Restoring old Transformers

[Bogatan]

Ive been using plastic weld on GPS for years. Its very effective, but only in certain ways.

Because it melts a layer of the plastic I suspect its actually remixing it and making the joined area less susceptible to breaks. Obviously thats not going to stop the plastic either side of the join breaking though. So on its own it wont do much to help a part that broke due to stress like Armada Primes elbows or any of Chewbacca.

In order to stop repeat breaks the only solution I have is to dismantle as much as possible (which is a risk in itself) and then sand/cut down what ever part is being put under pressure. Ive done that on a couple of Killbisons including the junker I Toyfu got a few weeks back. The head (gold plastic) and the combiner port are on a shared joint with the main body(gold plastic) and theres a point when the head gets jammed because its slightly squared on at the back and the entire assebley can be ready to explode if pushed too hard. After trimming it all just slides past each other no worries.

Ive had sucess with the pretender vehicle with a gold base? Sanded back the clip on the front that locks the top part of the shell in place. Overlord is another good one if any of hte blue parts are starting to look brittle.

I really dont know if its actually makes any difference or not but what I have done with some Transformers is dismantle them and then coated the inside of the gold platic parts with a couple of layers of plastic weld. Properly get the brush in a mix it in.

If my theory is correct then the weld will have broken up the swirls and leave a slightly stronger outer surface. Whether such a thin layer of fixed plastic will actually make any difference, who knows.

[Bogatan]

Apr 3, 2022 9:25:06 GMT Pinwig said:

I could try that. I have a junker Armada Optimus with a snapped arm, that failed when I tried to transform it a while ago. I didn't realise at the time that was a GPS problem and was a bit rough with it. I could try the Plastic Weld on that as I still have the pieces. However, I'm not sure in the long run if that would help in that case as the joint was incredibly stiff in the first place. I can still see that snapping regardless of how good the weld is.

Dismantling and sanding down will work on Prime, but I think on the one I tried it on it left it with very floppy elbows. But thats still better than exploded.

[Pinwig]

That's really interesting. I would go to town on this Prime to try and sort him out as the electronics all still work, but I already have my own one (albeit Takara) and this donated and now broken Prime I have also has a lot of yellowing on the trailer. It's never going to be a good example to pass on.

[Bogatan]

Could be a good one to practice on. Try out some whitening on the trailer.

[Bogatan]

Apr 3, 2022 8:34:26 GMT Llama God said:

I wonder if that'd work on "gold plastic"-style fractures such as the one suffered by my Transmetal Megatron, or whether it'd be kind of futile, since there are too many other weaknesses waiting to happen?

Which bit/bits are broken?

[Pinwig]

Apr 3, 2022 10:32:52 GMT Bogatan said:

Could be a good one to practice on. Try out some whitening on the trailer.

That's true, given there are differences between the Takara and Hasbro versions. Maybe an Easter holiday project.

[Bogatan]

I keep meaning to see how my G2 Electro is doing. He was sat in his package looking quite intact last time I looked, but that was a few years ago, at least. I don't know how long since I transformed him.

I think I'm now scarred to look.

[Pinwig]

I keep thinking that about Transmetal Megatron. I know the tail has problems and mine is still unopened. If the ties holding him into the box have been put on tight, they may be pulling the tail in ways it doesn't want to be pulled.

Random yellowing worries me too. I've got a G1 Jetfire in its box in the loft that was pure white when I bought it. Every now and again I just think, 'it could be going yellow... right now...'

[Bogatan]

The tail is so far (touch wood) the only part of TM Megatron I havent had an issue with. (on ones I found at car boot sales or ebay lots, my original TM Megs was fine last time I saw it , whenever that was)

Non of the tail parts are ever under a lot of pressure and moves pretty smoothly. As long as nothing is pushed or pulled in a way its not designed to be it seems to be stable.

[Bogatan]

Jetfire, yeah.....

[Pinwig]

I... might have to go and look later.

[Llama God]

Apr 3, 2022 10:33:35 GMT Bogatan said:

Apr 3, 2022 8:34:26 GMT Llama God said:

I wonder if that'd work on "gold plastic"-style fractures such as the one suffered by my Transmetal Megatron, or whether it'd be kind of futile, since there are too many other weaknesses waiting to happen?

Which bit/bits are broken?

Nothing that can be fixed easily, now that I go and look at it again. It's the shoulder/chest-side assembly that folds in during transformation that's the issue - the pin housing has just shattered. And that's not something I'm going to be able to recreate or fix. I think I'd decided I was just going to have to glue the piece in either an open or closed position, and he'd be an Action Master for the rest of his days...

[Philip Ayres]

I've got the parts for one that sheared at the waist

[Bogatan]

Having got a few G1 Takara boxes recently that were in .......bad shape Ive been having a go at restoring them.

Its been interesting. And frustrating. Things that work on one will destroy others. I started with hand sanitiser to remove tape and sticky residue. Mostly it works well, if slowly. The alcohol breaks stuff down and as its in gel form it doesnt soak in or run everywhere.

Again mostly it seems to do no damage to the boxes, but then sometimes it will rub away the print.

Then I moved on to fixing tears and reinforcing the boxes with gum paper applied on the inside and honestly its amazing. The tears close up neatly except for the most ragged and damaged parts and the box is about as strong as it was new. Works for holes or missing carboard along the edges too. Im tempted to try printing patches to fill them.

And today Ive started playing with some starch paste to relaminate the split layers of card. So far it seems to be working.

[Philip Ayres]

SORCERY!

[The Doctor]

TO SOME A DREAM!

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

BOGATAN FOR THE REPAIR SHOP!

[Bogatan]

The starch paste works, the split/frayed corners of Circuits box are now stiff and no obvious signs of glue.

On to Deathsaurus, which may take weeks.

[shaggydave76]

Here's an old video of a very dirty and Yellowed SNES being restored.
He uses a fair amount of Hydrogen Peroxide to remove the yellowing, as it's a big item, but the SNES comes out beautifully.
It could easily be done on a smaller scale for Transformers figures, but I'd definitely take it apart first to get to just the yellowed limbs/parts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqGKIQAn0Cc&ab_channel=TysyTubeRestoration

[Philip Ayres]

Nick and Andy have brought several Jetfires back to life using that method

[Pinwig]

The question with that always seems to be how long the effect lasts.

[Jim]

Found my original Tigerhawk the other day, horrendously yellowed despite being stored alone in a shoebox inside a removal box for most of a decade. There's no hiding from time, I guess.

[The Doctor]

They say that Time is the fire in which we burn!

-Ralph

[Jim]

I knew that was coming the moment I posted

[KnightBeat]

I'm a little worried about my Tigerhawk and Jetfire now. They were fine when I checked a few years ago. The only discolouration I found was in a second-hand G1 Metroplex.

[Pinwig]

It is a fear we all harbour deep within us. Every time I go in the loft I dare myself to unpack some of the more susceptible figures. I check on Jetfire with genuine fear. Metroplex... he's in his box, I'd not thought of that. The one I routinely check is SG Starscream of the more recent figures.

[The Doctor]

My SG Starscream was yellow straight out the box when new.

-ralph

[Pinwig]

I blame the ducks.

[that_bluestreak]

I have bought myself a bottle of hydrogen peroxide for learning how to cure sunburn in Transformers. Mrs b thought I had had a midlife crisis and was going for a 90s bleach hairstyle. She looked a bit disappointed when I said it was for Jetfire.

Bogatan, try using acetone to remove sticky residue. I've had success with that. Starch solution is a great idea, I will be trying that.

[blueshift]

Dec 21, 2023 16:39:25 GMT that_bluestreak said:

I have bought myself a bottle of hydrogen peroxide for learning how to cure sunburn in Transformers. Mrs b thought I had had a midlife crisis and was going for a 90s bleach hairstyle. She looked a bit disappointed when I said it was for Jetfire.

Bogatan, try using acetone to remove sticky residue. I've had success with that. Starch solution is a great idea, I will be trying that.

Isopropyl alcohol for sticky residue

You can use a UV light for the whitening trick but it needs heat too, worth waiting until the summer and some nice sunny days, I've not had as much luck doing it using a heat pad and uv light in the winter