Repairs: Cosmetic Repairs ,,,,,tips ?

[Sparkrobot]

John,,,,,,Thanks for the 'prevention tip',,,,,,,,Dr.A and Morbius ,,I tend to agree with you ,with the leave it alone approach and upgrade when you can afford it,,but with some toys if they are not too expensive I think it's worth having a go at restoration,,so with that in mind Scott C,,and Ken came up with a couple of facinating tips that I might just try ,,the bleach one I think an old star wars stormtroopers going to get a bleach bath..Also I nearly forgot ,,WJN that castrol one sounds like a tip worth trying..By the way,,I started this thread because of a Mr. Monster I bought that had 'yellowed' quite badly,,,Xris,,I'm not complaining,I got him for a great price ,and in some ways like Dr.A.said,it adds to his character ,so he wont be getting a Bleach bath ;) :D

[Eagle]

Thanks John for the sleeve tip ! As far as discolored plastic and dents or scratches, The UV damage often does not penetrate more than .010 " . On items with flat surfaces I simply wet sand with 600 grit emory and work my way up to 1500 grit, then polish. I do the same thing with dents and gouges . I take a piece of plastic from inside the toy and plastic weld it into the damaged area then sand and polish.I'm a bring it back to original condition guy. Patina is the enemy. Most of my Remco clients, want the toy to look the way it did when they opened it on Christmas morning 1965. How do you guys park your robots on the rubber wheels ? I cut 1/4 "x3/4"x1" wood blocks and set the robots on those so the wheels dangle. I would love to build some plastic overshoes to snap on the bottom of common robot feet.

The rubber parts and tank treads I treat with LPS 3. It leave a cosmoline like residue.

[WJN]

Sparkrobot-

I've seen dozens of color combos on Mr. Monster, but yours is a new one on me. Cool. B)

[Guest kenalexruss]

How do you guys park your robots on the rubber wheels ?

I use those alphabet magnets one generally finds on the fridge in a house with young kids. Costs a buck for 26 letters and 10 numbers plus a few other symbols at the dollar store. I just let the magnet side cling to the metal feet. I use two letters per foot. Holds the robot above the rubber wheels and cannot be seen on most bots. It actually gives the robots more stability. Nothing worse than domino effect on the robot shelf! Problem is I forget to take 'em off sometimes......

[Sparkrobot]

Sparkrobot-

I've seen dozens of color combos on Mr. Monster, but yours is a new one on me. Cool. B)

WJN,,,,,Yea,,I'd never really thought about him like that,,,,,He's been turned into a one off total original!! ;) :D

[Blechroboter]

Crazy Germans :P ! I use toothpaste and polish the yellowed plastic with the fingertip of my thumb.

Be careful, it doesn´t work on any kind of plastic!

[Sparkrobot]

Crazy Germans :P ! I use toothpaste and polish the yellowed plastic with the fingertip of my thumb.

Be careful, it doesn´t work on any kind of plastic!

Blechroboter,,,,,,,I thought about using toothpaste myself,,,When you think about it ,it stands to reason that it would work,,it's slightly abrasive and maybe it's got some sort of mild bleach in it ,a lot of brands actually say'whitening' so I might give it a try on something,,Not on my Mr. Monster though ,he's really growing on me as he is ,now that I look at him as 'customised' even though it was by the Sun and not myself. B)

[Blechroboter]

Hi Sparkrobot. For example I have polished the dome of the Gama tank with toothpaste. Ok, it still has some deep short scratches and one crack

but now it twinkels under the starry sky of an unknown galaxy far away.

BTW: 35 years ago! my father bought some replacement parts from Gama for restauration. The two silver headlights are from this purchase.

They were missing, then I bought this space tank last year.

[Fineas J. Whoopie]

WJN,,,,,Yea,,I'd never really thought about him like that,,,,,He's been turned into a one off total original!! ;) :D

Sparkrobot - I think WJN was talking about the actual color combination of your Mr. Monster not the yellowing (if that's what you were thinking). For instance mine has all the same colors of yours but positioned differently (specifically the light lens colors are reversed).

I'm sure there must be a Mr. Monster variation thread floating around somewhere...

[Sparkrobot]

FJW,,,,,,,,,,Oh well,he's still special in my heart,just a little over tanned :P ...I would like to know all the colour variations of this bot,,,,,,,I'm thinking Xris would know,,,,if I cant find an old post ,maybe I will post it as a question........

[bartzenegger]

i try to keep my robots in their original state ... that being said if i can improve without damage i will do so . novus 1 actually works on tin as well. gives it the shine that wax or wd40 would do ( which i personaly have never used) .

[Joe K.]

FJW,,,,,,,,,,Oh well,he's still special in my heart,just a little over tanned :P ...I would like to know all the colour variations of this bot,,,,,,,I'm thinking Xris would know,,,,if I cant find an old post ,maybe I will post it as a question........

Photo by Xris:

[duxastrogirl]

Is there a way to repair faded litho? Seems to me there's not but who knows!!

[Eagle]

Not that I know of. When the pigment is gone ,it's gone.

[Guest kenalexruss]

Yes, there is a way! A trade secret I will reveal here to the board! The way to repair faded lithos is to get a hold of the pattern, color and design of the faded litho and make a decal matching the faded area. Apply and voila! (Another way also exists, but I charge for that one.....)

Besides, the decal works just great 99% of the time. Just take the time and patience to match the colors exactly and know what part of the design to "break" the decal so it blends with the existing litho. Feathering and fading can also be acheived on the decal to match it up perfectly. It's lots of work, so the piece better be worth it!