bartzenegger Posted October 11, 2004 Share Posted October 11, 2004 hi,i have a lg amount of rust on my smoking spaceman face ( chrome areas) and batterey area. i really need to get it off ! if you had to get it off, how should i do it? sand paper seems to risky to me . i have heard ketchupwill work ?help me thanks!bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIGHWHEEL KICKER Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 Hi Bart, Once rust has gained a hold it cannot be removed without taking some of the underlying surface off. The oxidation process (ie rusting) is a one way reaction. However if its not well established it is sometimes possible to remove. You are still removing some of the underlying surface under the rust but the thickness of this surface (measured in microns) is thick enough for you not to notice unless looking under magnification.Re removing rust other than using wire wool or emery paper, (sandpaper is really for wood) and the usual car and bike cleaners I have heard of Pepsi or an equivalent being used. I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF kETCHUP BEING USED.Ancient coin collectors use Olive Oil to remove encrusted dirt and surface contamination (other than patina). This oil actually has the properties of a very mild acid.I have started to use this for small removable parts. Re cleaning big parts you want to leave in situ I am thinking of applying an Olive Oil impregnated cotton wool pad secured with masking tape. Olive Oil takes weeks to work but it does work and in the meantime you can have great fun explaining to visitors why your Bots have plasters on!!WARNING WARNING ONLY TRY ON SOMETHING YOU CAN ACCEPT MISHAPS ON.Cheers :D HW-K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartzenegger Posted October 12, 2004 Author Share Posted October 12, 2004 Hi Bart, Once rust has gained a hold it cannot be removed without taking some of the underlying surface off. The oxidation process (ie rusting) is a one way reaction. However if its not well established it is sometimes possible to remove. You are still removing some of the underlying surface under the rust but the thickness of this surface (measured in microns) is thick enough for you not to notice unless looking under magnification.Re removing rust other than using wire wool or emery paper, (sandpaper is really for wood) and the usual car and bike cleaners I have heard of Pepsi or an equivalent being used. I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF kETCHUP BEING USED.Ancient coin collectors use Olive Oil to remove encrusted dirt and surface contamination (other than patina). This oil actually has the properties of a very mild acid.I have started to use this for small removable parts. Re cleaning big parts you want to leave in situ I am thinking of applying an Olive Oil impregnated cotton wool pad secured with masking tape. Olive Oil takes weeks to work but it does work and in the meantime you can have great fun explaining to visitors why your Bots have plasters on!!WARNING WARNING ONLY TRY ON SOMETHING YOU CAN ACCEPT MISHAPS ON.Cheers :D HW-K thank you so much!bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticaugie Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 Sometimes it is so bad it is best to cut out the offending area and use a filler compound or epoxy resin to rebuild the area then paint. If there is a cheap repro to cannibalize I would do that. It it has an intricate litho forget about it.Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartzenegger Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 Sometimes it is so bad it is best to cut out the offending area and use a filler compound or epoxy resin to rebuild the area then paint. If there is a cheap repro to cannibalize I would do that. It it has an intricate litho forget about it.Good luck. i bought a repo bot just for that purpose but i hope i wont have to use it.cuz i like the repo also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 :) Here's the real way to do it. Disassemble the parts, individually polish each part with a soft wire wheel on a drill or rotary tool, slowly and softly. If the metal is rough when you are all polished, it will have to be smoothed with sandpaper,that is, if it is still thick enough so that you don't sand a hole in it before you get it smooth! If it is dangerously thin in the rusted or corroded area, this area can be filled with auto body filler, and then smoothed and shaped with sandpaper to look like it was never rusted. Remember, you can paint over this filled area, but you won't be able to electroplate it if it should be plated. Then refinish or replate each part back to the color or appearance that it should, and reassemble. If necessary in severe cases, it is best to look for a non rusted part to replace the bad one. This may involve purchasing a reproduction Robot organ donor, but these reproduction robots may or may not be precisely the same size in every way. And purchasing an original robot just to use for parts is super expensive, Keith Palmer and I gave $500.00 for a little Linemar Robot just to get the arms and legs, and every repair man in the country wants to use them to make molds so they can sell replacement arms, legs! Same steps and procedures as with automobiles, -Larry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartzenegger Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 :) Here's the real way to do it. Disassemble the parts, individually polish each part with a soft wire wheel on a drill or rotary tool, slowly and softly. If the metal is rough when you are all polished, it will have to be smoothed with sandpaper,that is, if it is still thick enough so that you don't sand a hole in it before you get it smooth! If it is dangerously thin in the rusted or corroded area, this area can be filled with auto body filler, and then smoothed and shaped with sandpaper to look like it was never rusted. Remember, you can paint over this filled area, but you won't be able to electroplate it if it should be plated. Then refinish or replate each part back to the color or appearance that it should, and reassemble. If necessary in severe cases, it is best to look for a non rusted part to replace the bad one. This may involve purchasing a reproduction Robot organ donor, but these reproduction robots may or may not be precisely the same size in every way. And purchasing an original robot just to use for parts is super expensive, Keith Palmer and I gave $500.00 for a little Linemar Robot just to get the arms and legs, and every repair man in the country wants to use them to make molds so they can sell replacement arms, legs! Same steps and procedures as with automobiles, -Larry 7 ok!!! very nice! thank you . what would you recomemend for the batterey area? it has a lg amt of rust there also.bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIGHWHEEL KICKER Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Hi Bart,If you want to ruin an original Robot,strip it down buff it with a polisher! (GOOD GRIEF!) and then cut pieces out of it (FAILED!) and apply epoxy or plastic padding to it! (CAR TECHNIQUE ON A TIN CAN - GET REAL!) be my guest. You will then have converted something of certain original worth into something that has zero value to the true collector. These people should convert repops. THEY ARE NOT SAVING THINGS LOST FOR POSTERITY, JUST DENYING OTHER COLLECTORS THE PRIVILEGE OF ORIGINAL OWNERSHIP. Obviously rust or acid corrosion should be neutralised but anything else is TAMPERING, destroying the finite original stock and also just keeping original Bots from ordinarys Guys and Lasses who just would like an example to possess! HW-K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticaugie Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Hi Bart,If you want to ruin an original Robot,strip it down buff it with a polisher! (GOOD GRIEF!) and then cut pieces out of it (FAILED!) and apply epoxy or plastic padding to it! (CAR TECHNIQUE ON A TIN CAN - GET REAL!) be my guest. You will then have converted something of certain original worth into something that has zero value to the true collector. These people should convert repops. THEY ARE NOT SAVING THINGS LOST FOR POSTERITY, JUST DENYING OTHER COLLECTORS THE PRIVILEGE OF ORIGINAL OWNERSHIP. Obviously rust or acid corrosion should be neutralised but anything else is TAMPERING, destroying the finite original stock and also just keeping original Bots from ordinarys Guys and Lasses who just would like an example to possess! HW-K Is it really ridiculous? If you have a rust bucket on your shelf what difference does it make? It is probably only worth about a repop anyway. People restore cars all the time. If the suface repair can be made so that it is unoticeable why not do it? Rust on a Smoking Spaceman is like herpes on a supermodel. Or do what I did and specialize in plastic. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry seven Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 :) Yeah, these are good questions, in my opinion, if the robot looks pretty good as a display robot, don't redo it. If you are looking for a robot to work in the fields or go to war, a rough condition robot will do. But, we almost all want one to look good in the collection. So, if just redoing , for example, the face or some small part such as a battery door or even replacing a battery compartment can help improve the toy, who in the world has a valid argument against that? Now, we all know that an original in perfect mint shape is most desirable, but the skyrocketing cost of them has put many out of reach of many persons. So, we get what we can, and go from there. -Larry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartzenegger Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 :) Yeah, these are good questions, in my opinion, if the robot looks pretty good as a display robot, don't redo it. If you are looking for a robot to work in the fields or go to war, a rough condition robot will do. But, we almost all want one to look good in the collection. So, if just redoing , for example, the face or some small part such as a battery door or even replacing a battery compartment can help improve the toy, who in the world has a valid argument against that? Now, we all know that an original in perfect mint shape is most desirable, but the skyrocketing cost of them has put many out of reach of many persons. So, we get what we can, and go from there. -Larry 7 amen brother! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneluna123 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Do that in a museum and you will be hung.I think the light touch is much better, patience and all original parts even if damaged are better than dodgey repairs, I wouldn't touch a repaired robot, I like them old with all the trappings, even a bit o rust. Is it really ridiculous? If you have a rust bucket on your shelf what difference does it make? It is probably only worth about a repop anyway. People restore cars all the time. If the suface repair can be made so that it is unoticeable why not do it? Rust on a Smoking Spaceman is like herpes on a supermodel. Or do what I did and specialize in plastic. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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