Messing About With Hydro Dipping

[TWINSET]

Been using midi controllers for photo editing for a while now and fancied something that didn't look 'repurposed'

 

All the Hydro dipping kit came from https://www.hydrostyleuk.co.uk/
The most essential part after the design film is the Activator - this makes the transfer stick to the part

Their stock films; https://www.hydrostyleuk.co.uk/product-category/all-hydrographics-products/hydrographics-films/

They sell paints, top coats, primers etc. but my best paint results came from Tamiya primer and acylics.

 

The other parts;  a 48 litre 'Really Useful' box from HobbyCraft - cost £18 I think
Drain tap was from Amazon, £6.50
Need the drain tap as the box will weigh about 40 kilos when there's enough water in it and I'm not sure it's too portable at that point - both in terms of whether I can carry it without spilling it, and whether the box is actually strong enough to be moved when full of water.

The box is easily big enough to dip a Tamiya Sand Scorcher or even a Clodbuster or 1/10 Hilux body

 

 

That's pretty much it for kit

 

 

The whole process is very simple: if you're capable of painting a hard body this is a piece of cake - My hard body paint skills suck but even I got a reasonable outcome

 

These are test pieces, 'Speed Shapes - HydroStyle sell them 10 for £10

 

The design is matt when applied, any gloss comes from top-coat sprayed on once the part is dried off

 

 

The controller

 

First, sand off the original screen printing

 

Cover redundant holes and prime/paint.

 

The transfer I'm using is black and clear, so base coat shows through transfer

Painted the casing with Tamiya Plastic Primer, then top-coated with X8 Lemon Yellow acrylic paint, thinned with X20A Thinners, airbrushed on

 

Dipped casing - The dipping needs to be done a minute or so after placing the film on the water, so no pics of that, but plenty of Youtube vids on the subject

 

Gloss top-coat

 

 

And a trackball

 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by TWINSET

[.AJ.]

Very cool, the yellow and black looks brilliant 👌🏼

[Ag100]

Looks really good, would like to try this.👍

[TWINSET]

2 hours ago, .AJ. said:

Very cool, the yellow and black looks brilliant 👌🏼

 

Yeah, I been a fan for some time 😁

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Ag100 said:

Looks really good, would like to try this.👍

 

Give it a go - I thought it was some dark art but it's dead easy.

Get some speed shapes or old bodyshells to practice on before you commit

 

[GMballistic]

Very cool @TWINSET. 
I've done hydro dipping myself so know first hand it's actually not as easy as some YouTube videos will have you believe especially depending on the shape involved. 

This is a company I use for my bits if you ever go looking for some different film designs to try: https://www.aquagraphix.co.uk/

[Bajadre]

looks awesome twin bro great work man 👍