Coloring translucent plastic (canopies)

Forgive me if this question has been asked numerous times before, but I looked through all of the pages and didn't find an answer to my question.

I'm new to customizing vehicles and such and so far I've stayed away from vehicles w/ canopies b/c I didn't want to paint them a solid color or leave them as is since it would clash most of the time.

I've got a few ideas that I'd like to execute on, but the existing color of the canopies are halting me at the moment. Just wondering if there was a translucent film that could be wrapped around the canopies to give them a different color...or something similiar. Push comes to shove I may just paint them solid (it didn't look too bad w/ I photoshopped them), but I'd prefer to have a blue tint on the canopies.

Thanks in advance!

Tamia makes a series of Translucent paints...I got mine at a Hobby Town USA.

I've also had luck with dying some Canopys. I tinted a Raven Pod from Red to a Dark black. (I made it to match the Sky Raven canopy.) It's still transparent when you hold it up to the light

Hey, I often look in the archives without luck and ask a question only to be linked to the page I missed . Nobody here has ever yelled at me for it, so don't worry about. It usually ends up causing the topic to be rediscussed and new info brought to light.

As for your question, I would think trying rit dye. I would test it on a broken junk canopy first to see if it works to the desired effect. I would try it with a lower temperature to reduce the risk of warping the plastic. This would be my first thought as I have some experiance with rit dye and have all the materials needed. However, you could also try certain paints. I don't have any of the special effects paint other than glow-in-the-dark (which are pretty see through, actually), so you might want to ask if anyone has experiance with transpanent or see through paint, and if they could advise you on what kinds would work for your project.


Edit: Posted before seeing above post.

Tamia makes a series of Translucent paints...I got mine at a Hobby Town USA.

I've also had luck with dying some Canopys. I tinted a Raven Pod from Red to a Dark black. (I made it to match the Sky Raven canopy.) It's still transparent when you hold it up to the light

Thanks for the suggestion. I've got a Hobby Town USA not too far from where I work...I'll have to stop by and check those paints out.

Double Post - Sorry

Forgive me if this question has been asked numerous times before, but I looked through all of the pages and didn't find an answer to my question.

I'm new to customizing vehicles and such and so far I've stayed away from vehicles w/ canopies b/c I didn't want to paint them a solid color or leave them as is since it would clash most of the time.

I've got a few ideas that I'd like to execute on, but the existing color of the canopies are halting me at the moment. Just wondering if there was a translucent film that could be wrapped around the canopies to give them a different color...or something similiar. Push comes to shove I may just paint them solid (it didn't look too bad w/ I photoshopped them), but I'd prefer to have a blue tint on the canopies.

Thanks in advance!

FW,

I had this same problem last year. I had tried using the clear Tamiya paints but I didn't like the end product.

Anyway, I happened to look through the old group projects section and found a submission with a clear red canopy.

I contacted the submitter (BadAsh) and it turns out he used a Krylon Stained Glass Spray Paint for the canopy. I happened to find a bottle at my local Michael's store. I tried it and it works wonders. Here is the link of what the bottle looks like. Hope it helps. Keep us posted.

http://www.krylon.com/main/product_temp ... ct_details

I had this same problem last year. I had tried using the clear Tamiya paints but I didn't like the end product.

Anyway, I happened to look through the old group projects section and found a submission with a clear red canopy.

I contacted the submitter and it turns out he used a Krylon Stained Glass Spray Paint for the canopy. I happened to find a bottle at my local Michael's store. I tried it and it works wonders. Here is the link of what the bottle looks like. Hope it helps. Keep us posted.

http://www.krylon.com/main/product_temp ... ct_details

I recently did the same thing. The results are great!

Tamia makes a series of Translucent paints...I got mine at a Hobby Town USA.

They do???

Man, how did I miss that! I gotta get me some of them!