zarintyr Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Has anyone ever heard of armor developing a light purple hue due to air exposure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexous Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Not sure about purple, I know that ABS naturally yellows with sun exposure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarintyr Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 hmm..i thought maybe its the tint of my light. outside most pieces seem to be as white as my shirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stasz Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Lighting makes a huge difference in how it looks. If you have an LED or CFL bulb I could see that touching off a blueish/purplish hue to the armor. To me, what it looks like in the sun is what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugdozer Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Just out of interest... why do almost all white substances that discolour ONLY go yellow? Nothing ever goes red or green, it's always yellow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stasz Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I've done some reading on it, and apparently it's a flame retardant in the ABS itself that leeches out and yellows when it's hit by UV light. "The yellowing of ABS when exposed to Ultraviolet light is the result of a flame retardant added to the plastic during the manufacturing process. The most common of which is tetrabromobisphenol –A, or TBBP-A. When exposed to UV light the TBBP-A degrades allowing Bromine to become a free radical. The bromine forms a bond with readily available oxygen and causes the yellow color." - from an instructables on retrobright. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwattsup Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Breaking it down all scientific like! Thanks for doing the research on that John. Totally above and beyond. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexous Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 There is a process that people do and has proven successful called retrobrite that messes with the chemistry of the ABS and makes it white again Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I don't use retrobrite. There's a another much easier way to do it. I'm not posting it here because I started a huge fight over on one of the Facebook collector pages. If you have just the slightest common sense you can do it. All from Walmart for less than 8 bucks. It'll also turn the yellow paint on a fiberglass bucket back to it orginal look. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stasz Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I don't use retrobrite. There's a another much easier way to do it. I'm not posting it here because I started a huge fight over on one of the Facebook collector pages. If you have just the slightest common sense you can do it. All from Walmart for less than 8 bucks. It'll also turn the yellow paint on a fiberglass bucket back to it orginal look. If you'd rather not mention it here Tim, would you pm me about it? I used retrobright on my bucket and some old, very well played with Stormtroopers from my childhood and I was really happy with the results. I'd be curious to know what alternatives are out there. Though I'm sure you'd be fine to mention it here. The Pathfinders are - dare I say - more civilized than the Facebook crowd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I don't use retrobrite. There's a another much easier way to do it. I'm not posting it here because I started a huge fight over on one of the Facebook collector pages. If you have just the slightest common sense you can do it. All from Walmart for less than 8 bucks. It'll also turn the yellow paint on a fiberglass bucket back to it orginal look. Go for it brother, you have earned the right to post it up. I'm totally interested. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 You guys got it! I'm a vintage Star Wars mega collector and I was always running into "yellowed" items. So I used retrobrite yes it worked good. Here's the Steps 1 Go to the store whatever it maybe Wal-mart ect 2 Buy the cheap brown bottle peroxide it's only 3% peroxide the rest is just water 3 Buy a tub of Colgate optic white 4 Mix the two at 80/20 80 toothpaste 20% peroxide 5 Apply with a nice soft brush Walmart has a nice set with a medium sized brush in for about 4 bucks 6 Apply a even coat. 7 Let it set in your room,closet wherever as long as it isn't in the sun. 8 Give it a day or two clean paste off with a soft damp towel. 9 Patience is key It may take 2 applications two get what you need. I had a MC helmet that yellowed on me. So I thought retrobrite. Then I got to thinking about my log truck!!! Yeah I own my log trucks. One is a pearl white well she yellowed on me I was thinking great here's another ten grand! The Dallas Texas truck expo was coming up I needed a fix quick. I watched a YouTube video on fiberglass cleaner for RV's and that got me to thinking. So I sent the wife out to get 10 tubes of it. I tried it on the hood and BAM there's was the show truck shine back! My Ducati 1199 is white I ride in the summer a lot so I tried it on the plastics and it worked perfect I had the gloss white back just like the day I got it off the show room floor. So I moved onto some old junk yellow MC armor I bought from a man for next to nothing and gave it a try. It took 3 days but it looks just like it did the day they put it in the box. Please don't be a goof and go buy straight peroxide! It's a acid that at 90% can eat right through aluminum. I use it at 25% to clean my wheels and fuel tanks on my trucks every weekend. Keep in mind the brown bottle stuff is never over 3% peroxide the rest is just plain old water. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Forgot to add the paste will not harm the decals at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Awesome advice, thanks Tim! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexous Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Interesting write up mine hasn't reached this point yet, but I am willing to give it a shot once it starts down that road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Yeah, the KS parts I still have are bright white (chest/back, biceps, forearms, knees). And, I've done a lot of outdoor troops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarintyr Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 I envy you Grif...my armor didnt come in pure white. I am in the painstaking process of spray painting my entire armor kit. T.T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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