[REQUEST] LEGO Dye Color Guide

[Hidronax]

Hello everybody,

I'd like to recolor some Bionicle pieces to make some 2003 style Matorans (Kongu, Tamaru, Onepu, Damek). However, because there are socket balls articulations involved, I thought it might be better to dye the parts instead of painting them.

I've seen some videos about dyeing LEGO using Rit dye (this video was most helpful).
I was wondering, though, if anybody ever made a guide on how to obtain results as close to the actual LEGO colors as possible (brands, ratio dye/water, timing etc).

I'm mostly interested in Teal, Purple (the old one, prior to 2004) and Lime, but I think any information would be interesting for the community.

Thanks!

Edited July 14, 2020 by Hidronax

[MAB]

Colours after dyeing  will vary significantly based on time, temperature, hardness of water, etc. It also depends on the part - minifigure hands, for example, don't take dye anywhere as easily as bricks. I think you'd have to do your own tests for the parts you want to dye.

 

[Hidronax]

Oh... I hoped dyeing could be the closest thing to having the elements in a different colour... Maybe I will just try painting or, more likely, give up.
Since it's discontinued pieces that I'd like to recolour, I don't have many I can experiment with.

I wish Lego gave us the chance to buy pieces in new colours, they kind of have a responsibility since they're the only ones who can produce these pieces.

[MAB]

The only colour I managed to reliably match to LEGO's colour palette by dying was black! You can get close to some colours, but I found it was best to dye for a minute, remove the part, let it cool and dry it, check it, dye again, and repeat multiple times until a close match was found. It is also strongly dependent on the original colour, of course, so starting from a white part is more likely to give better results unless you want to go to black.

 

 

[JaBaCaDaBra]

17 hours ago, Hidronax said:

they're the only ones

Nowadays there is something called 3D printing.

[Hidronax]

On 7/16/2020 at 9:58 AM, MAB said:

The only colour I managed to reliably match to LEGO's colour palette by dying was black! You can get close to some colours, but I found it was best to dye for a minute, remove the part, let it cool and dry it, check it, dye again, and repeat multiple times until a close match was found. It is also strongly dependent on the original colour, of course, so starting from a white part is more likely to give better results unless you want to go to black.

Yeah, that sounds sensible. I was hoping I could use someone else's experience without to make my own.

On 7/16/2020 at 10:03 AM, JaBaCaDaBra said:

Nowadays there is something called 3D printing.

Well, matching the exact colour with 3D printing would be just as hard as painting/dyeing to be fair, and the quality of the piece would be noticeably inferior (in both looks and durability).

Making silicone casts like user Socketball's Custom Masks on Instagram can get you satisfactory results, but it's a much more tricky technique to master, especially if the piece you want to make is not a mask.
Also of course, making silicone molds requires expertise/experience, time, space, materials and a fairly big investment. The silicone and resins are quite expensive, especially because you can pretty much only bulk buy, and to get the best results you also need a pressure pot, which is more $$$.

I like Bionicle, but only to a certain extent :D