The Energon Pub

El Duque wrote:

kirbenvost wrote:Wow, yeah that is a significant improvement! I'm glad it worked so well for you.

Thanks! I wish I had taken some better before pics, he was a lot more yellowed than the pic I posted lets on.

You could definitely tell he was badly yellowed though, even if the pic didn't show just how bad. I am really impressed with how well this worked for you and thanks for posting the resluts.

The only side effect I got is that discolored spot on the red stripe on his chest. As you can can see in the pics it started out completely solid, but now has discolored spot right on the hump. That was one of the hardest pieces to get completely white and was in the bath for the longest. The discolorization didn't occur till right at the end, had it not requited such a long soak time it would have been fine. I plan on repainting the stripe and applying some reprolables then he will completely restored.

It's probably the plastics.

@ El Duque, a bit of bad luck, reprolabels' Jetfire set doesn't have the chest "red" design so that d@mn blemish on the hump is, well

fenrir72 wrote:It's probably the plastics.

@ El Duque, a bit of bad luck, reprolabels' Jetfire set doesn't have the chest "red" design so that d@mn blemish on the hump is, well

Actually I'm planning on repainting the red stripe myself, just need the reprolabels for the rest.

El Duque wrote:

fenrir72 wrote:It's probably the plastics.

@ El Duque, a bit of bad luck, reprolabels' Jetfire set doesn't have the chest "red" design so that d@mn blemish on the hump is, well

Actually I'm planning on repainting the red stripe myself, just need the reprolabels for the rest.

You could even try cutting out a part of the excess border part of the reprolabels big enough to cover the spot. My G1 Jetfire had a scuffed nose, and I did that to cover it up. It's not even noticeable except on close inspection.

Not sure if there would be a big enough piece left over though.

Is there any moderately inexpensive substance that can turn green/brown/blue/etc. plastic solid white? And can then-whitened plastic be dyed?

~~Yzz

Yzz wrote:Is there any moderately inexpensive substance that can turn green/brown/blue/etc. plastic solid white? And can then-whitened plastic be dyed?

~~Yzz

The only safe bleaching I know of is sunlight. Even then, it wreaks havoc on the plastic. Using actual bleach to whiten the plastic could eat through it.

I'm not an extensive customizer, so I don't know if there's anything capable of what you're asking, but it seems to me that if you chemically want to change the color of the plastic, you're changing one of the fundamentals of the plastic and therefore damaging it.

Once bleached, yeah, you could use dye to recolor it, but I'd imagine that dying it after bleaching it is a one two combo breaker that would cause the plastic to just crumble like GPS on steroids.

Yeah, I know really strong hydrogen peroxide (not OTC, the 20% stuff) can bleach yellowed plastic, but I don't know if you can then dye it another color, or if as Autobot032 said, what harm you'll do to the plastic.

You'd be better off using white paint as an undercoat, then spray the final color.

Skyfire77 wrote:Yeah, I know really strong hydrogen peroxide (not OTC, the 20% stuff) can bleach yellowed plastic, but I don't know if you can then dye it another color, or if as Autobot032 said, what harm you'll do to the plastic.

You'd be better off using white paint as an undercoat, then spray the final color.

I agree with this. Since you're going to be painting it anyway, sand down the plastic a bit, use primer, paint it with white, but use matte, not gloss. Gloss never looks quite right and it tends to bubble. Once the primer and paint coats have dried, you can then choose which color you'd like to go over the white, then seal it.

I hear Future floor polish (I think that's what it's called) makes a great clear coat. Or maybe that's for removing scratches from cockpit windows...I can't remember.

Autobot032 wrote:I hear Future floor polish (I think that's what it's called) makes a great clear coat. Or maybe that's for removing scratches from cockpit windows...I can't remember.

More the latter than than the former; it's too hard to get consistent coverage over the whole figure. Better off using clear from a rattle can (I prefer Testors).

Autobot032 & Skyfire77, thanks for the quick replies. I plan on starting kitbashing in the future and don't know much about techniques.

@Autobot032; I like your sig.

~~Yzz

I've recently undertaken the task of stickering some of my larger Encore figures. It's a chore that can take me multiple sessions because I'm pretty meticulous. I recently completed Metroplex and just finished Omega Supreme tonight. I figured I'd pull out Sky Lynx and have him ready to get started on. Here's my problem. When I got him, I opened him up and he sat around for awhile collecting dust while I procrastinated. The issue is that somehow, he has acquired some strange film, almost greasy to the touch along with the dust. I kinda freaked at first because he looked like he was UV damaged. I was relieved to find that wasn't the case. However, I am unsure what to clean him with. Remember, I'm applying stickers after all. I was thinking about using rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs. Alcohol should be safe to use on the plastic and chrome bits right? No seriously, that's my question. I'd appreciate and consider any other suggestions too.

The film sounds like something that gathers in Kitchens, on top of cupboards that are near the boiling steams 'traffic flow' from the pot to the window/ exhaust vent.

Start with warm water and straightforward dishwashing liquid such as pine-o-clean (not industrial names like Jif or Mr Muscle, but any of the ones that say "gentle on the hands while you do the dishes). These are the ones most likely able of dislodging the grease but least likely able to damage the plastic in some way. Be careful around existing stickers. Try not to immerse those areas in water and swab them down instead.

If you find the mystery stain won't dislodge, dilute 2:1 water and vinegar and try it in an out of the way area of the toy to see if it works better.

Flux,

I know you smoke and if you do that inside it can lead to the residue you're talking about.

It could also be a result of living in FL, especially if your house is in a really humid area. Dust + humidity can result in the film you are talking about.

orriezaros wrote:The film sounds like something that gathers in Kitchens, on top of cupboards that are near the boiling steams 'traffic flow' from the pot to the window/ exhaust vent.

Start with warm water and straightforward dishwashing liquid such as pine-o-clean (not industrial names like Jif or Mr Muscle, but any of the ones that say "gentle on the hands while you do the dishes). These are the ones most likely able of dislodging the grease but least likely able to damage the plastic in some way. Be careful around existing stickers. Try not to immerse those areas in water and swab them down instead.

If you find the mystery stain won't dislodge, dilute 2:1 water and vinegar and try it in an out of the way area of the toy to see if it works better.

I was really wanting to avoid disassembling him if possible. Cooking residue was one of my thoughts too but it wasn't really near those ares. I did know I could use mild dishsoap. Thanks for the suggestions. Curious if anyone else has some more useful info.

Counterpunch wrote:Flux,

I know you smoke and if you do that inside it can lead to the residue you're talking about.

It could also be a result of living in FL, especially if your house is in a really humid area. Dust + humidity can result in the film you are talking about.

I don't smoke indoors bud. My collection has cost me far too much to ruin it with my own stupidity. The living in Florida thing has done nothing negative to any of my other stuff so far either. No rusty screws, no peeling stickers, no cosmic rust on MP Megs. It's always cool, dry and (somewhat) dark inside my home. The film, whatever it is, is the first time I've noticed it on anything I own.

Perhaps a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser could be of assistance if warm water + soap doesn't work?

Don't know what chemicals it has in it, but I've used it on multiple surfaces from kitchens to MP Megatron and it worked quite well.

Mkall wrote:Perhaps a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser could be of assistance if warm water + soap doesn't work?

Don't know what chemicals it has in it, but I've used it on multiple surfaces from kitchens to MP Megatron and it worked quite well.

I've used the Mr Clean eraser on some G1 clones and it worked really well.

I would try some warm water and some Q-tips to start the cleaning. I used plastic/vinyl cleaner for car trim to clean some that I picked up at flea markets and such and that doesn't seem to have hurt them either. Just make sure you buff it all off the surface.

Guh, I've started the long task of disassembly and washing bits in warm water and mild dish soap. I've done this multiple times before but my drive isnt there today lol. At least I don't have to remove stickers on top of that. There's a positive! I'm gonna finish the shuttle mode and maybe sticker him later tonight after he's back together. Walker mode will have to wait a couple days for motivation to cycle back around. Thanks for the suggestions, I kinda knew this is how the project would end up going. I simply was looking for alternatives. Thanks guys.

Damn. I was gonna suggest baby wipes. They are really gentle, and you can get them into all the hard to reach places on a TF no problem. I used a baby wipe and a pair of needle nose pliers and scoured every square millimeter of a very dirty Cybertron Exillion and he sparkles like new!

Flux Convoy wrote:I don't smoke indoors bud. My collection has cost me far too much to ruin it with my own stupidity. The living in Florida thing has done nothing negative to any of my other stuff so far either. No rusty screws, no peeling stickers, no cosmic rust on MP Megs. It's always cool, dry and (somewhat) dark inside my home. The film, whatever it is, is the first time I've noticed it on anything I own.

I thought as much, but I had to rule it out.

This is like an episode of House. Next step is to break into your home for research purposes and look through your medicine cabinent and see if your bread is moldy.

It could just be the environment your Sky Lynx was stored in prior to you owning it. If it sat in heat for sometime, the plastic shell inside the Encore case could have broke down a bit and fumed up the inside of the packaging.

All wild speculation etc for now.

Does this figure sit on a low shelf? Did you handle it a lot before putting it up on display?

Counterpunch wrote:

Flux Convoy wrote:I don't smoke indoors bud. My collection has cost me far too much to ruin it with my own stupidity. The living in Florida thing has done nothing negative to any of my other stuff so far either. No rusty screws, no peeling stickers, no cosmic rust on MP Megs. It's always cool, dry and (somewhat) dark inside my home. The film, whatever it is, is the first time I've noticed it on anything I own.

I thought as much, but I had to rule it out.

This is like an episode of House. Next step is to break into your home for research purposes and look through your medicine cabinent and see if your bread is moldy.

I'd like to add one thing. Not that you were going to, but I don't know if using a Mr Clean Magic Eraser is a good idea. Those things are highly abrasive. They take paint off walls. Have you ever used one with bare hands? To protect the shine of your TFs, I would recommend against it.

I really think it was maybe mold release residue that had time to breathe, then collect dust. Either that or oils in the plastic itself which isn't so odd a thing to occur in toys. I got him shipped pretty much immediately after release and opened it once I got it. He sat around on my computer desk for a few months then I stored him in a sewing cabinet and forgot about him until recently. Nothing odd about the cabinet either, it's made of normal bookshelf materials. I did get the shuttle finished last night but not stickered. I'll pick at it over the week.

I found my old G1 Skyfire with this type of film on it and i cleaned it with Kaboom and it cleaned up nicely.

Mkall wrote:Perhaps a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser could be of assistance if warm water + soap doesn't work?

Don't know what chemicals it has in it, but I've used it on multiple surfaces from kitchens to MP Megatron and it worked quite well.

I'd be pretty tentative about using a magic eraser! I've used that on plastic surfaces around the house and it's badly dulled the shine on those surfaces. DON"T USE IT! is my advice. It's too aggressive even though it seems it isn't.
I personally just use rubbing alcohol diluted and Q-tips or good cotton balls. The alcohol usually breaks down all sorts of sorted and miscellaneous films stains and built up grime in corners and dries almost instantly. I love it.
It's only downfall is that it will annihilate the color on the stickers so don't scrub the stickers with it!!!!!
I've never used any crazy chemical cleaners on my TF's. Don't know how they will react so alcohol is the safest and most natural.
Plus a trick i've been useing to get my whites white again on my plastics is the Hydrogen peroxide trick. IT WORKS AMAZINGLY!! it even turned a G1 Scourge i have nice and light blue again and reserected a Sisxhot that had some sun discolouring.

monstergrotusque wrote:

Mkall wrote:Perhaps a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser could be of assistance if warm water + soap doesn't work?

Don't know what chemicals it has in it, but I've used it on multiple surfaces from kitchens to MP Megatron and it worked quite well.

I'd be pretty tentative about using a magic eraser! I've used that on plastic surfaces around the house and it's badly dulled the shine on those surfaces. DON"T USE IT! is my advice. It's too aggressive even though it seems it isn't.
I personally just use rubbing alcohol diluted and Q-tips or good cotton balls. The alcohol usually breaks down all sorts of sorted and miscellaneous films stains and built up grime in corners and dries almost instantly. I love it.
It's only downfall is that it will annihilate the color on the stickers so don't scrub the stickers with it!!!!!
I've never used any crazy chemical cleaners on my TF's. Don't know how they will react so alcohol is the safest and most natural.
Plus a trick i've been useing to get my whites white again on my plastics is the Hydrogen peroxide trick. IT WORKS AMAZINGLY!! it even turned a G1 Scourge i have nice and light blue again and reserected a Sisxhot that had some sun discolouring.

HP might be great for the here and now, but we have no idea what the long term effects are. It's literally changing the chemical makeup of the plastics to create that recoloring effect. Same with dye, but it's not nearly as harsh as HP. Though you have to be careful not to get the water too hot, otherwise you'll warp the plastic.