coloring plastics

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Custom coloring plastics is easy and it can help you get color combinations you can't buy anywhere. Often, you can make stuff that the fish respond to, simply because they haven't seen it before. But, don't get carried away and color up a bunch of good plastics. When you dye them, the colors sometimes run after awhile, especially when you do two tone jobs.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are two ways to color plastics. One is to use a dye, like the one below:[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]This stuff penetrates and colors the plastic all the way through. You can color light colored plastics darker, but you can't color dark colors light. And, if you are using a color dye, the end result will often be different than the color of the dye. For example, if you try to color a chartreuse plastic jig purple, the end result will be anywhere from red to burgundy. Some of those colors are good.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I like to start with white, glow, clear sparkle or smoke sparkle and then dye them to get the combos I want. They are neutral enough to come out fairly close to the color of the dye.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The other way to change the color on plastic is to use a "worm paint". [/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]As the label implies, this stuff goes on the top of the plastic and does not dye it. It is good for adding spots, dots, stripes, eyes, etc.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As has also been mentioned, you can use a good permenant marker pen to do the same thing. I use red, blue, black and purple to create contrasting stripes, dots and accents.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the way, you can get either the plastic dye or paint at Barlows. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am attaching some pics of my setup and the results.[/#0000ff]
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