Hello! I wanted to share my process for dyeing then painting White Strong & Flexible dice. I ordered four sets:
Steampunk Gear Dice by Avandius:
https://www.shapeways.com/model/636461/steampunk-gear-dice-se t.html?li=productGroup&materialId=6
Thorn Dice by Ceramic Wombat:
https://www.shapeways.com/model/126266/thorn-dice-set-with-de cader.html?li=curatedproductGroup&materialId=6
Cage Dice by Ceramic Wombat:
https://www.shapeways.com/model/134457/cage-dice-set-with-dec ader.html?li=productBox-search
Pinwheel Dice by Ceramic Wombat:
https://www.shapeways.com/model/131127/pinwheel-dice-set-with -decader.html?li=productBox-search
(Yes I'm a little obsessed by dice
)
When they arrived, I soaked them in water with a little dish soap, and scrubbed them with a toothbrush. After rinsing them I soaked them in water overnight: This stops the dice from floating to the top when you put them in the dye bath later on.
Next, I used Jacquard iDye Poly fabric dye in black:
https://www.jacquardproducts.com/idye.html
I used about half the dye packet and all the intensifier divided between two ceramic bowls of boiled water. I put two dice sets into each bowl then used a plastic fork to stir them. After 6 to 7 minutes, I popped each bowl into the microwave (I didn't bother removing the dice because it'd be too messy) for one minute to get the water steaming. I microwaved twice.
In total, it took about 20 minutes to dye. I think it could have taken less time since the dice were already a dark black after 10 minutes but I wanted to be sure the dice were thoroughly saturated! Word to the wise though: Make sure you protect the surfaces, and yourself, while dyeing. Even though I was super careful about spills I still ended up splattering a little dye outside of the bowls.
I rinsed them in warm water: Be careful because the dice are HOT coming out of the dye. Then I soaked them in clean boiling water for another 10 minutes or so. A lot of excess dye leached out so I do recommend the extra soak so you don't end up with dye rubbing off on your hands.
Once they had dried overnight, I mixed metallic acrylic paints with black (about 1/3 black to 2/3 metallic since the black really darkens the metal colors) and dry brushed a first coat onto the dice. I did two sets in silver and the other two in gold. I used CraftSmart Black, Dazzling Metallics in Glorious Gold and Dazzling Metallics in Shimmering Silver (all from Micheals, $3-4 per bottle). I used a cheap brush from the Dollar Store. The paint soaked right into the dice, even with a water based acrylic, and dried right away! I did get paint all over my fingers but it was easily removed with a quick scrub in soapy water.
Once the dark metallic had dried I used a lighter metallic to dry brush again, this time a much lighter coat to only pick up the highlights. To finish I used the pure metallic shade (no black added) on the numbers to give a last highlight.
Overall I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! Next time, I might do a blackwash (real watered down paint) over the entire dice surface using mostly black with a touch of the metallic, so that I can get a hint of a metallic sheen to the insides of the dice. Some of the sets are latticed so you do see the inside pieces: They look fine with the black dye but having a little shimmer would have been really cool
I'm now totally obsessed with Shapeways now, I will definitely be ordering more items in the future to paint and dye.
Here are pics as I went along. This first one is how the dice arrived in white as I was brushing them in soapy water: