Eruntalon's Fortress Maximus H202 Restoration

The purpose of this thread is to document the progress I am making with the restoration of a recently acquired Fort Max body. The front is in great condition but the back has been yellowed due to sun damage. What I intend to do in the near future is to dismantle the parts and soak those that are most heavily affected in hydrogen peroxide.

I was inspired to start this project as I had seen this achieved before on another Fort Max at thetf.net and following the success I had at restoring a slightly-yellowed Lady Giga Power Master figure.

Some initial photo's showing the damage done to Fort Max:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/...7d70621b_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/...19484849_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/...470885af_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/...087f0382_b.jpg

Here is a photo of Max's parts which you can use as a guide when you pull him apart:

http://kupscigar.com/tf/fortmaxwaspx.JPG

Here is the restoration of my own Fort Max - It is before we knew about the magical properties of H2O2 :)

I have some tips there on pulling him apart that may be of help:

http://d343355.u107.fasthit.net/boar...hread.php?t=66

Best of luck!

Liquid sanding sounds really dangerous! But technically so is restoring with H202 since it's still an experimental process. I can also understand your concerns over not turning Fort Max into a giant-sized kit bash project.

Thanks for the photo's; I'll be photographing everything for myself as well and keeping all the parts in sealed baggies.

Liquid sanding has fortunately become obsolete by the H2O2 and it's a lot of work anyway. It was good because it removed the yellowed layer of the toy without leaving marks but Fort Max's plastic reacted bad to it.

However it did work awesomely well on my formally yellowed Red Alert:

http://kupscigar.com/tf/x9.JPG

Ran into some trouble disconnecting part of the coning tower/waist big red lasers:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/...e11befd6_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/...2a899ec07c.jpg

The red plastic sections seems to be stuck in place to the gray plastic section via three metal studs on either side (one pictured, the other two hide underneath the remaining big laser assembly as pictured) which also seem to hold the die-cast center section in place.

I may attempt to use the soldering iron technique on these to try and loosen them and some pliers but I'm not sure how they truly connect as I can't see the other side. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I ran into the same problem while trying to disassemble my Max. As you can see in the parts photo, I never managed to disassemble it and simply protected the red bits with hobby tape.

Unfortunately the parts are indeed held together by not just screws but also through those metal studs as well as the pins holding the blue 'belt' buckle. I never tried to remove them so I am not sure if once taken out there won't be anything else holding it together but I don't think there is.

My suggestion in this case when it comes to dealing with this issue in restoring the tower with H2O2 would be to find a jar tall and wide enough to contain it (I suspect you have since Max's other parts aren't small), close the tower and place it upside down in it so that the metal is on top. Fill the jar with the H2O2 but only until the blue plate so that it remains above the H2O2 so you don't risk metal/paint corrosion.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kup

this issue in restoring the tower with H2O2 would be to find a jar tall and wide enough to contain it (I suspect you have since Max's other parts aren't small), close the tower and place it upside down in it so that the metal is on top. Fill the jar with the H2O2 but only until the blue plate so that it remains above the H2O2 so you don't risk metal/paint corrosion.

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May I suggest a small fish tank instead?

Thanks guys. I intend to separate the blue metal plate entirely as I'm going to hammer out the pins, but I will be left with two gray and red plastic halves with some metal parts remaining. Hopefully these remaining metal parts won't start deteriorating in the chemicals.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eruntalon

Thanks guys. I intend to separate the blue metal plate entirely as I'm going to hammer out the pins, but I will be left with two gray and red plastic halves with some metal parts remaining. Hopefully these remaining metal parts won't start deteriorating in the chemicals.

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I am yet to see any deterioration (I have actually seen rusty screws cleaned up!) but that i only with a concentration of 6%. In theory, H2O2 is corrosive to metal but I think this is dependent on very high concentrations and very long term submersion (months).

Make some paste up instead. This is exactly why it's useful. You don't have to bath every part. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MV75

Make some paste up instead. This is exactly why it's useful. You don't have to bath every part. :)

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I have heard of this paste but I am still not clear on what it is, where to get it from and how it works.

I put the following link in the thread you started.

http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/?r...2046f63185feb5

You follow the recipe and make your own.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SMHFConvoy

May I suggest a small fish tank instead?

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good thinking, it also has its own cover.perfect.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by liegeprime

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SMHFConvoy

May I suggest a small fish tank instead?

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good thinking, it also has its own cover.perfect.

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yep and some fishtanks have light fittings in the lid too so you can swap out the regular light bulb with a UV bulb and BAM you can do whitening 24/7!!!

Dismantled and ready for cleaning:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/...46f1ed95_b.jpg

As you can see I was never able to fully dismantle the coning tower. Every other part has been dismantled except the lift mechanism which does not require any cleaning.

Good luck you have far mor patience than me and knowing my luck I'd never get it back together:D

Indeed, good luck Eruntalon, looking forward to seeing your first set of results.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 1orion2many

Good luck you have far mor patience than me and knowing my luck I'd never get it back together:D

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+111111111 for me. I may be patient but not that patient :p keep us posted!

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/atta...waterboy_2.jpg

Hi, I just wonder after so many months of your whitening work n FM. Does the yellowing come back?

I ask so as after I have whitening my Grand Maximus, the yellowing returns after 1 to 2 months..it is very sad..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Supergodginrai

Hi, I just wonder after so many months of your whitening work n FM. Does the yellowing come back?

I ask so as after I have whitening my Grand Maximus, the yellowing returns after 1 to 2 months..it is very sad..

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Sorry for the belated reply to your question.

Yes, some of the yellow has returned in part. After two years in storage the whitening process is only a temporary solution. Although the yellowing is not like it was before, I would say as a rough estimate that the fort max parts I still have (I ended up selling the one in the photos except for a few parts) about 25 percent of the yellow has returned. And this is after storage in a dark cupboard!

Nine years later as of December 2019. Has been in storage for most of this time. The yellow returned to a light mustard/butter colour:

https://i.imgur.com/XbjHemf.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yM2uHcM.jpg

Redo of H2O2 bath:
https://i.imgur.com/1WuIF9X.jpg

(Mostly) white again, but for how long this time?
https://i.imgur.com/QkpEANn.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6xPCpbB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/63CeON4.jpg

You can buy some UV resistant varnish spray at local craft shops. This is what artists use to prevent their painting from yellowing with age.

I just looked at Galaxy Shuttle in my room last weekend and the yellowing has come back. I dont know if I should do this or just leave it because it will probably return again in a few years.

Given the substantial transformation that H2O2 restoration makes, I can see it would be to an ebay seller's advantage to use this technique prior for sale - and the would-be buyer would be completely unaware..... I'm not the type of person that would buy second-hand toys (too OCD), but I feel sorry for any collector who purchases a seriously expensive vintage toy only to have it yellow before their eyes within a few months/years. They might even blame themselves without knowing the UV damage had already been done. :(