how to restor yellow'd plastic?

[CdnShockwave]

Just wondering if anyone out there has any tips for restoring yellow'd plastic to its original minty white freshness. I recently got a Jetfire head for my reissue VF-1A and it's a little on the yellow side. Anyone have any ideas?

[Solscud007]

nope there doenst seem to be a real answer to that problem except repaint it and buff the heck out of the paint.

[jenius]

I was told to use a product called "paper thinner" One day i pull out my old Jetfire and see if I can't find out what exactly that product is...

[Valk009]

Not sure about it though, but how about one of those Super Fine Polish in a tube by Tamiya?

I t acts as a very very fine sand paper, finer than a 2000 grain and shoul be able to just take off the yellowed and leaves the model/toy with almost no visible scratches!

Andy

Edited April 14, 2005 by Valk009

[shdwfx2000]

does anyone have some yellowed throw away toy to see if it's just a surface problem, or if it's a change throughout the plastic? hate to think all it took was some buffing, and i was just being lazy

[cambodian tire]

I've cleaned up old yellowed toys by dismantling them and soaking the part, absolutely submerged, in straight bleach overnight. I did this years ago to a Kenner X-wing fighter and the plastic was fine years later - just to quell some fears. Trust if the bleach isn't penetrating into the stain it isn't penetrating the the plastic molecules and "melting them" dosent bleach come in a plastic bottle? That said there are different types of plastic so try it out somewhere that won't be visible, don't run with scissors and tear apart all plastic bags....

[shdwfx2000]

i was reading up on this, and the possibility of sanding might be a viable option. apparently somebody did quite a bit of homework on this subject and found that plastics degrad with age<duh>. heat and uv light help it break down, the surface molecules start to unchain, and the plastic itself is eroding away. the yellow is just the first part. sanding is an option, but a piece will sometimes spontaneously turn yellow again. painting is an option, so yellow jet/sky fires make an attractive plea for customization. i have read whitening toothpaste, a pinball machine cleaning chemical called Novus #2 might work, but could remove paint, and another suggestion for a product called Peek metal polish, which i will assume has a mild abrasive in it. Perhaps a container of Mother's will do the trick?

i think i will ebay for a horribly yellow valk, and see what i can find..

[Damaramu]

I wonder what something like OxyClean would do to yellowed plastic. Hmmm.....