Posted: 24 September 2008 at 7:54pm | IP Logged

reply to a question about takeing the clean parts out of the solution (also a lad who used the 3% sayed to try the 3% first as its weaker and less potent)

yer time travelers right always wear cloves and with the 30% always wear them until all parts are well rinsed (i place mine in a dish of water for about 30min. after treatment).
also now we know the 3% dose to the job, id say give this a try first (its cheaper, if it dosent do what your after then give the stronger stuff a go)

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 7:57pm | IP Logged

at this point things went a bit quiet as my mates dad had just died ,but i keeped on answering question the best i could alone

this was from another lad who used a 12% solution

paul asked me to thank you all for your warm wishers though this time.

this is a small update for anyone wanting to try this but carnt find any soloution, this was posted by a member on another forum were i placed this thread :-

So here is my update its a bit late.. I was using 12% Peroxide cream hair dye what I brought from a chemist mixed with warm water, and used the passenger hatch of a Starcom Star Max Bomber im not sure how long it took cause I left it on a window seal for a week and forgot about it,
BEFORE

AFTER

as you can see it is so white it is near glowing lol, now for the rest of my skank yellow Star Com bits

I cant thank you enough for this tip off Cat, many thanks!!

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 7:58pm | IP Logged

some one didnt read the advice on cloves

3% user

Discovered something today, so here's a word to the wise:
I went out to check parts in a new container i'm using, and wound up fishing around in there with my fingers...
The juice felt quite hot. Turns out, the mix was highly catalyzed, and was reacting a bit with my fingers. They're fine now, i got some lotion on them right away when i realized there had been a little damage done, they're just a little tingly.
Now don't get me wrong, i used my hands when i was taking parts out on previous days, but the peroxide was not catalyzed anymore, and had reacted out. So don't stick your fingers in CATALYZED 3%. or they'll get dry and tingly. maybe worse.

my reply

OUCH hows your fingres today ?(ive never had anything more than a drop on any of my skin ((30%)) and know it tingles a bit, but the effects wore off pritty quick),
But if it happens again please dont use loton as this makes a cover over the skin affected and traps the H.P. at your skin prolonging the effect, the best thing to do is rinse under losts of cold running water, this dilutes the stuff, and stops the reaction.
Definitly best to say at any strength its cloves to be used, also please be cafeful too.

i am reposting this here as its page 3(it aint on this page )

  READ THIS FIRST *** READ THIS FIRST*** READ THIS FIRST

this is a statment from the lad (my mate) who found this idea:-

HI there i'm new to the boards, but by way of introduction I'm catguts mate, (the one who has been trying out ways of removing the yellowing from figures, in my case transformers). and the suggestion to use this method was given to me by a friend who uses this in labs all the time and stated that it "lightens the colours" on their coloured plastic equipment and therefore may be of use here.

The trial i have been conducting is using a 30% Hydrogen peroxide solution, which can be obtained with a little research on the net (apparently you can get this as a health supllement??)

Anyway i have been soaking the pieces in a glass container and placing this in direct sunlight (ironic i know) , this appears to react with the peroxide causing it to "bleach" the plastics back to their original colours. Unlike conventional bleech this does not appear to cause a brittleness in the plastic after cleaning, however its earlly days yet so use this method at your own risk. The figures i have tried this on were either spares or in dire need of attention.

Now heres the warning part Peroxide is listed as harmful, and so gloves and care should be used when working with this stuff, the contact times vary depending on the plastic and the level of yellowing seen.

If you spill this on skin rinse immediately with plenty of water, the skin will turn white but should return to normal after about 30 to 60 minutes and is associated with a pins and needles type of sensation which lasts for about 10 minutes.

Again use this material and method at your own risk,so far i have had success with all of the figures i have tried this on but i am only trying it on hard - not waxy or rubbery- plastics so the effect on these is currnetly untried.

I'll keep forwarding pics as time and the trial goes by but so far its looking promising.

this also contains the infomation which you need to try this out
also ready my test above to find out the follow up tests which i did and my results.

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 7:59pm | IP Logged

3% user

Haha, don't worry catgut, i worked in a chem lab, i rinsed profusely. THEN i put lotion on to keep some moisture. They're fine today, so it was pretty harmless.

my reply (after a few members jips)

lol thats great T.T. im pleased yer ok seems like the stuff has the same effect no matter the strength (effect, and reactions too also thankfully recovery time as well).
humm now sticking wangs in it, lol could result in 2 outcomes (a good game of number 1 or  a very embarassing trip to A and E)  :D  :shock:  :(  :cry:  , think youll be ok with a female nurse rubbing lotion into that wound ramjet  :wink:

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:00pm | IP Logged

members question about treating

ah good stuff catgut this is what i've been lookin for. My dad teaches chemistry so he'll be familiar with the products more than i am...

but general question how long do you steep the parts in the solution for? and it must have direct contact with sunlight, correct

i notice in some of your pics some parts are not completely immersed in the solution...do they need to be immersed or just contained in the jar (yeah stupid question, but i hate chemistry) and catch/absorb the evaporating H2O2?

anyway much thanks, I will ask my dad about getting certain concentrations of the stuff.

ah one more question...how much of the H2O2 should one use..any particular amount or just enough to immerse the parts?

Much thanks

my reply

hiya many thanks for the comments and hope i can help answer your questions.
when i very first started do the testing we (my mate also) though the items had to be placed into the solution completely, so i placed a jetfire chest plate 1/2 in and half out (more details are on page 1 ) but over night when i rechecked in the morning the complete wing was treated.
so i think as long as the items are in the jar with the soloution (and the lid is on (note i use a coffee jar with a plastic lid, also a pickleing jar too both lids can be closed "sealed" but DONT !!! use a air tight sealing jar, normal jars are fine as even when you screw the lid on its not a 100% seal,  but some bought jars are air tight sealing which when the H202 is working could make the jar explode !!!).
 the reaction time realy depends on the sun, the type of yellowing (heavey to just turning) and  if its hot and the suns realy bright, i place the items (say mid. yellowing) in on the morning about 9.00am and by about 4.00p.m. if the conditions are best there done.
but if its cold and over cast the same items could take up to 4 days
all the items ive done so far is all done out of 200ml at 35% (ive done more bots since the last photos too) and both solutions are both still working although due to time and use the first batch works slower .
i only put 100ml max in each jar as its all thats needed (could be if the jar is realy bit youll need more ).
the sun is definitly a factor in the speed this works, but if the sun isnt the best (like latly for me) i found a bedside spot lamp done help to speed the reaction, but ive also heard the solution works if placed in an airing cupboard near the hot water tank ( i carnt conferm this as, its something i was told ).

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:01pm | IP Logged

asked if i was gonna test the tank theory

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.

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:03pm | IP Logged

another members testing it

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.

another members reply

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.

my reply

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 )

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:06pm | IP Logged

a member asking about fort max

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

members reply

holy crap that'd be superb! I'll also start posting pics here of my treatment trials starting tomorrow, word

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:07pm | IP Logged

asked about the clear parts like windscreens ?

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:

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:09pm | IP Logged

3% confermed the windscreen

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

awaiting buffing

completed parts

also he sent me these others which hes done
this is his mirage now (sorry no before photo, but this was yellowed bad)

remember the cyclonus wings from earlyer posts ?
heres cyclonus now


scourge also got the treatment


even dreadwing got a bath
before

side by side

now

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.

sorry for the long reply

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:11pm | IP Logged

member who asked about fort max

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

next post same member

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.

my reply

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.

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:12pm | IP Logged

follow reply

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

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:13pm | IP Logged

these photos may help yer better.
paul took these lined up ready to assemble in order (eg outer side last)

this is the shoulder assembely

central chest combined

Central chest parts

hope this helps a bit better

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:14pm | IP Logged

reply about the fort max

That looks like such a daunting undertaking

Much thanks to you and your buddy for the photos however...I'll def be saving these to my comp for use as reference and the like

I treated the parts I mentioned last week but as luck would have it i misplaced the usb cord that connects my camera to my machine, so i'll have to post some pics a bit later on!

However I will say that some parts stubbornly refused to show further improvement after two days' treatment in the 3% bath...I will probably opt for 35% soon, especially for my jetfire which is a heinous shade of dark yellow.

once again thanks for the fort max pics catgut, and the technique about the iron dowel/rod removal. I'll have to go to the hardware store tomorrow and pick some tools up, as things have been closed here for july 4

my reply

oh boy yer paul sayed he was a task and some more, but well worth it (hes now finished his with stickers aplyed too) i wil lpost finished photo as soon as i get them.
also no problem about the help (from both me and paul) this is one of the main reasons im here  :wink: .
i look forward in seening your results too (please just be careful with the 35% lol remember the cloves, also remember to steep the parts treated in cold water for about 30 mins before handleing with out clove just to be on the safe side )

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:16pm | IP Logged

this is from the guy who had the problem

Ok....got some good news and bad news...

Good news....This method works Fantastic on white or lighter colored plastics.

Bad news....It unyellows colored plastic....but it faded the color significantly.

I just took a the purple pieces to a Blot figure that I had that was pretty yellowed out of it's second bath. At first glance it looked great. When rinsed and dried and compared to the other parts....it is a bout 2 shades lighter purple

So just a word or caution....I would only use this on white parts

my reply

im sorry to hear this has happended to you with blot , would you post a photo of it , so far weve had no problem with colour plastics (battle trap, fly wheels, inferno and the other coloured bits), even fort max above ? only problem im come across so far is with the slugslinger where it was to far yellowed (it lightened it but not all the way ).
im also doing triggerhappy and so far this hasent happended to me.
what strength of H202 are yer useing ? also how long did you soak it ?.
ill ask paul about this reaction too (it is posable it could be the plastic was too yellowed and steeped to long?)

follow up and update

this is forty now finished (both light and dark plastics treated )
before repo stickers

after stickers

the way it sounds is the part was steeped to long without removeing,rinsing and drying before steeps (as i wrote earler i advise the item to be checked ever 30mins if it looks as though theres change take it out and rinse/dry if it need more steep and repeat) its on page 1.
when the items getting treated youll see a change but youll only see the end change once its dryed after rinsing.
paul added (yep i readly do chase things up for yous  :wink: )
the problem appears to be that the yellowing makes the original colour darker.  When the peroxide lightens this it goes beyond the original colour and can appear blotchy .  In my experience when this happens the blotchy ness is very light and can be removed by using a metal polish such as brasso
i will be posting photos of triggerhappy soon (arms still need finishing)

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:18pm | IP Logged

member with the problem

wrote: Sorry took so long. I used 3% solution at 30minute intervals over an 8hr period. I had to do this twice. After the second time the parts came out looking like you see in the photo.

my rely and thoughts of how it happened

ouch that reaction looks pritty bad for the time limit , could be the figure was so badly yellowed its took the yellowing out and the dye, but in all the items witch weve done , the only one for me was slugslinger (the yellowing didnt come out all the way) and pauls jaw breaker which was left in to long but not over long and the change was easly rubbed out with brasso, you might get a bit of result doing this to blot, but looking at the reaction it might take a few gos (put the brasso on and leave it to dry then rub off give a good effect)
ive also do a few tests to see if this dose happen (about the figure part  been over yellowed) and i belive this is the case (and my results)
these parts are the triggerhappy blue bits after treatment (these were quite yellowed and has turned the blue very dark)

this is a close up on the face (were the plastic is painted, which hasnt damaged any paint)

this is a close up of the back plate

ok pritty normal reactions and results are what was expected.

now this its the intresting part for yer (i hope this helps a bit too)
now i found the worst part i could (this case joy rides gun), i steeped it far to long, and in direct sun though out the day, for 3 days, by itself in the jar)
hers the results

pritty big change eh ?, well might be suprised to here these are BOTH are photos and same gun, the reason this has happened is because one side of the gun was that yellowed it was near black (this is the reason the gun on one side has turned a lighter white than the blot )
but this was taken just to show the effect the brasso has (its not finished i just did a quick clean of it )

  
so i think if the figure is to far yellowed it can have that reaction on any thing coloured and over yellowed

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:19pm | IP Logged

reply about a message on the brasso i used

lol nar if them blooming yellow duster  :oops:  there threads get everywere, this is the liquid brasso in the metal tin  :wink: but you could use the wadding gear too(lol failing that just use t cut dose the same sort of job) best thing with useing the brasso like it leaves a nice shine figure .
talking of nice shine things
this is deadwing complete with repolables added.

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 8:20pm | IP Logged

there yer go all info so far, sad to say though for me the weathers changed so i think ill need to wait till the summer, but if i do find a good alternitive ill keep yers posted, any question please let me know and ill answer em best i can

Posted: 24 September 2008 at 9:51pm | IP Logged

wow catilla. thats all been extremely informative. thanks for posting! I will certainly look into this (though as with most things, it will take a while to get around to!)

Cheers!