Dyeing Nylon Parts

A simple, yet effective, trick to dress up an RC vehicle is to dye any white nylon parts a color that compliments the rest of the model. This is very common with wheels, as dyed rims don't show damage like chrome-plated wheels do. The dye not only coats the outside of the nylon part, but soaks inside it as well, providing a long lasting color that will outlive most other finishes.

For the project below, I'm Dyeing a couple of nylon bellcranks, but any plain nylon wheel such as the RPM Monster Claws can be used as well. Below is a picture of the bellcranks I will be Dyeing in this example.

Aside from the part to be dyed, you'll also need some RIT dye in the particular color you want. You can find RIT dye with the laundry detergent at most stores. If you want to experiment with colors, it is possible to mix dye colors together to try and create a custom color.

The first thing you need to do is to boil some water. While you are waiting for the water to boil find yourself an old bowl or tupperware container. Make sure it's big enough to allow the whole part to be submersed in the water and dye solution it will contain. Do not use something good, as it's possible the dye will affect it as well.

Once the water has boiled pour enough water into your container to allow the part to be fully covered when it's placed inside it. Next add some dye to the water. The exact amount will depend upon the amount of water you've used and your tastes. The more dye you add, the quicker the part will darken. Stir the dye so that it is completely dissolved in the water.

Next you'll want to place the nylon part in the Dyeing solution. Keep in mind that you will need to pull it out a few times to check on the actual color of the part. I used a ziptie passed through the hole in the bellcrank, as a way to pull the part out to examine how the Dyeing process is going. This may work on some wheels as well. Another suggestion would be a bent clothes hanger or a piece of stiff wire.

Check your part every few minutes by pulling it out of the solution to see if it's reached the desired color. Keep in mind that the part will be slightly darker when it's dry. So you'll want to pull it out of the solution a little earlier than you might think you need to.

Be careful of where you place the part while drying. I suggest hanging it up so that the dye doesn't soak into what it's lying on. Once the part is dry, you'll be rewarded with a nicely colored set of wheels or whatever you decided to dye. In my case, it was bellcranks!

Another example of this procedure is a set of stock wheels I dyed for a Venom Mini-Giant. This time around I picked up a bottle of the liquid concentrated dye, as this was the only way the store carried the tangerine color I wanted to use. Regardless of whether you use the powder or the liquid, the overall procedure is the same. I did find that the liquid is easier to work with.

I grabbed an old margarine tub to use for the dye solution, which works very well for smaller wheels. You could do a couple larger wheels at one time, but would need something larger for four at a time. If you're restricted to using two, keep track of the time used for each batch so that they remain in the solution the same length of time and end up the same color depth.

I first boiled some water on the stove. Then I poured the boiling water into the margarine tub, and added roughly three capfuls of concentrate to the boiling water. Once the water was stirred up, I placed the wheels in the tub. I used a few zip ties through the axle holes as a handle to drop them into the solution, and to help me remove them when it was time.

I left the wheels in the solution about a total of 8 minutes, and them pulled them out. Please not that there is an old magazine under the paper towels. The dye will bleed through the paper towels, so you should take proper steps to avoid staining items such as the kitchen counter or table.

Allow the wheels to sit until they are dry, and then insert them into the tires. Once that's completed you can install them onto the RC vehicle they are intended for.

If you're wanting to use a color that's not available on the shelf, you can mix colors to achieve what you're after. For more information regarding this, consult the Rit Custom Color Chart.