Two words people, vinyl dye.
This week I want to talk to you all about the wonders of using vinyl dye to paint our customs. So what is vinyl dye?
Vinyl dye is generally an automotive product, a spray that when used, seeps into the surface by melting and bonding on a microscopic level, totally invisible to the naked eye. This results in a finish that, when properly cured, is virtually impervious to scratches, chips, paint rub etc.
Prep work is the same as normal painting, im sure you've all got you methods, I find that wax and grease remover does the trick, I also find it's easiest to break the figure down and spray all the parts individually, just be sure to give the dye enough time to cure properly.
Colors: This is one of the only issues with vinyl dye, colors are limited, so being that it is primarily used in automotive applications, unfortunately there are only about a dozen colors. Gloss & satin black, charcoal, light grey, white and tan are basically given in all brands, some do reds, blues, browns, and yellows.
The second and last issue, hard plastics. Vinyl dye will not work well on hard plastics, such as the joints of your action figures. For these harder plastics I would suggest using something like RIT dye, which you will be able to find numerous tutorials on if you jump on Google.
Where can someone buy this stuff!? Depending on what corner of the globe you're in, your best bet is probably going to be an automotive retailer, some larger hardware stores will also carry it, just check the paint sections.
Custom of the Week
This weeks custom of the week goes to Keded, son of Anubis by Dean Dokken.
Before iIgo any further, and before you read any further, if you dont know who Anubis is, hit up Google now. Did you do that? Good, ok now the figure speaks for itself, awesome finish and exceptional attention to detail.
The process undertaken is really impressive but the most impressive thing which I learnt whilst talking to Dean is that he hasn't been doing customs for very long, which to me just makes this already fine piece so much better, do yourself a favour and hit up his Facebook page, Dokken's custom figures, as there will no doubt be more to come.
And thats it guys and gals, until next week, keep it up.