SUMMARY:


(My pics will be back up soon.)

Edit: 5-13-16.  Only pic I could find:

The dark orange was FDE dip in an entire solution of Rit Orange powder.  In real life it is almost burgundy, Yep, too much.

The more golden/brown/orange-y mags are also FDE but with a more measured application of orange lol.

Then two FDE mags for comparison. (the last two are foliage green.  terrible for color dyeing )

As of 2016 Magpul's "SAND" color is nearly white in reality.  Easier to get the color you want.



IMG_20160513_231453 by Dan Passaro, on Flickr







<Link Removed....................dpmmn>




Ingredients:

Rit Dye (Walmart bleach section [not crafts section], shoe shine area from my local Winn Dixie grocery store are the places I've found Rit Dye.)




FDE PMAG



Lessons learned:

Both amount of dye and amount of time factor into the color change so try to do everything at the same time.
I did one PMAG first and then the other the next day and was really, really, really close in a color match. I ended up leaving it in the solution about 30 seconds longer than I should have.
If you end up doing more later on, dip in increments until you get the match.


Bring water to a near boil instead of an actual boil.
My first PMAG tests were in boiling water and while there doesn't appear to be any actual function issues I figured it would be best not to push it lol.


FDE is the best host color to get the color you're looking for. Yellow rit dye on foliage green simply resulted in a darker, puke green.


Add dye to the water until you are just slightly darker than the color you're after.
The brick red PMAG is a result of adding the whole sunshine orange packet to 6 cups of water lol. The lighter, more orange PMAG was the second attempt using that little tip.


Use stainless steel pots and tongs for easy cleanup.




To be investigated:

Rit Dye is available in white. I'll be trying this out on FDE to lighten it up and then follow with orange/whatever to see what happens. Never found it.




Some pics showing the penetration of the dye:

It is just penetrating into the material. Just to clarify some heat is needed to help penetration.







======================================
ROUND 3

Looks like FDE is the best host color and Orange is better than Yellow for getting closest to orange.

There is a White Rit Dye but they didn't have any in stock. Here is a sample from Walmart. They're not in the crafts section (there is a different dye there but the employee said the Rit is superior) but in the bleach section.

I bought several colors this time for other stuff.

One day I'll try white and then follow up with orange/whatever















======================================
ROUND 2:

I got away from boiling and dipping. I got the water to almost boil and then took it off the stove. Just in case (ref: the plastic).

Just hot/hot water and let it sit for about 5-7 min. Again just in case lol.

This time I added powder until it became like orange bug juice.

Not enough in the result.

So a little more until it was closer to red bug juice.


Result:

Camera color balanced off an 18% gray card.





Conclusion:

I have another FDE PMAG and two FG PMAGs. Yellow RIT Dye tomorrow
















===================================

ROUND 1:

This was khaki with Sunshine Orange. So next time I'll do Yellow on Foliage PMAG

Boil water in SS pot, mix in one packet (or less), drop in parts for 5 min or less, while stirring with stainless tongs (ideally). The stainless cleans up easiest.

Remove and rinse under cold water for a bit.









Intersting factoid, reference: delrin.  Not a material I've seen used in polymer parts.  Just interesting

dupont pdf http://plastics.dupont.com/plastics/pdflit/americas/delrin/230323c.pdf

I'm not sure why you did it, but it looks darn good!

Thanks (I was going for orange lol)

Because a few of us have the factory limited run orange Pmags... and others want some too and they no longer produce orange.  They are my range/training mags.  Harder to lose if orange and marked as mine on shared ranges.

BTW... good job!

I have a dummy AR built on a 80% lower into a non-gun, and I intend to get a MOE set in that color and dye it red.

pretty freakin cool bro

Looking forward to the yellow experiment.  If that goes well, the wife wants to know how to make pink Pmags.

very nice.. Good work there man

ETA: how long did the two mags take to complete?

less than 5 min.


I started with one of the dust covers and found that it takes a bit of time for the dye to take to the plastic, even if the water is very hot.  BOILING water seems to be the key for speed.

TIP:  Add the dye to the water until you basically have the color you want.  I added the whole thing and the mix was just as dark as you see in the pic.  Less dye would have given a closer desired color.

No warping or distortion from the boiling water?

none noted

come on try some more we need more color experiments

lol

waiting for some more PCLIPs.


The rest I have are black

where did you pick up the dye?

I have seen it at Walmart.  If you have a store near you that sells cloth and sewing supplies, they probably carry Rit dye.  It is commonly used to dye cloth, but some plastics can be dyed using it.

ust be careful using them anywhere with red dirt looks like they would blend in with virgina red dirt

Same process used to dye the HK grey rifles to black or other colors.  Most "nylons" will take Rit dye pretty easily.

I doubt it will be possible to get any "bright" colors like pink, but reds (maroon), greens, blues, purples, and other medium to dark colors should be possible starting with a tan mag.

This particular stash I got at Winn Dixie.  It was in the 'shoe shine' area.

Now if Magpul would just sell some undyed "In The White" PMags anyone can have any color they want.

I wonder what would happen with black mags and a green?  I have 10 I got for $8.99 per...

I guess when I get home I'll find out!

That is cool as hell!

I'm gonna have to try that!

Great idea.

I bought a few colors, and mix and match the bottom plates, etc.  Black and OD, OD and FDE, etc.  You can also do it with MIAD grip components to give them a unique look.

That's what I was thinking when I first saw the thread.  As mentioned, getting several of the covers to get just the right color desired. Then, BAMM, a full rifle trimmed in Pimptastic Purple.

Amount of dye and time in the bath are both factors in getting the desired color.  I just did the second FDE sniper clip to match the first one and its really, really close.  If I had removed the assembly 30 seconds sooner I would have had a perfect match.  Fortunately its really, really close lol.

I haven't come up with a formula.  I plan to get several dust cover packs for some testing

aannnnnddddddd TAG

- Clint

I want pink for my little girl's rifle...
 

For those looking for light colors (such as pink) I'm guessing that even the light pink on FDE would be dark.  I'm casually keeping an eye out for Rit Dye white.

I would eventually try that and follow up with the lighter colors on the same clipazine.

That would be called "bleach"....

I believe Rit makes a "dye remover" of sorts though - you can try it, but I am not sure how well it will work on mags, or if it will work at all.

The coloring process is the same as with clothes - you can never get any lighter than the base color you start with.  The only way to get lighter or brighter colors will be with paint - unless of course MagPul decides to do a run of PMags in a white or very light gray (hint, hint, hint, HINT, HINT, HINT).

Speaking of bleach..... has anyone tried putting a bleach solution on FDE and leaving it in the sun for a bit?  I would think too much bleach might make things brittle but a weaker solution may get the FDE color toned down enough to use RIT in lighter colors.

UDE from Larue?

Jester

That middle mag on the keyboard looks close to the color of the SCAR mags.

So that was a FDE mag plus orange?

yes.

the brick red was FDE with the entire packet of orange

the copper/rust FDE was with a more restrained amount of orange lol

will this work on Cavalry Arms lowers

too answer any questions, windows come out just fine, I did some plum/chocolate
pmags today,

I plan on doing another batch with some XTM panels soon and less dye, these were done for 15-20 seconds :eek:


Next batch I am going to try and match with the color of this receiver

Wow, good job, that plum looks graavy

oh hell yeah I gottta have a plum AR

That is bad ass.

haha,
I just ordered CTR, MIAD, and MOE, I am going to do a lightweight plum build

haha,
I just ordered CTR, MIAD, and MOE, I am going to do a lightweight plum build

ETA:
fixed the plum batch and got a nice dark earth, I call it "Combat Chocolate"

tag

combat chocolate (much better than the plum)

love the idea! just went and bought some dye, did my fde furniture in brown. looks great I think!

looks good,
which brown did you use?

very nice

details?  how  much water, how hot, how much dye (and which dye exactly, there is tan and two browns that I've seen), what did you put them in ....

(looks like all done at the same time)

I used dark brown liquid rit. I dipped them 30 times a peice. I did a pmag to try it initially but left iy in too long and it came out really dark combat chocolate. by the way I hope you don't mind me using that moniker, I will give you the credit for the name. dipped also a foliage green xtm panel and it came out almost O.D., now I wat to dye everything! cant wait to see what other colors I can do. Thanks for the awesome idea!

Sorry, little more detail. mixed just under half a bottle of liquid RIT with a gallon of water. brought it to just below a full boil and poured it into a $2.00 1 gallon plastic coolaid jug. tied a string around each part and seperately dipped them 30 times a eice and them immediatly rinsed in water in the bathroom sink, dried with a towel, no residue, no staining and right back on the rifle , all in under 20 min!

Hey,
you can use the moniker all you want, I am all about the CC Brown, can't wait to do my CTR.
I think I like the dark brown better than the cocoa brown

I know EXACTLY what you mean!

I have cocoa and dark browns and I'm going to do a khaki boonie hat and khaki gloves ............. since no one wants to sell true coyote brown we'll have to do it ourselves