Looks AMAZING.
Printable View
Looks AMAZING.
That is an amazing improvement Kup!.... Ive set my Shockwave - Actionmaster in the jar for today and will leave him overnight to soak a bit more, I've also placed inside Abominus's head as it needed a bit of freshening up. Taken it out already and its quite an improvement! I will need a bigger jar though for my next project is Hungurr... after this Im done hehehe. This is a most useful thread. :D:D Very pleased with the results.
I think this thing is revolutionary.
I no longer have the fear of god in me when it comes to toys becoming yellow as there is a way to reverse it!
The awesome thing is that it doesn't appear to affect stickers at all! Dogfight's stickers are in the same condition as before!
Now I am trying a junker Galvatron that had its whole back yellowed. Before I saw him as something to keep just for parts but now there is a possibility to fully restore him.
This is fantastic!
liege, Kup, those are fantastic results.
I'll be trying this out over christmas, hopefully. :D
Those are some great results, such a simple solution for fixing up older discoloured toys.
If I wasn't repainting Silverbolt, I'd give him a "bath", he was yellow as Sunstreaker!
Great success with Galvatron and it only took one day to do a part wich had considerably yellowed.
It seems that lighter colors de-yellow much quicker than darker colored ones such as Dogfight's blue.
Dogfight is finally out of the CR Tank and back to an almost minty blue!
All that is needed for a full minty look are new reprolabels as his stickers are looking dodgy to begin with but the Hydrogen Paroxide did not affect them at all despite being submerged for days.
Before:
http://kupscigar.com/fun/cr1.jpg
After:
http://kupscigar.com/fun/df1.jpg
Before:
http://kupscigar.com/fun/cr3.jpg
After:
http://kupscigar.com/fun/df2.jpg
Wow.Quote:
Originally Posted by kup
It's a miracle fix.
Let just hope it doesn't end up like soylent green
Absolutely magnificent.
Questions:
- The screws on dogfight? Were they 'de-rerusted' by the chemical? or were they new screws from a junker.
- Is the reaction more efficient in an air-tight environment. i.e. closed-lid jar or open-lid jar.
- Recyclibility of the chemical?
Answers:Quote:
Originally Posted by jgon2098
- The screws do indeed clean a bit but its hardly perfect, they still look worn and discolored so I had to sand the rust off and paint them silver. I have not seen any negative reaction in practice but theoretically, the Hydrogen Peroxide is very corrosive to metal.
- I have not tested this however the biggest factor to how quickly something de-yellows appears to be direct sunlight. The longer its in the Jar with Sunlight the quicker it de-yellows but I am not sure if maintaining an open jar will make any difference. Keep in mind that the liquid does heat up a bit due to the sun and evaporates and condenses within the jar. Having a closed lid would be best to maintain the volume of liquid for future reuse and avoid possible toxic vapor.
- I have used the same liquid for all of Dogfight's parts. At first I started out with putting them all at once but that had limited impact because some parts shaded others from the sun as well as the Peroxide sold locally being a much lesser concentration than what the Americans can get (Thanks to The_Damned for the tip :) ). Due to this, I did a couple of parts at a time for a day or two each (depending on avaliable sunlight). I have been using the same liquid this whole time and its equally effective despite several reuses. I have now moved on to fixing yellowed Galvatron parts using the same liquid with great success despite several reuses over more than a week.
Note on the 'before' pics since the Camera flash masks a lot of the discoloration:
- The light blue on the body and tailfin was actually a light creamy green
- The dark blue was a very dark green (almost army), particualrly the legs and front back of jet.
The after pics are pretty accurate however.
Here's an update on Megs and Shockwave. When they first arrived - Megs is really dissapointingly yellow and Shock is like grey.
Before
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...ibles172-1.jpg
After
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...itening002.jpg
Megs came out pretty good, although his left arm and head still needs a bit of soaking , meh i can live with it for now.
Shockwave isnt as purple as he used to be yet, but I didnt wanna overdo it so I just took him out after a day in soaking.
note: photo's taken without flash
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...itening003.jpg
here's what megs looked like when in the bottle
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...itening001.jpg
Id prolly be looking for a bigger bottle since my bottle wont fit Hungurr, preferably with a glass lid as well so that there be no shadows castneeding more time in the soaking solution.
That's fantastic results Liege!
I particularly like how your Action Master 'Shakwave' turned back to 'Shockwave!' :p
I pulled my toys apart before placing them in, that way I don't have to soak parts that I don't have to and can concentrate on a piece at a time. It seems that the more pieces the slower the process and the side that faces the sun, is also the more succesful. Because I am now doing a piece or two at a time, the Jar is more than enough even for large toys such as Galvatron.
Would need to fill a bath tub to soak Fortress Maximus. :p
Not if you disassemble him :)Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
http://www.geocities.com/wow_frostwo...rtmaxwaspx.JPG
Uhm no!:eek: Thank goodness my Brave Max isnt yellowing. Id hate to do that, plus the fact that I wont be able to put it back the way it was. Im still sticking to my plan of a wider jar for Hungurr as im soaking him ... whole, couldnt be bothered to dismantle him :p:pQuote:
Originally Posted by kup
I'm going to do my Fort Max chest piece. Can you guys details what you bought? And did you just eye the 30% mix? How did you achieve this locally?
Jay,
Just buy in my your local chemist. Me I bought
1 bottle of 400ml Hydrogen Peroxide - 10 volume 3% w/v (brand: Gold Cross, there was no other brand they were selling :()
and that's basically it. Well, you may wanna find a big glass jar with a lid so it can accommodate big pieces for soaking. Other than that all you need is a sunny location in your property and lots of sun.:D
The peroxide is reuseable just keep the bottle lidded as since your basically exposing it under sunlight some evaporation does occur but the lid keeps it all back in.
Thanks Liege. So you used it straight out of the bottle? No diluting/mixing?
It's already heavily diluted compared to the one that Catilla originally used, that is why we have to keep the toys soaking for much longer but it is equally as effective.Quote:
Originally Posted by jaydisc
Short answer, no. Use the liquid as it is out of the bottle but you may need more of it and a large enough clear glass jar depending on the size of the parts/toys.
thanks guys.
I went into coles and bought some H.P. for ~$3 for 200ml (half the cost of the chemist), and did some lego.
It came out fine, definitly whiter, and I had left it for 13 days. Yep, that long and it's ok so far. :)
Anyone doing this just take note...
It destroys chrome completely. Absolutely eats the stuff.
As one of my Red Alerts two front wheels discovered.:o
Yeah I imagined so as its supposed to be very corrosive to metal. I always try to pull apart the figures as much as I can before bathing them.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDirtyDigger
I don't know if this is of interest and apply to plastics used in toys...
but, i thought i would post the link anyway.
Why Super Nintendos Lose Their Color: Plastic Discoloration in Classic Machines
That was quite good. He seems to agree that Peroxide is the best:
(emphasis mine)Quote:
Despite numerous demonstrations of this technique and a seemingly sound theory behind it, the jury is still out on whether this method harms plastics or color pigmentation in the long-term. Be that as it may, this technique is currently the best, least-destructive method we have of reducing yellowing in ABS plastics.
will definately give it a go
Nice changes there. I see someone did a test with their Jetfire in the link in the first post. Might pull apart my Jetfire and do the same. Boost the value of it :)
I have noticed that when its really cold like the last few days, it doesn't work so good even if it was somewhat sunny.
I think that the effect that the sun does is heat the peroxide a little bit gradually and that is at least one of the key elements of making this work.
It seems to do some damage to rub signs as well. I assume because of the metal content.
I have to say that I haven't tried this, but just wanted to give a word of warning.
If you see bubbles, it's probably a sign of a chemical reaction happening - either because the reaction creates gas, or because it creates heat, causing the H202 to boil.
So it's likely that not only are you bleaching the plastic, you're changing it's chemical structure.
As it was said, most-effective least-damaging (not no-damaging) method.
Hydrogen peroxide bleaches hair because it kills it (essentially). The plastics used in TFs are just another (albeit slightly more complex) form of carbon-chain structures. So, knowing what it does to hair, you've got to think carefully about what it is doing to your treasured TFs.
Just thought I should throw that word of warning in.
Thanks for the warning but the percentage of actual Hydrogen peroxide that you can buy in Australia is so low per bottle that we are yet to see considerable damage if any.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seraphim Prime
I had Galvatron legs soaking for well over a week in bright sunlight with it covered in bubbles for most of the day time and its structural integrity was not compromised but much of its yellowing was gone. Yeah the bubble are caused exactly by what you indicate as there is a form of chemical reaction happening there but its consequences are not visibly negative, on the contrary.
The real down side that I see with this method is that even if you succeed 100% in regaining the original color back - The plastic is a lot more prone to yellowing again. That happened with my Dogfight a couple of months after I pulled him out and was well away from sunlight.
i read the whole thing lol..
very interesting
Quote:
Originally Posted by G1Optimal
The fact is that TFs from 1987 & 1988 are especially prone to this - Dogfight, Needlenose, Slugslinger and Triggerhappy are great examples. The grey plastic used on many Decepticons of this era is especially prone - which is why Needlenose & Slugslinger have so many problems ):
So this thing works but only temporarily??? Kup did your dogfight go back to the original yellow? Did anyone else who whited their transformer experience the same thing with their transformer? please let us know
I've done a Seaspray, Red Alert and Getaway. Still all good.
Nah, the figures I have treated hasnt yellowed again ...yet but then I am aware now this time how to avoid ( sunlight exposure) or belay the process ;). My collection room only gets bright light but no direct sunlight. My figures yellowed before coz I left em quite exposed back in Phils and my mom didnt know about the sunlight factor. When I came back to collect them last year I was quite surprised to find that the shut wooden window where the collection was facing in my old room was changed into a translucent glass one making my room all bright and sunny:eek::eek::eek: for about 2 years to the day I got back which hastened the process, luckily this process has proven to impede it .... for now.Quote:
Originally Posted by primatives