

[rche]

Hiya folks,

Wanted to share another method of dezombie with you all.
I originally posted this in the thread Hotfoot posted about finding the zombies in the wild.

I had a couple of Jon zombies myself, so I took some before and after shots. The Jons were equally grey to start off with.

The original post and recipe follows the pics.

I would also note that I usually hit the head with some more soap and toothbrush scrubbing between dips to remove excess dye. The dips are only for a few seconds. Do not leave the head sitting in the dye or it will go redskin on you.

-rche








Quote:
Originally Posted by Hotfoot View Post
I was going to try the plasticdip method. What is the rit dye method?

Originally Posted by rche View Post
It is a redye of the head. I use a medical dropper to measure out dye and use the scarlet and yellow liquid dye to get a flesh tone. You can just use the scarlet. You don't want to put a bunch of dye in your water, as the dye acts pretty quickly and you want some control.

I use approx 1ml of the scarlet and .25 ml yellow in 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a simmer and place the head in. Use some tongs on the head as you just want to set it in the dye for a couple of seconds at a time. You need to make sure all of the zombie gets coated evenly, so turn the head under the dye with the tongs, pull it out, rinse with warm clean water and see how it is acting. Repeat until you have a color you like.

I should note, you need to clean the head thoroughly with mild soap (toothbrushes are good for this) before doing any dyeing.

Any exposed rubber will draw the dye. The dark painted areas, hair, eyes, eyebrows will not. Ponch's big smile might be slightly affected by the dye. There is a lot of white paint in there.

have a good time
rche

[fallensaviour]

I use to use that meathod when I worked in the eyeglass industry.Those are the same dyes we used.Works great I use to also use it for resin heads as well.(used more brown for resin)
Great stuff.

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

I had no idea about this method...thanks.

[Bizarro Amy]

Since several new degraying methods have been discussed recently, it will be interesting to see which effects last the longest. The only thing I still prefer about the plastidip method is that some gray heads start getting hard, and this somewhat reduces that. Is there any chance the dye will run onto clothing or turn gray again?

[rche]

hiya Del,

I have not noticed any dye moving off of the heads after they have dried. As for long term color hold; I am not sure. I have a Robin head I dyed about a year ago and it is still looking good. I would not suggest storing these guys in a sunny window or near a UV light source, but then you shouldn't really do that with any vintage item.

The rubber stays pliable after boiling and does not stiffen up the way it can when subjected to chemical dipping. The dye tends to absorb evenly all around as long as the head is submerged evenly and moved a bit. I have noticed one head that pulled the dye in unevenly and got a bit splotchy, but it was severly grey to begin with.

The dye works well on any uniformly mixed plastic or rubber. I started using this to recolor white casts rather than paint them tho the technique is a little different for that. So if you make a cast of a head and you want to start with a base color, you can dye it and then paint the accents and highlights. Again, dyeing from white (or other light color) resin or rubber takes a slightly different angle in the process. If the plastic is not homogeneous, i.e. has swirls or harder spots in the cast, you will have uneven color absorption tho.




Have a good time
rche

[Hotfoot]

That came out better than the Sharpie method. I will try that on another head I have.

[The Bat]

NICE!!