Plastic Fury Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I decided I wanted to use the canvas 3+1 shoulder pouch and the leather Stolla Wien style leather pouch for my hip (still searching for that). I found a few different canvas pouch options on the internet before settling on to this one. http://www.ima-usa.com/product_info.php/products_id/325 You get the pair for a pretty good price, I am sure i'll figure out something for the other one lol. Anyway, I chose to get them in the green (Wermacht), you could also pick up them up in the blue (Luftwaffe) as I am sure that would dye black very easily as well. I have seen a few different methods used but had not seen a dyed one yet (probably missed that somewhere lol). I have used the RIT dye before with good results and figured I would do it again. I picked up two boxes of Rit black dye and grabbed a couple of buckets and went at it this afternoon. You can pick up the Rit dye at Wal*Mart, craft stores like Michael's or even some grocery stores in the clothing detergent aisle. It's usually less than two bucks for a box of powder and you should grab two. The directions recommend two boxes for dark dye and for that price, no reason not to. When I got them I decided to wear down the straps first. I rolled them up to get some good wrinkles in the leather and then scuffed them up with some sand paper. Just want a good worn look to it. I also decided to put a pair of holes in the canvas. I just used a small x-acto razor and cut a small slit. I then picked at it a little bit to fray the edges, saw this on a real vintage MP40 canvas pouch and loved it, so I decided to replicate that on mine, but not too much. Comparison of the worn straps vs. the new straps on the right; When you are going to dye the pouch, follow the directions on the box, it's pretty simple. I choose to use two buckets and a slop sink. REMEMBER this stuff will dye just about anything, so if it splashes on something, chances are it's getting darker than it was lol. If you don't have a slop sink or some place you don't care about, I would suggest doing this outdoors with buckets. I have cats so I have a large amount of empty litter buckets on hand at any given time, they work great for stuff like this. You will start by washing the pouch a bit. I just ran it under some warm water and soak for a few minutes. I then wrung it out a few times. It clouded up the water pretty fast so I repeated that a few times to get rid of any chemicals that were on it from them dying it, etc.. Then I put a good amount of HOT water (enough to submerge the pouch easily) into the bucket. Pour both packets of dye in to the water and mix it up, then put the pouch in the solution. I started using a painters stick but then just grabbed a pry bar instead, it worked better for me. Submerge the pouch in the water and slosh it around with whatever you are using to stir it with. If you have rubber gloves you could use your hands instead. I used the bar to keep the pouch submerged in the liquid in between stirring sessions. I would stir it around in the liquid and then let it sit for about ten minutes at a time. Overall I think I let it soak for about 30-45 minutes. There is no rush and the longer you go, the darker it will get. Once I was satisfied with the color it was (it will tend to lighten up a bit when you rinse it out and then let it dry but not much) I poured cold water into the other bucket and transferred the pouch over to it. From here you just basically swish it all around and wring it out. I then emptied the dye bucket and poured cold water into it. Once the water was black in the first rinse bucket, i moved the pouch to the other bucket. I repeated this about 8 times probably until the water stays almost clean. Once I was satisfied I let it dry in the sun for a bit before tossing it in the dryer. Since we are looking for a good worn look, I figured the dryer is not gonna hurt it. The leather straps were nice and curled when it came out of the dryer so that was cool. IF you use a dryer, MAKE SURE you have rinsed the pouch well, if not you could have black dye to clean up. Comparison of the dyed pouch vs. the other new untouched pouch; Of course the pouch is a wrinkled mess but I like it that way, many vintage pouches look like that but you gotta have something in it to make it look better and functional IMO. Since I don't have any spare MP40 mags laying around, I just used a piece of wood. I measured the pockets and found a sign post that worked perfectly. I then cut that into 10" increments and they fit perfectly. I can't have the white being so visible so I just took some automotive flat black paint I had on hand and shot the ends. I was not worried about the whole thing since I will not be removing them for anything and they are just for the illusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plastic Fury Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 I was very happy with the leather taking the dye as well, the straps look much better to me being ALL black and not having the tan underside and sides. The finished pouch; I am very happy with how it turned out and only took me about two hours total to get it all done. Now I just gotta find that leather pouch for my hip and get that one all nice and worn too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GosHawk Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Oooooooo very not bad man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Looks good! Like the old used look of it too. The brand you tone it black whit, will it lave some black tone on the armor. I use Humbrol paint, and it stays on the pouch, and nothing black comes off on the armor while trooping: Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plastic Fury Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Looks good! Like the old used look of it too. The brand you tone it black whit, will it lave some black tone on the armor. I use Humbrol paint, and it stays on the pouch, and nothing black comes off on the armor while trooping: Cheers No, it won't leave anything, the dye is in the material now but that is why it's important that you rinse it well to remove any extra dye. The only other thing I might do is move the small pouch over a bit, like yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 No, it won't leave anything, the dye is in the material now but that is why it's important that you rinse it well to remove any extra dye. The only other thing I might do is move the small pouch over a bit, like yours. Cool the dye stays on the pouch, and do not dye the armor. I have seen many use shoe dye, there have leave some black shadows on there chest plate. Sounds cool about the move in small tool pouch. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caomhanach Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I have seen many use shoe dye, there have leave some black shadows on there chest plate. I haven't been bothered about having a small shadow on my armor, makes it look worn and lived in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amish Trooper Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 fantatstic and just in time. My pouches will be here tomorrow. "Do or Die" Oi Oi Oi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GosHawk Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Thanks for posting all the info Plastic Fury, I dyed my pouches today and they look great! http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab72/Ki...icture031-1.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amish Trooper Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Thanks for posting all the info Plastic Fury, I dyed my pouches today and they look great! http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab72/Ki...icture031-1.jpg Ditto I just did mine today too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theGreatSot Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 That pouch looks great! I'll have to score a pair of those for myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plastic Fury Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 Thanks for the compliments, glad it was useful for somebody. I need to go ahead and dye the other one now, I may add it to the belt for non-cannon troops as I will with my E-11 sometimes too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoCKo Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 that looks nice, thanks for doing another dying tutorial! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiDri Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Thanks for the tutorial, here's how mine turned out (ignore the white/black in middle, it's for color calibration later.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iconoclasta_88 Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Thanks for the tutorial, here's how mine turned out (ignore the white/black in middle, it's for color calibration later.) Very cool. Nice work! Saludos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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