I got it second hand from a friend at school who'd painted it bright yellow for some reason.
I set to work hand painting it a deep red. And that's how it's stayed for the past forty odd years, until now.
This week I carefully took it all apart and and left it overnight in a 50/50 solution of 'Dettol' antiseptic disinfectent. This works fine with plastic and doesn't make it brittle.This broke down most of the old paint, Leaving it for a further 24 hours in the solution did the trick.
The only paint left on it now is mixed with the original plastic cement, which will need to be removed by scraping and sanding.
There's still a lot of fiddly work to do, trying to make the parts fit back together with all the old glue needing to be removed. The base is in pretty bad shape as it has an indentation and crack caused by an excessive amount of glue when it was originally put together, and as well as that both the two top sections have large cracks in the plastic.
Even so, I'm looking forward to completing the project. I'm obviously not expecting the restoration to produce something mint, but if I can cheer it up and make it reasonably decent I'll be happy.
That looks very clean, Scoop. Never heard of Dettol before to get paint off - I've used brake fluid up to now, which is rather brutal but does do the trick as well. Dettol seems a lot safer to handle though I think.
ReplyDeleteBest -- Paul
Dettol Anticeptic works a treat, Paul, and doesn't damage the plastic at all. It makes the garage smell a bit like a school caretakers store room, but as you say it's safe. I'm not keen on using brake fluid as I've heard it takes the oils out of plastic and makes it brittle.
DeleteGreat job Scoop and a superb Autumn project now the nights are drawing in. I love the original plastic colour, its SWORD Task Force red!
ReplyDeleteThanks Woodsy. I must admit I enjoying the project. It's fiddly and there's a couple of parts that are missing, but its still fun.
DeleteExcellent work Scoop!! Can't wait to see the finished project.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ed. Not sure how long it'll take. I've got quite a bit of filling to do, plus scratch build a couple of parts, before I even think about painting it.
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