What is "vinyl paint"?

There are other companies who have inks that may work for your application like Boston Industrial Solutions. These guys have very good inks... Their silicone ink lines they have may work on your vinyl https://www.bostonindustrialsolutions.c ... -products/ The SE silicone inkline https://www.bostonindustrialsolutions.c ... icone-ink/ and DC silicone inks https://www.bostonindustrialsolutions.c ... icone-ink/

Thanks, the Dual Cure version looks promising since it can airdry. I'm going to have to email them for more info since the info is sparse on the page. Doesn't say how long it takes to air dry, or of it can be brushed on, though I'm guessing that's because no one uses it like that lol

Also, everyone go ask Leo Customs for info on his "vinilic paint", we need names and pictures so we know what we're looking for!

I got a reply from Nazdar:

"Our inks are designed to be applied by screen printing in a mass production environment. That said, I think an ink like our System 2 Gloss Vinyl Screen Ink could be thinned with an appropriate viscosity reducer such as our S230 Thinner and applied with a brush. You can find our Technical and Safety Data Sheets here: http://www.nazdar.com/en-us/P/2863/Syst ... Screen-Ink "

I checked out what they recommended and all the technical data is about the same as all the other stuff I've looked at, including the price, which is still insanely high since it comes in quarts/gallons.

I sent emails to Dubuit and Nazdar, two major manufacturers of screen printing inks, to see if they had any recommendations. Will check back in whenever...

After asking Leo Customs about the "vinilic paint" he uses, he said he gets it from print/silk screen shops. I did some research and found this ink/paint that seems perfect for painting action figures:

http://www.inkcups.com/printing-inks/sc ... fault.aspx

It works on PVCs, ABS, various other common toy plastics, etc. Looks like it's a two part paint, but it has like 8 hours working time so it's fine.

So, I emailed Inkcups Now, asking if it could be hand-painted or thinned (like silk-screeners sometimes do to adjust the viscosity for printing).

I didn't get answers to any of the questions I asked, instead I got:

"I have been in this business a very long time and never heard of anyone using our inks for painting. You want to purchase a sample kit and try it, that is entirely up to you.

This is the j3 ink series. You will need solvent and hardener."

Ok, the kits cost like $75 plus shipping though, so no thanks.

The search for paint continues...

@CustomKAT
Plastidip is a rubber coating, people use it to coat things like tool handles for added grip. You could also use it to make tendrils by dipping twist ties into it. Maybe you can make poseable capes if you dip wire mesh into it.

Nice tip about the tendrils! I'm not to the point of mucking about with it yet, was just something I came across on cosplay stuff and thought it might work well for painting the soft rubbery type accessories like capes and vests.

Minor update

Got an answer from 3 customer service reps, and while the info is frustratingly unspecific to what I asked them, it's still useful I guess. I asked them all if they could recommend anything that penetrated plastic, so it wouldn't scratch off, and could possibly be brushed on.

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Colorbond seems to be the same stuff as the VHT Dye I use, they responded:

"It is scraping off because the plastic is most likely Poly Ethelene and nothing will stick to that type of plastic...including [our LVP product]"

Feh. I don't know what plastic is used for the hard discs in the shoulders, but VHT Dye works if you sand it first (and pray).

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TCP Global usually knows what's up, I bought airbrush gear from them before and were helpful:

"We carry SEM’s Color Coat for plastic and vinyl which is a flexible coating, not a dye. However I don’t think it would be a good choice for your application due to the prep work that is involved for proper adhesion and also it doesn’t work out very well when brushed."

D'oh!

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The folks at this site have an informative FAQ:

https://www.vinyldye.co.uk/faq

https://www.vinyldye.co.uk/How-To-Use-Vinyl-Spray-Dye

An interesting bit of info

"IS VINYL DYE AVAILABLE IN BRUSH ON FORM?
No. However many customers have sprayed the contents of a can into a glass jar, then applied it, with success."

That's cool, but we have access to only a handful of colors.

Vinyl Dyes can be found in automotive stores. Limited colors, though

Yep, I wish VHT made more colors of their dye, it works great and I don't mind paying the $8 per can.

is it used to paint upon vinyl or it is made of vinyl as opposed to acrylic or enamel??? Is it used to paint upon leather??? (questions stirred from a quick ebay search.lol...)

Minor research: Apparently the "artist's vinyl paint" is made with vinyl emulsions instead of acrylic (whatever that means lol). Acrylics were made as an "upgrade" to those vinyl paints since acrylics are more durable.

So we're def not looking for "artist's vinyl paints", we're looking for "paint that penetrates into plastic, which is suitable for vinyl and action figures"

interesting it also seems like it might be too thick? I'd never heard of this b4 today

I'm sure there's a way to thin it, if not with water they likely make a thinning medium.

Anyway, as for the artist's vinyl paint maybe contact a sign shop, sound like something they might use or at least provide you with more information.

Thanks, will try a sign shop, though it's gonna be weird asking them about it without wanting to buy a sign

And everyone please feel free to do research too and post your findings, sometimes I feel like I'm just typing to myself lol

This whole thing is new to me. I just came across a product called Plastidip and was wondering how that might be put to use on figs.