a while back,there was a thread posted over on cybertron.ca about using hydrogen peroxide to reverse the sundamage in g1 figs.for the past 2 weeks I’ve tried out this method and this is the results.i tried both natural sunlight and artificial uv light from a lamp.
Here’s a list of all that was required
• 3 bottles of 3% 10 volume hydrogen peroxide usp(2$each)
• 2 bottles of 6% 20 volume hydrogen peroxide(4$each)
• Glass jar (3$)
• Halogen lamp from walmart(15$)
• 1 pair of plastic chopsticks(no,not kidding;p)
• A bunch of sunfaded sacrifices
The step by step of how to do it yourself the easiest way is
1. thoroughly wash your bot(a tooth brush and sunlight dishsoap works real well to get all the nooks and cranny’s)
2. once your bot is dried off a bit(not dripping water)go ahead and disassemble him.(this will help him fit better into the glass jar)
3. take your hydro perox and start filling the glass jar,but only about 5/8ths full.
4. Start throwing your bot parts into the jar.(now you’ll know why you only filled it up 5/8ths,I learned the hard way and ended up wiping up a lot of peroxide;( )
5. Once the lid is on,put the jar outside where it’ll probably be in the sun all day.
6. As time goes by(every 40-50 min)check on the jar,open it up,use the chopsticks to stir/move the parts around and to dissapate the tiny bubbles that accumulated. if you don’t,everything will keep floating in one giant mass at the top of the jar.what ever is in the middle of that mass will not get the needed uv rays.
7. Once you’re satisfied with the color,take your chopsticks and start plucking those pieces out of the solution.
8. I like to drop them into a bowl of soapy water,then again with the toothbrush.
9. Reassemble bot once dry(this would be a good time to replace the screws if you have new ones)
A few things I noticed while trying this out is
• Patience is number one.
• If there’s a sticker on the plastic,the uv will not penetrate the plastic behind it.(unless its clear/transparent like the g1 pretenders)
• Never use clear plastic containers(the first jar I had was plastic and it ended up somehow bubbling out the bottom of the jar)always glass only.
• Certain stickers get a “hazing” sheen to them,while others remain untouched.
• G1 rub symbols are unaffected by the solution(unless your symbol is half peeling off,then it’ll seep in between the layers)
• Whites and grey colors are recommended over other colors.
• Make sure to move/turn the jar often when using the halogen lamp(extremely concentrated beam=overcooked look)
• In extreme sunfading cases(like the g1 hungurr I used)some plastic just cant be saved.it’s been in the sun “browning” for so long,it couldn’t be salvaged.the purple came back,but wherever the sun damage was,now the purple looks lighter than the purple areas that wasn’t too faded from the get go.
• G1 rub/faction sybols will remain untouched as long as it doesn’t have any splitting/separation going on.
• Constantly stir/move your piece’s around in the jar,too long in one spot and you’ll end up with certain areas that have “crazing/fading”.(think of how long that g1 bot sat infront of a store front window and how it got faded in the first place.a good example is the g1 hungurr i used for this,his whole front bot mode was literally brown,but afterwards,he’s now white but his purple chest pieces have a really faded look to them from staying in one place too long in the jar.
• Once you put a bot in,after a few minutes in the sun,if you don’t start seeing tiny bubbles going up(like a glass of beer),add more “new” peroxide to your jar.i haven’t found any difference/adverse affect from mixing used and new peroxide yet.next up….yellowed starsaber!

 

I only have 1 question how did you get my Hun Gurr?   mine looks almost exactly like that before and after

 

That's thoroughly impressive!

 

I tried this as well.. it works really well!!
there's a possibility I'll get 35% peroxide somewhere in the near future and will try this as well..

 

If I ever get the chance, I need to whiten up my Sixshot's head and arms, they're slightly yellow, but nothing beats the new look.

 

I did that to mine but if you have to do the wheel part be prepared to remove the pins that hold on the wheels on. that stuff will destroy chrome in seconds and the screw is located behind sixshots wheel its the only reason I havnt dont mine but I did do most of the other stiff on him

 

Sorry if I missed it, but how long did you end up leaving most of the figures in the peroxide?

 

Hmmm, that's not good, I'm not that adept at dismantleing TF's yet, maybe I'll just live with the yellowing (it's not really that much)

 

so you're using UV light to break what possibly caused the fading in the first place?

 

off and on,only a few hours in the real sunlight,but way more under the lamp.just remember to always move/stir the pieces around in there often.patience is required at this point.

kinda sounds funny but yeah.i'm not the one who discovered this(i think it was someone on cybertron.ca?)i just had the extra heavily sundamaged bots available and the time to test it out to try to prove whether it works or not.under normal flourescent light nothing happens,but the minute you have a uv source like the lamp i tested with or sunlight on it,it'll start working(tiny bubbles) within 10-15 min.

 

Very nice discovery Chans.  

 

What if you have problems dismantling a TF? The heads on the screws in my PM Prime trailer became too worn out and they're impossible to be unscrewed. Do I just dump the whole darn thing in there or have the darn thing dipped half way?

 

it should only be long pins that you have to knock out to seperate the grey sides from the trailer.you can dump the whole thing in there if you have a big enough container,but move it around very often.never let any other color than white/grey sit in one angle too long.if you do,it'll end up looking faded.at the moment im testing a few different magic potions that will hopefully bring back any colors faded/damaged from not moving the pieces often enough.results soon i hope.(for stripped screws i usually use an "easy out" bit,available from crappy tire.ask them for the set with the thinnest shank.)

 

It was actually discovered a little over a year ago by some Amiga computer geeks trying to whiten their ancient yellowed/oranged/browned computer cases. Action-figures.ca had a discussion about it a year ago and people started using it around here (and presumably cybertron.ca) in late 2008: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/197984-yellowing-problems-might-help.html
The original computer guys also have recipes for making a whitening gel to cover large areas, like computer cases or maybe a Fort Max. I plan to try it out on my GI Joe Defiant shuttle: Retr0Bright - Retr0Bright Gel

Also, higher concentrations can affect rubsigns. Again using 35%, I've had rubsigns repeatedly ruined where the sticker background turns completely gray and the bot/con symbol is permanently shown.

It hasn't been mentioned much/at all in any threads of this topic at TFW or other places I've read, but putting painted metal into the solution will cause bubble to form under the paint. A Red Alert with yellowed spoilers came out with some gorgeous spoilers but the hydrogen (bubbles) released from the reaction got pocketed under the paint and ruined the legs.

 

thats crazy to know the original discovery was made to refurbish old computer shells thanks for the links too!!there's some really good info in them!!

 

Damn ya beat me to it, I just started this same experiment last night to see how well it worked. Decided to try it first with just regular household peroxide (3%) to see how well that worked, then if not to try the high grade stuff (20%+). So far my bot (g1 Ramjet) has been in the sun for about 3 hours with very promising results. My junker body may end up looking better than my display piece lol.

I left my bot together though, as I was just looking for proof of concept. I think it's actually the heat generated by the sun that causes the reaction (from another article that I read), I guess I'll see when I pull him out and look at the spots that didn't get any direct sunlight. I'll post before/during/after pics if you don't mind when I'm all done.

EDIT: After checking in on my bot again, it does look like the places that the sunlight is not hitting are not being restored as fast. Curious to see what the peroxide does to the rub sign

 

I know I've read that this method is not supposed to effect paint apps on plastic, but has anyone here tried it yet?

I pulled my Ramjet out & it looked very good except it caused the paint to "bubble up" from the die-cast parts of the body. I'm getting a slightly yellow Jetfire but don't want to try it on him if it's gonna peel off the paint aps

 

I've done several Jetfires now and all came out great. The only paint problem I've encountered was the nose paint on ONE which came out with lighter red spots on it. It's possible they were there prior to dunking them, but I suspect it's because I wasn't moving the parts around enough and they got a little sun bleached. All the other paint apps have been perfect.

It sounds like your Ramjet experience the same thing my Red Alert did, as I described in my last post. Gas gets trapped between the metal and the paint and forms those bubbles. You won't have this problem with painted plastic.

 

Never thought about that being the reason, I spent the last day 1/2 wondering how peroxide could break the adhesion between the paint and metal on a chemical level.

I wonder if I would have stirred him more it this would have happened? The "paint bubbles" look just like the large bubbles that formed on it while it was soaking, just about the same dispersal pattern & size that is. Maybe something to do with the peroxide bubbles focusing the suns light/heat like a magnifying glass?

Gonna have to give it another go round when I get another junker with paited die-cast.

 

GO BIG OR GO HOME. NO GUTS, NO GLORY. Gave a Galaxzy Shuttle a hydrogen peroxide vapour.

BEFORE:


AFTER: