hydrogen peroxide vs sun fading tested

[Dark Rage]

Originally Posted by leozak

I'm assuming you were the one who won that recent auction?

No, wasn't me



I was wondering, would it be possible to save G1 stickers but using cut styrene sheets and sticking it to the surface of a sticker? Maybe the part and styrene can be sandwiched with a rubber band or a big plastic clamp?

Not sure if rubber bands would survive tho...

[Deemar]

Originally Posted by N5omniac

and to add to this question... what about a casserole/baking dish, like a 15" x 10" x 2", that'll allow me to lay everything flat, and cover it with the glass top allowing sun to hit all directions. is 'stirring' as important? I mean, having them layed out and not touching really would allow the bubbles to rise.

i'm also wondering, i work in a lab with ultra sonic sinks...wonder if I could set up a peroxide bath in the sink with a UV light on it.. hhmmmmm, I might have to try it out

The bubbles stick to the plastic pieces, they won't let go unless you stir them. I just pick up the jar and swirl it around instead.

[Deemar]

I could have left this guy in a little longer but it's acceptable and I want to move on to more important figures.

[Echotransformer]

So what about gold plastic and the notorious GPS? Does it make it worse? Will it recolor the plastic? Will the plastic shatter when pulled out of the solution? I wanted to find out.

I've been trying to build a Monstructor on the cheap and nabbed this Bristleback for $1+shipping on Epay. Well he wasn't so great (it said broken but I didn't know what was broken) and basically there are no good parts on him.

He was quite discolored (although the photos don't show how yellowed the blue parts were) so I figured 'what the heck' and tried the solution on him.

Before pics:







After pics:



As usual, a significant improvement in removing yellow from the blue parts...you basically can't tell at all that it was once yellow.



The gold plastic, on the other hand, looks terrible. It lost depth and richness of color, and now has a chalky look. Now some of this was from the CA that the previous owner used to repair the GPS, but look at the parting lines before and after--there's a fundamental change happening there.



Here he is on little Monstructor.

CONCLUSIONS:

• Hydrogen Peroxide treatment (6% over 2 days) Does discolor Gold plastic. Makes it look worse--dull, and darker. It also seems to oxidize whatever metal content is in there and create a chalky look--much like it does to metal pins.
• It did not seem to make the plastic weaker...I handled the parts pretty roughly and nothing broke. Now this part was previously broken, so it will be interesting to test this on an unbroken part some time in the future.
• Hey, does anyone have a mint Bristleback they want to sell me?

[Bruticus82]

So, do you guys rinse your pieces after they get their peroxide treatment?

[Cheers Ian]

Yep - Soap and Water.

[Echotransformer]

^^ Same here.

[Bruticus82]

Yeah...I ended up with some "bleached" parts...and figure my failure to rinse them thoroughly might be to blame...

Doh!

[GDkitty]

Sorry to necro this (thought it was stickey'd at one point), but thought it would be the best place to ask.

As you can see by the attachment, i have a jetfire/robotech figure.

The yellowing you see, is not that bad there, but MUCH more heavy on the legs, arms, was probably in bot form when displayed.

I do have a few questions... as i would REALLY like to do this to de-yellow the bot.. but dont want to wreck anything else either.

A) All the joints are insanely tight, for this age of a bot, probably was barely played with. I am worried about taking him apart TOO much and not getting him back tight enough.
- Will it do any harm, putting it in the bath in larger sections.. say the whole leg etc.. wont damage the joints , etc.

B) Paint? The red and black markings on it..its paint? how does this fair in the bath? Suprisingly the red/black is in great condition.. but the yellow ruins it.. but dont want to get rid of the yellow AND the pain at the same time :P May not have a choice though.

[Echotransformer]

^^ Well here are my thoughts...hopefully some other 'jedis' like Chansformers will voice they're thoughts to so you can get a few points of view...

A) Generally, disassembly and re-assembly shouldn't affect joint tightness, provided you re-assemble correctly. Most of G1 Jetfire is ratchets, where plastic and metal will wear with use. Assembly and disassembly shouldn't wear the ratchets, so I wouldn't sweat this.

That said, disassembly of this figure is complex, he has many springs and stuff. Do it slowly, carefully catalog parts and their location/orientation and maybe even take pictures throughout the process to refer to during re-assembly. Don't do it in area where flying springs could easily be lost and be prepared for some tricky assembly procedures!

B) Masking the red/black areas will work. The challenge is finding a mask that won't deteriorate with Hydrogen Peroxide, provides a crisp line and doesn't fall off / damage easily during stirring. The mask needs to be opaque (not see-thru). I think simply green painters masking tape will work well (Chans, can you confirm?).

Also, ensure you remove all metal parts before bathing. This will prevent the oxidation of the metal from the Hydrogen Peroxide which looks, well, crappy.

My recommendation: Get a beater TF and try it first. Use the mask, try the stirring...get familiiar with the process. YOu will build confidence, and then you can try Jetfire. I think it can be done and if you post it here, there will be many to congratulate you on your success....this is the figure most often asked as a candidate for de-yellowing!!!