# Coloring flexible resin

**URL:** <https://forum.formlabs.com/t/coloring-flexible-resin/9338>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [August 21, 2016, 6:40am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/coloring-flexible-resin/9338 "2016-08-21T06:40:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![minimanfactory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@minimanfactory](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/minimanfactory)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:40am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/coloring-flexible-resin/9338/1 "2016-08-21T06:40:15Z")

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I need to print truck tires for functional models.  
As I see the flexible resin is not really rubber coloured.  
How - an with what - can I color it?  
I have special resin pigment for casting resin? can this work?

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**Author:** ![obm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc79bd/32.png) [@obm](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/obm)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/coloring-flexible-resin/9338/2 "2016-08-21T20:11:12Z")

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Sadly, enamel based paints do not work well. When dry, flex leads to cracks. Water based high quality ink I used for my fountain pen worked, and it does not crack, however, I can not get it as vibrant as enamel paints. Probably I need some kind of white undercoat, but I don’t know what I can use.

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**Author:** ![Frew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c0e974/32.png) [@Frew](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Frew)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/coloring-flexible-resin/9338/3 "2016-08-22T14:42:14Z")

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Flex V2 is quite close to rubber colored especially compared to Flex V1. We used it to make some mini tires for the [Flex V2 materials page](http://formlabs.com/support/materials/using-flexible-resin/). Rubber is white by default but typically has black added as a colorant. What color are you going for specifically?

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**Author:** ![Macro](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/forum.formlabs.com/macro/32/6285_2.png) [@Macro](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Macro)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 7:36am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/coloring-flexible-resin/9338/4 "2016-08-23T07:36:06Z")

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What about painting it with colored latex. You can color ordinary latex using cake icing dye. The gel form, not the liquid.