Rigging dye

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Hello Sos fellows and ladies. I am building the Mantua Victory kit. It has light beige rigging as this model was designed for a wood finish. I have painted mine and need to dye some rigging black? Can you use Indian ink?
 
Hey Grant. I have experimented with oil based paints (umber gives a nice dark brown/not quite black result). Cut it with maybe 50% linseed oil or tung oil. Need to let it dry a while. I have abandoned that technique in favor of another as I am looking for a different look - but you might find it works for your needs/expectations.
 
GrantTyler,

I encounter the same situation sewing the sail for my Galilee boat.
I needed a semi-dark brown rope and the way I dyed my rope was by mixing some acrylic colors.
Here you can see the results, the natural color rope is the one on the left and the results of using acrylic colors is the rope in the right.
The second picture is just to compare thickness because I was undecided which thickness to use.
I finally chose the thinner rope to be used as my boltrope and preceded to tint it with the acrylic mixture.

IMG_1004.jpgIMG_1012.jpg
 
Colouring or dyeing line to fit the need is always an option. There are several great methods cited here...true India ink being my favorite for black. Another option is to set aside the beige line and invest in a bunch of new rigging line in the cooler needed...in this case black. Black is a tricky "colour" to dye as many methods tend to grey out rather than set up a dark true black. I found that buying new rigging thread very helpful and time saving. Set aside the beige line for another model down the road. Builds up the "stash" as one would say. :)
 
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I avoid all the mess with liquid dyes and run the line under the felt tip of a Sharpie permanent black marker. For heavy line it takes several passes but I have used this method for years and it works well for me.
 
Aschi,
As a matter of fact this my guiding video when I satred sewing my sail.
This lady is a MASTER MODEL BUILDER.
I have seen all of her videos.
 
I find a die works better than a paint for coloring lines. Paint is thicker and seems to brittle for lines, while a die colors the line while not becoming brittle. I have used RIT, tea and acrylic paste diluted and all worked. As started earlier black is hard to color.
 
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