Do It Yourself: Different color PMAGs and other polymer/plastic items - Page 5

danpass · #81 03-01-10, 21:02

nice, I like the 8 min dip myself

danpass · #82 03-01-10, 21:08

does anyone feel the Lessons Learned needs revision or more clarity?

SuicideHz · #83 03-01-10, 21:20

Not really. Just "have at it".

That's all I did.

I got the water up to a partial boil and turned the heat down to just over halfway (yeah, not technical I know) but it's not rocket science.

You can easily pick the parts out and check the color and put them right back or dump it into the sink to stop the process.

SuicideHz · #84 03-01-10, 22:13

E24K- yeah, I've always loved the TSB ever since I used it in 04 or so. I had painted an entire rifle- back when Travis was first on TOS and he told me he thought it was pretty cool. That really turned my cheeks red since I had a lot of respect for him.

Dan- Thanks. The 8min job is nicer for sure.

Tomorrow I will get a temp reading of the water when I stabilize it so you've got an exact recipe in case your a little hesitant- I know how it can feel.

BlueApocalypse · #85 03-01-10, 22:37

I came across this post earlier in the evening and was impressed. Not having to worry about spray paint, fumes, etc... what's not to like? (Especially when it's freezing cold outside and nowhere in side to paint.)

Anyways - I went out to Walmart and picked up some supplies. I had 4 OD Green PMags sitting around to be my helpless test subjects... and like any mad scientist I just dove in to the project; No measuring at all.

Supplies:
1x Exacto Knive
1x Rit Dye (Black)
1x Roll of Waterproof Tape (Not the medical kind)
1x Small bucket

Results (left to right) :

Mag1: Original Black Pmag
Mag2: OD Green Pmag dipped in black for about 5 minutes
Mag3: OD Green Pmag dipped twice with tape pattern at different intervals for different levels of black. Not the best but there's black, dark-dark grey-green and OD green.
Mag4: Original OD Green Pmag.

What I learned so far: When you apply the tape - use a sharp edge to press down all sides of each piece you use. If not, you'll get some bleeding.

michschi · #86 03-01-10, 22:42

But with tape numbers can be done

danpass · #87 03-01-10, 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueApocalypse

I came across this post earlier in the evening and was impressed. Not having to worry about spray paint, fumes, etc... what's not to like? (Especially when it's freezing cold outside and nowhere in side to paint.)

Anyways - I went out to Walmart and picked up some supplies. I had 4 OD Green PMags sitting around to be my helpless test subjects... and like any mad scientist I just dove in to the project; No measuring at all.

Supplies:
1x Exacto Knive
1x Rit Dye (Black)
1x Roll of Waterproof Tape (Not the medical kind)
1x Small bucket

Results (left to right) :

Mag1: Original Black Pmag
Mag2: OD Green Pmag dipped in black for about 5 minutes
Mag3: OD Green Pmag dipped twice with tape pattern at different intervals for different levels of black. Not the best but there's black, dark-dark grey-green and OD green.
Mag4: Original OD Green Pmag.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/656/sdc10709l.jpg
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4923/sdc10710l.jpg
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7541/sdc10711.jpg

What I learned so far: When you apply the tape - use a sharp edge to press down all sides of each piece you use. If not, you'll get some bleeding.

I still hadn't tried tape and had some casual thoughts about those digital paint kit templates. An idea was to do that or stripes of some type.

That looks great

.

eternal24k · #88 03-01-10, 23:00

very cool

SuicideHz · #89 03-01-10, 23:44

Ah DAMN! I had an idea similar to yours but without using tape.

I just may have to try it now to one-up you!!

I have a completely and STRANGE way of "masking" and I'm gonna have to "go there" now even though I was afraid to.

Good job though! I love this thread.

PS- I also have what I believe could prove to be an excellent way to reproduce ATACS (sp?) camouflage.

I just may have to try it out in order to outshine E24K for getting this process moving in the right direction...

BlueApocalypse · #90 03-01-10, 23:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by danpass

I still hadn't tried tape and had some casual thoughts about those digital paint kit templates. An idea was to do that or stripes of some type.

That looks great

.

Thanks! Wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for yourself and Eternal24k.

BlueApocalypse · #91 03-01-10, 23:56

Went out and got some of the red dye. Just playing around with what I've got. I have an idea for a multi-cam type pattern but I need to get a FDE pmag first.

SuicideHz · #92 03-02-10, 00:37

This is dangerous. I now hate this thread.

I have too much time on my hands with being recently laid off.

This is too much fun. Bad news is I only have two FDE Pmags to play with and 10 FG ones...

The black ones are no-go, right? I wonder what bleach and other chemicals would do...

Just kidding- anything harsh that gets into the polymers pores when heated could leave it brittle or weak and I don't want that.

I'm tempted to have a collection of a dozen Picasso-esque Pmags. You know- no two alike and all CRAZY looking.

Maybe not...

SuicideHz · #93 03-02-10, 00:50

Sorry Dan, I forgot to give you props for being the OP. I actually forgot you were the OP when you started asking questions again. Sorry. Thanks for the thread and the fun I'm having with this!

Gramps · #94 03-02-10, 00:53

BlueApocalypse

You did that Red on a Black mag correct? It broke up the black better than I expected. Looks good to me for a lite breakup.

BlueApocalypse · #95 03-02-10, 01:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gramps

BlueApocalypse

You did that Red on a Black mag correct? It broke up the black better than I expected. Looks good to me for a lite breakup.

Negative - that was my last OD Green Pmag that I dipped in a wine-red Rit for a good ten minutes. Took it out, dried it with a hair dryer, taped it up and re-dipped it for another 10 in black.

BlueApocalypse · #96 03-02-10, 02:09

I was just thinking that the Emag would be great for dipping with patterns. It's plain flat body would be perfect. To bad Magpul only has them in black at the moment.

BlueApocalypse · #97 03-02-10, 02:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuicideHz

This is dangerous. I now hate this thread.

I have too much time on my hands with being recently laid off.

This is too much fun. Bad news is I only have two FDE Pmags to play with and 10 FG ones...

The black ones are no-go, right? I wonder what bleach and other chemicals would do...

Just kidding- anything harsh that gets into the polymers pores when heated could leave it brittle or weak and I don't want that.

I'm tempted to have a collection of a dozen Picasso-esque Pmags. You know- no two alike and all CRAZY looking.

Maybe not...

I know what you mean man - I wish there was a pure white Pmag to work with. (UDE is the closest we'll get though)

SuicideHz · #98 03-02-10, 11:50

Magpul would be smart to start selling them in white. Some people would mate them with their DPMS winter guns and others would buy them in bulk to dye and resell...

SuicideHz · #99 03-02-10, 12:39

New information- did the floorplates for 4 minutes only and got the full color.

Next I did a mag body for 3 minutes and got full color.

Then I did a mag body for 2 minutes and got the full color- no discernible difference in shade.

I then put a follower back in for another 3 minutes- doubling it's time vs. the others with NO discernible difference.

So in summary, the color depth is dictated by the water/dye ratio and not length of time, provided you soak long enough for color penetration.

I was measuring the temperature and due to my gas burner, I was getting fluctuations and differences in different areas of the pot anywhere from 160 degrees to 190+ degrees. Funny thing is, there was a good amount of boil going on at 160 degrees even. Don't be afraid to BOIL the water with the RIT Dye in it. It seems to REALLY lower the boiling point of my city tap water- filtered water from Lake Michigan.

And I also did an FDE floorplate. YUCK. Cocoa is NOT FDE's friend. It's a chocolate brown like KG Gunkote Federal Brown which I had sprayed the rifle in then sanded off in prep for the TSB and DD FDE.

I continue on... reporting back soon...

SuicideHz · #**100** 03-02-10, 13:04

OK- first two mags were much darker than my covers. Just a grain or two too much dye it seems.

I took two cups of mixed water out and replaced it with two cups of clean water.

One mag was almost perfect match for TSB. Then the next two got a little darker- culprit was the boiling water. I had to add two more cups of hot water to get it back to 10 so I tried again with good results.

I'm going to experiment with the FDE mag. It's floorplate is ugly. We'll see what kind of nifty things we can do with the mag.