Campy Craig Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 I just got a Chief Robotman at a good price because it has some rust spots on the back. Most of the rust is in the battery compartment. It isn't rusted through. What can I do about cleaning this Chief up? A transistor radio collector told me to try Liftoff #4 but I'm not sure if that is going to hurt the tin?? I'd greatly appreciate any advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campy Craig Posted March 25, 2003 Author Share Posted March 25, 2003 Hmmm, no replies, I guess rust is not exactly a hot topic! I got some Liftoff #4, but I don't think I'm going to use it. It's for removing graffiti and I'm sure it will take the paint off the Chief. Drat! My girlfriend said I should try Naval Jelly. I was just on this antique restoration site and they said rust on tin toys is hopeless. I really isn't that noticeable but I'd like to do what I can to contain it and spruce up the toy in general. PLEASE, what can I do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Nacel jelly is just jelled acid, I would not use it on something that has paint on it that I wanted to keep the paint on. It works great on hand tools that rusted! The best thing you can do is remove the loose rust with sand paper or scraper knife then seal the area with a coat of paint that matches the robot color. Personaly I prefer to leave the robots as is unless they are total rust buckets, and in that case anything goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 John is right. About the only thing you can do is sand or abrade it off. I use A fine steel wool for light rust removal on painted surfaces. It will still take off some paint also, but it will get the rust and you have better control on the surface you are cleaning than if you use sand paper. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campy Craig Posted March 25, 2003 Author Share Posted March 25, 2003 Thank you both for the advice! I assume I can go nuts on the exposed metal parts (ear antenna gizmos) and metal parts on the face. Do you think it is better to leave the painted back as it is, with specks of rust? I would prefer to leave it alone, but if it will turn into a hunk of rust eventually anyway maybe I should repaint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcell Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 hope you didn't go and done repaint it yet. personally, i'd rather leave everything well alone if it's just a little bit of rust. the only thing i do in these situations is to seal the affected area with a light coating of pure wax. most museums use what is called microcrystalline wax or something, i make do with pure carnuba wax. this ensures that no further rusting occurs. make sure it's not some wax + POLISH stuff - that stuff is bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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