yellowing the test

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Commander Megatron
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Post by Commander Megatron »

Are you going to test the hot water tank theory?
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Catilla
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Post by Catilla »

lol i carnt :oops: , my tank is in ower loft which is lagged to encase it (keeps the heat in rather than escapeiing) also it would not be easy for me to do testing this way, as im a full time dad (my sons just turned 2 and very active) and the loft isnt the easyest place to go .
but id love to see anyones testing of this theory (any testing results of anyones attempts), again i was told this only and didnt see any of the results.
i found sunlight works best for me, but also it is posable it would work with heat alone.
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Hot Shot
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Post by Hot Shot »

I tried to just heat the H2O2....It will bubble but not like when you put it in the sun. For some reason it doesn't seam to work as well without sunlight. Maybe the combination of UV light and heat has something to do with it.

I recently treated a few parts...now I'm only using store bought 3% perioxide. It works well just takes longer. It took 2 treatment to un-yellow the parts I treated....but it worked great.

Thanks Catgut for this awsome tip...it has brought new life to some of my older figures....and saved me some money as I was going to rebuy the figures.
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Post by Rattrap »

UV light is an awesome catalyst for reactions like these, it much more effective at breaking the intermolecular bonds than plain heat. What would be interesting, would be to see if untreated iron increased the reaction rate. Take a nail, leave it in the rain for a couple days til it starts to rust, and put it in the next batch of toys. Do two jars at once so you have a control. I would be very interested in hearing about the results.
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Post by Catilla »

many thanks for the responces ( and thanks which i will pass on to my mate paul as realy hes the fellow who found it :wink: ).
also over the moon to hear someone elses results to, all good stuff (lol just be careful and no sticken yer fingers in it ....or wangs :shock:)
over here in the uk sunlights a rare sight so im makeing the most of it whilest its there, so far its going realy well and have gotton quite a few of my g1s restored (i still take all the screws out like as some or low grade and rust, not all do but i dont take the chance).
i know this treatment when i first wrote about it may not have sat well with a lot of people but im please to see people are seeing the results, and even if it takes a while its still good.
but when it was found we both agreed to share the news with other collectors out there (not only tf collectors but also other figure lines too).

humm rattrap ill pass that on to paul when i speak to him later, if it works it maybe an idea for the winter months when its cold out and the sun is weak (sorry to say pauls more the brainy one out of us :oops: and hell know more about the reactions and stuff )
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Post by Overlord »

Good stuff. My dad was able to procure some H2O2 from the labs-though the concentration is only 3%, I'll test it out starting tomorrow.

Hmm a more specific question though

...anyone have any idea treating the fortress maximus figure i've had since i was a kid (meaning, yellowing on the shoulders and central ramp where it had contact with sunlight for many consecutive years)...I'm not sure if those parts can detach and i don't believe there's any economically reasonable procedure for placing the whole figure in an H2O2 bath :x
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Post by Catilla »

humm pauls doing fort max right as we speak (lol been on it a few weeks too) anyways i know for 100% hes just gotton a repo label kit from repo labels ), i know his max is in parts at the moment (see earlyer posts on the head), ill ask him how hes doing him (eg taken em apart and that).
once hes back on par hell send his photos too
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Post by Overlord »

catgut wrote:humm pauls doing fort max right as we speak (lol been on it a few weeks too) anyways i know for 100% hes just gotton a repo label kit from repo labels ), i know his max is in parts at the moment (see earlyer posts on the head), ill ask him how hes doing him (eg taken em apart and that).
once hes back on par hell send his photos too
holy crap that'd be superb! I'll also start posting pics here of my treatment trials starting tomorrow, word
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Hot Shot
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Post by Hot Shot »

Has anyone tried this technique on clear parts? I have a Sideswipe figure that the clear windows are kind of yellowed. Just didn't want to take the figure apart and try this out if it doesn't work on the clear parts.
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Post by Commander Megatron »

Thats a good question Hot Shot, if not tested or tried has anyone got a piece of clear plastic to try it on?
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Post by Catilla »

please look back at my past posts (lol post 1 with ratchet )in this thread (also see the photos too, all g1 cars show have got the clear plastics which all have been treated with windscreens included .....dam theres another photo missing :shock: :shock: but both the ratchet, and prowl both have these screens both are done fine ).
ill retake the photo of the other g1 cars ive done too (eg, sideswipe G2, prowl (not the one shown but mine) inferno, wheeljack, jazz, ramjet, battle trap and fly wheels, downshift ) all are now done. :wink:
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Post by Time Traveller »

actually, i DID a sideswipe windscreen, and it did clear up the yellow fog a bit. good luck!
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Hot Shot
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Post by Hot Shot »

Thanks TT....looks like I know what figure goes for a bath next :D
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Post by Time Traveller »

be careful removing it, though. there's that little B shaped brace between the cockpit and the window. i got the pin out of the cockpit end easy, but because the clear plastic is a bit different consistency, i had troubles and just left it attached to the windshield. it should be fine that way, and it saves breaking the clear brackets from the actual window glass.
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Catilla
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Post by Catilla »

cheers time traveller for the confermation on the window also.

Overlord i spoke with paul on the fort max and he replyed this :-
lol good scewdrives, a lot of scews and time !!!.
he sugested doneing each part in turn (eg 1 arm, them the next, 1 leg ... and so on, treat each part then reassemble em )
also try takeing step by step photos when stripping the body incase you get into difficults in reassembleing him.
also try and keep the screws (theres a lot) in small groups (even label the screws in the groups to know witch part there from )
basicly its a mammoth task which wil ltake a while to do, but with care and patance it can be done.
paul has been on with his for weeks and is still on going (nearly completed though)
here are a few photos of his for max before and now (note the white clound on some of the parts in polish which he was in the process of cleaning when i asked, so he took the photos straight away ).

before
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awaiting buffing
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completed parts
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also he sent me these others which hes done
this is his mirage now (sorry no before photo, but this was yellowed bad)
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remember the cyclonus wings from earlyer posts ?
heres cyclonus now
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scourge also got the treatment
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even dreadwing got a bath
before
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side by side
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now
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definitly an improvment ?

rattrap i also asked about the nail thing too (he replyed :-
the nail probely wouldnt make a diffrence, apart from rust the nail faster, something to do with the reaction of the H202 been atracted to the least resistant and its easyer for the reaction to happen on the nail that the treatment on the plastic ?) again sorry i aint a clue on this, but i can say on any screws which have reacted to the H202 it happens fast.

and last this is the quick phot i did today of the g1 (this was to post in reply about the windsceen treating ) there is other parts and bots not shown but i think there already shown in past posts.

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sorry for the long reply
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Post by Time Traveller »

haha! you guys are gonna singlehandedly keep reprolabels in business!
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Overlord
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Post by Overlord »

I prepared a bath last night and placed cerebros (heavy yellowing on legs, some of face, like a 5 o'clock shadow with yellow, and arms) and some decolorized purple Overlord accessories that have turned an extremely dark purple.

I also placed the front portion of Overlord's cockpit, which includes the yellowish tinted clear canopy that was slightly decolorized in some areas.

I basically took a large glass vase, put about 500 ml of 3% solution, covered the vase with gladwrap clingwrap, and put in the purple Overlord accessories, Overlord front cockpit, Overlord white tank turret base, and the tank turret itself. I also put in cerebros and tentakil.

So far the canopy has been restored partially to the correct colors. The purple overlord accessories are closer to purple now instead of purple/brown, the white tank base seems to be completely restored.

Tentakill and Cerebros still show signs of yellowing, though not as much as before.

I have a balcony on my apartment, and today it's pretty sunny here in NYC, so last night i placed the entire bath on a patio table. The table is made of metal and i didn't want to cook the entire bath, so i placed styrofoam inbetween the bath and the table, which served the dual purpose of elevating it and further catching the sun's rays.

So my trial is, 3% will do the trick, depending on how yellowed the items are. However my balcony is fortunate enough to receive about 5 or 6 hours of direct sunlight a day on a sunny day, so i'm sure that is also a factor.

i'll post pics later
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Post by Overlord »

wow catgut great pics. The shoulders of fort max can be taken out then? I'm guessing he must be disassembled in certain parts before the shoulders can be taken out?

Damn, seems like a hercluean task to treat fort max.

Catgut, do you know a good technique for removing the metal pins that hold movable parts in place? I think fort max has a ton of them (as does overlord) and I managed to remove two from overlord last night, but only at great difficulty, where i had to use a drill bit and needle nose pliers to get it out. :evil:
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Post by Catilla »

lol lets hope repolabels start given discounts (itll cost a fortune :shock: ) but for some cheaper than replaceing the bot (good job thay do a good job too :D )

exclent work overlord look forward to seen the photos too, sadly like this isnt 100% (probley more like 90% to 95% on most ) but depending on the sun damage (like my slugslinger) it wont remove it 100% but he was past the brown going green !!!, i think if its yellowed to tanned you get a better result to far not so much, still an improvement is better .
hope the advice helps on the fort body.
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Post by Catilla »

Overlord wrote:wow catgut great pics. The shoulders of fort max can be taken out then? I'm guessing he must be disassembled in certain parts before the shoulders can be taken out?

Damn, seems like a hercluean task to treat fort max.

Catgut, do you know a good technique for removing the metal pins that hold movable parts in place? I think fort max has a ton of them (as does overlord) and I managed to remove two from overlord last night, but only at great difficulty, where i had to use a drill bit and needle nose pliers to get it out. :evil:
whoops sorry didnt see the last reply when replying lol.
lol paul just sent the photo and hes took it apart without snapping any thing so thayll come out.
ive never taken a max apart but i will ask for advice for yer on the shoulders.
he did say it was a tought bot to do but with the results its well worth it :wink: .
humm the pins are a diffrent matter, i use a cut off persision screw driver (i cut the ends of a pack of the metal ones, to get the diffrent sizes for diffrent pins best type to do this with is the full metal ones with the flat swivle palm top), placeing the part on soft suface (lol the carpet er humm dont tell the missus !!!) and gently tap the top of the screw driver (tip start with feather ligth taps first and slowly get a bit harder until the pins come out, also try useing a bit of WD-40 first to lub the pin to plastic ) keep tapping until one end comes out about a few mm and use a pair of good pliers to turn the pin out rather than pull.
but just a note if its just to treat the parts, so far the pins ive tested (silverbolt, slugslinger,first aid, red alert, sideswipe ....) all pins have been fine to treat and hasnt rusted.
i will conferm this with paul for you and see if he treated his max pins
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