Update: Hot Toys Iron Man Mark III / IV / VI color fading and how to fix it (tutorial)

 ---- Latest Update on the panties fix at the end of the blog post ----

Today I've got a little How-to-fix / tutorial for a special issue on some of the Iron Man figures by Hot Toys:

Some of you may be aware of the problem on the Hot Toys Iron Man Mark III, IV and VI figures: The panties of the figure are made of a rubbery plastic and the deep red color will fade away in time. This process definately has to do with the light and air exposure since I had my Mark VI always out in the open (detolf). Some people say theirs are without problems although having diplayed the figure at daylight - so maybe the issue is not on every figure present and its only happening with invidiual figures.

As for my case: after about a half year of owning the figure I already experience the fading issue on the panties and they went from a dep ferrari red to a shallow red color.

The issue is discussed widely in the following sideshowcollectors.com forums thread:
1/6 Hot Toys Iron Man Fade Issue Thread

- in there was a solution posted by a member and I was informed on the matter because a youtube friend   that saw the faded panties on my Mark VI in the Mark II review. Credits also go to sideshowfreaks forums member mywii who came up with the original idea of this color mod / fix.

Since there's no actual tutorial video on the internet I decided to give it a shot and will guide you through the process - see for yourself:

1. You have to seperate the figure to get the panties down ;-) - mine were slightly glued at one spot , just pull it! Also with the legs - just rotate and pull them. Don't hesitate - in this step you can't do anything wrong.
2. Find a thinner or a nail varnish remover from your mother or girlfriend. Also you will need a cloth.
3. Start rubbing on the inside of the panties. You'll see the silverish color layer which you can just rub off in seconds. If you rub more you will see the dark red plastic of the panties. So for some reason hot toys decided to give 2 layers of paint on this part of the figure when its actually a red plastic underneath.
4. Continue on the outside if you're sure that your tools (thinner and cloth) will do the job. Rub with quite some pressure to get away all the color on the outside - first the outer layer which is red, and the second layer which is silverish.
5. After rubbing the whole color off you will have the plain but deep red plastic left - and if not overdone it you will also still have the black lines between the "armor plating". If you don't see the black lines anymore you can use a fine water-proof pen to redraw those lines. I didn't had to do this since my thinner / nail varnish remover wasn't that aggressive it seems
6. Take some clear coat of Tamiya or a clear nail polish coat and apply it on the outside. Personally I used a spray gloss - you can definately use a little brush and liquid coat also. Let it dry and you have the shiny look of the armor back
7. Cheer and enjoy your renewed and unfaded colors on your Mark III, Mark IV or Mark VI. 

Update - August 2012: 

I bought a used Mark IV and will do an updated video on this. But First:

Some unaltered Photos of the panties mod on the Mark IV:

Update 2 - August 2012:

Got my Mark IV in, you'll find all the details on the fix in this video: