When news broke out about the latest Soundwave collaboration with J Balvin, at first i thought it was a custom figure using an obscure chinese KO from the late 90s I had one, well i still have, but not in the best condition, let me explain, but first, some pictures from the net for reference So anyway, when i started repainting and kitbashing in the early 2000s, i decided to repaint my KO into a Soundblaster, as a noob, my methods werent as refined as later years Paint bleed, everything was repainted (even hidden pieces), neck eventually broke. dont know what happened to the head (there´s a small chance i have it somewhere), tape door broke, etc. The only good part were the custom stickers i made, paper, but they survived this long without issues After some years, he went to the parts bin, until nostalgia kicked last week
Other than missing the head, i was able to find the sword also. Broken window, but all the pieces inside the chest so i might be able to salvage it (the Sanyo word must be preserved!) Everything was done with spray paints, cant remember the brands, but are the common type found at hardware stores or walmart After years of trying several paint solvents, with different results, i opted for brake fluid to strip parts. Many years ago, i stripped a Transmetal chromed piece without making the plastic brittle or anything, so its a method that works. I saw a video using Super Clean degreaser, but since that liquid is not cheaply available in my country, i wont try it for now WORD of advice: Brake Fluid is considered hazardous material and must be disposed of at a household hazardous waste facility. Wear gloves when handling and never pour it down the drain ok? Alright then, i started with small pieces, clear plastic, blue plastic with silver paint, and blue with black paint
Another word of advice: Dont use glass containers with Brake Fluid... the stuff evaporates, so you will be making a mess! After 6 hours or so, i was able to scruff most of the paint with a tootbrush of the test pieces. Silver paint was more stubborn, had to sand a little. Put them for a second bath and worked again the morning to remove more paint With the good results, i soaked then, more pieces. Some i left the stickers on by lazyness... bad idea, the sticker glue, reacted with the paint, protecting to fully remove with the fluid. I might need to sand it, but nothing hard for now. Clear plastic, is doing ok, but the paint was harder to fully remove. At least the Sanyo word has no broken at all. Golden paint used for the window trim, is fully intact, might need to sand or use something else to remove Im using a combination of tootbrush, cotton buds, tootpics and pin needles to remove paint Right now, im leaving those pieces to dry, then ill clean again with warm water and kitchen soap and keep working Also, im soaking the forearms (blue plastic silver painted) in alcohol, to remove all the sticker residue, loose a little that paint, scrub a little with steel wool, second alcohol bath and later, brake fluid. I should be able start working at night on those
Success! After days of scrubbing, i was able to remove more than 95% of the paint Im not too concerned about the insides, since that wont be seen again upon assembly. However, i need to find a way to remove the dyed paint in the plastic, im gonna use a Magic Eraser and several fine sand papers In other news, i went again into my parts bin and i found the cassette tape, the sword and half the gun/missile. Didnt found the head...
Try 91% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol; that should help get the remaining paint off and clean up the parts for you.
I actually used a combination of both... Brake fluid was better for just the black paint, and rubbing alcohol to break the silver paint, then another soak in fluid Some spots were too dyed to be removed, but a magic eraser helped also! ill upload more pics tomorrow of the process
Interesting...I'll have to remember that for my projects. I'll be looking forward to your next series of pics!
Next step, was as simple bath with warm water and kitchen soap... is a good degreaser! Now, just by soaking in the soap, some extra paint soften enough to be removed with just water Unfortunately, there is paint too deep in the plastic to be removed with either alcohol or the tootbrush, like this forearm: I bought a Great Value, Magic Eraser at Walmart, first time using it... good results for the most part, some comparison between pieces. Im not too bothered with removing all the paint, some will be covered with stickers anyway
Yesterday i had to glue the chest door, fortunately, i had all the pieces 2 Parts epoxy was used, good results, but still fragile to handle constantly, for obvious reasons Had to use the cassette tape for support until the glue fully cured Now, into the cassette tape. Back in the day, i used it as a test piece for the paint i used. Thankfully, most of the sticker was intact! A simple scan to remake, simple job. Paint was easily removed with an alcohol bath for a few hours I never understood why the tape, has that hole, the sticker obviously is prone to damage, perhaps it was supposed to have something inside? we will never know... Test print, was s succcess to check the size. Next update, a better print and test samples for metallic stickers
After everything done so far, i had to give the plastic a little shine, since the paint was so deep into the plastic, the only thing i could think was to give it a paint wash Same piece after the blue wash, the lines dont show any silver at all Something i noticed was that the plastic started to crack, is not brittle or anything, but at least the outer layer got that texture. At this moment, i cant say if it was the brake fluid, the alcohol or other things i used to remove the paint
If you used anything with paint thinner in it, that would explain the cracking. It can also harm the plastic, so please be careful!
Stickering time! First test... not the right colors for the tape, but at least sizing was correct, as well for Soundwave Second printing was better, since the old sticker was darker Now for the metallic stickers, i found a clear vinil used in my print shop with sharp details and quality, that i stick to chromed paper, with good results, below my first tests and Soundwave color tests Every sticker was redone on Inskcape for Windows After some cutting and trimming... I didnt made all the decals since the sealed figure doesnt shows all the vintage stickers And finally, the tape. That sticker is printed in white decal paper Saddly, the chest door is not translucent enough to show the cassette tape, oh well! All i need to do to finish this restoration (For now), is repair the missile/gun and the sword I couldnt find the head... So i might need to get a junker and simply repaint, unfortunately junker Soundwave are rare in my city/country. Another option, might be cast a new head just for the sake of it
