My last MOC purchase in a while...

[tigerham]

Hi all, I thought I would do something special for my last MOC purchase for a while as concentrating on other things.

I got this ESB Power Droid in the hope I could make it right. When I received it the residue/sticker paper was a lot tougher than I had thought but I persisted and slowly but surely it came away. Result.

Then I decided to make a custom flattening press out of MDF pieces I had left from the cabinet with a cut-out the right size for the bubble just so it holds the edge of the bubble down. I did the same for one piece of flat smooth white card to protect the card against the MDF. And now it's good night MOC for a week or two and I'll check the result.

 

[apack7229]

Great looking moc. I can't wait to see how well it comes out.

 

[tigerham]

Great looking moc. I can't wait to see how well it comes out.

Thank you apack. I was pleasantly surprised at how mint and clear the bubble was too. Will keep you updated.

 

[Cazza]

Really good idea! I always use towers of books, which work, but are awkward and pretty precarious. Gotta love a PD on ESB card. The colours work really well. Same with the DSD.

Looking forward to seeing the results 8)

 

[Pomse2001]

good luck, can't wait to see how it looks next week :wink:

I use heavy books on moc when I have bend moc :lol:

 

[subzero]

Interesting stuff, looking forward to seeing how effective it is.

I'm not sure if this can damage the card & colours or not but what about introducing a little moisture to it as well?, iv'e heard giving comic books a little moisture with the steam from an iron can help make it supple again to bring it back to shape while it's being pressed, it's supposed to restructure the paper again, I just don't know if it's good enough for a MOC though.

 

[tigerham]

Interesting stuff, looking forward to seeing how effective it is.

I'm not sure if this can damage the card & colours or not but what about introducing a little moisture to it as well?, iv'e heard giving comic books a little moisture with the steam from an iron can help make it supple again to bring it back to shape while it's being pressed, it's supposed to restructure the paper again, I just don't know if it's good enough for a MOC though.

Thank you guys.

Yes, I was definitely thinking about steaming the card to a degree but then thought about the bubble. It might have an affect on the glue and therefore may cause some lifting. Otherwise it would have been ideal to press it back to it's original shape.

 

[tigerham]

Really good idea! I always use towers of books, which work, but are awkward and pretty precarious. Gotta love a PD on ESB card. The colours work really well. Same with the DSD.

Looking forward to seeing the results 8)

Thanks Cazza. Yes, I think so too. Always like the PD's colours and design. Really stands out.

 

[pizzathehutt]

great job on the sticker removal

looking forward to seeing the flattening result

 

[tigerham]

great job on the sticker removal

looking forward to seeing the flattening result

Thank you my friend. I'm not sure how much it will flatten but I will see after a week. Otherwise I will have to think of something else. Ideally, as Richard mentioned, I would want to add a little moisture to the card to help it return to it's original state but I just don't want to chance any damage to the glue on the bubble.

 

[pizzathehutt]

great job on the sticker removal

looking forward to seeing the flattening result

Thank you my friend. I'm not sure how much it will flatten but I will see after a week. Otherwise I will have to think of something else. Ideally, as Richard mentioned, I would want to add a little moisture to the card to help it return to it's original state but I just don't want to chance any damage to the glue on the bubble.

its a great looking card! I love the purple glow to it and a nice clear bubble is a bonus

I tried doing a smiliar thing with a steely dan record that was warped, I stuck it between 2 book flat atlas's and piled up yellow pages on top, I left it for a month and it did makes things better but obviously not 100% but that's vinyl and not cardboard.

I reckon you will have some success with this though.

 

[tigerham]

its a great looking card! I love the purple glow to it and a nice clear bubble is a bonus

I tried doing a smiliar thing with a steely dan record that was warped, I stuck it between 2 book flat atlas's and piled up yellow pages on top, I left it for a month and it did makes things better but obviously not 100% but that's vinyl and not cardboard.

I reckon you will have some success with this though.

Thank you for that information. There's hope still. I may have to leave it for a month then just to be sure.

Yes, it's always been one of my favourite designs because of the colouring. One I wanted to get last time round I was collecting but never got round to it so getting this one and being the last one in a while was something special for sure. Will keep you updated, thanks again.

 

[poncho]

:shock:

great stuff!

look forward to the result

 

[subzero]

Interesting stuff, looking forward to seeing how effective it is.

I'm not sure if this can damage the card & colours or not but what about introducing a little moisture to it as well?, iv'e heard giving comic books a little moisture with the steam from an iron can help make it supple again to bring it back to shape while it's being pressed, it's supposed to restructure the paper again, I just don't know if it's good enough for a MOC though.

Thank you guys.

Yes, I was definitely thinking about steaming the card to a degree but then thought about the bubble. It might have an affect on the glue and therefore may cause some lifting. Otherwise it would have been ideal to press it back to it's original shape.

Yeah that's the only problem is the risk to the bubble with the glue, maybe even if the pressing method don't work you could always just stick it in a GW case which will straighten it out, and over time after so many years it just may end up flat again. I have one with a badly curled up card but while in the case you'd never know it was curled.

 

[edd_jedi]

Good effort so far. Obviously try this at your own risk but I have had good success using steam to flatten cards. Hold it above a boiling kettle for a few seconds until it goes slightly floppy, and then immediately put it under some weight until it dries. I have significantly flattened 3 MOCs using this technique.

 

[tigerham]

Good effort so far. Obviously try this at your own risk but I have had good success using steam to flatten cards. Hold it above a boiling kettle for a few seconds until it goes slightly floppy, and then immediately put it under some weight until it dries. I have significantly flattened 3 MOCs using this technique.

Thank you for this confidence Edd. Has it affected the bubble or glue on bubble at all? Any lifting in the slightest?

Yes, Richard I thought it would look fine in the GW case but it would still have a bend.

 

[Mini99]

Good luck with this, I normally use books, but as Andy has said, this can be a bit precarious!
The problem that I have is lack of patience, after a day or two I want to see how it's going and then being disappointed by the lack of result!

edd_jedi wrote:
Good effort so far. Obviously try this at your own risk but I have had good success using steam to flatten cards. Hold it above a boiling kettle for a few seconds until it goes slightly floppy, and then immediately put it under some weight until it dries. I have significantly flattened 3 MOCs using this technique.

You must have nerves of steel to do this Edd!
I would worry the bubble would fall off half way through the steam bath. :shock:

Cazza wrote:
Really good idea! I always use towers of books, which work, but are awkward and pretty precarious. Gotta love a PD on ESB card. The colours work really well. Same with the DSD.

Have to agree, those two cards are so vibrant, the purple really makes the card "pop"!

 

[edd_jedi]

Thank you for this confidence Edd. Has it affected the bubble or glue on bubble at all? Any lifting in the slightest?

No I'm talking literally a few seconds under the steam, you would have to submerge it in water or something for the glue to start lifting. These things are hardier than most people think, just look at the massive rips on most used cardbacks! It's only Toy Toni's that fall off :lol:

 

[Snaketibe]

Best of luck with this, Ham. I completely agree that a few seconds of steam should be harmless enough, and should also allow for a better card straightening as a result.

A friend of mine had a nightmare accident where his boiler failed whilst he was on holiday. That boiler was in his display room and although there was an air vent in the room, it completely filled it with steam for an unknown length of time. As soon as he arrived back and discovered the problem, he switched off the boiler, vented the steam and then set about trying to minimise the damage by lying all his MOCs flat on some plaster board sheets to help dry them out. Most of his cards were from the modern line, but his collection also included some vintage MOCs. Almost miraculously, he got away with suffering minimal damage. Only one single modern bubble came away from its cardback. The rest survived OK.

As I say, it is not known how long the steam had been present in the room before he discovered it, but it was certainly an awful lot longer than just a few seconds, so I can't see any problems with using Edd's technique on your MOC.

Let us know how you get on

 

[tigerham]

Thank you for this confidence Edd. Has it affected the bubble or glue on bubble at all? Any lifting in the slightest?

No I'm talking literally a few seconds under the steam, you would have to submerge it in water or something for the glue to start lifting. These things are hardier than most people think, just look at the massive rips on most used cardbacks! It's only Toy Toni's that fall off :lol:

Ok, so after I steam the card for a few seconds my next question is when I put the blocks back on top of the card will the litho print be ok? What about the moist card/print of the MOC sticking to the board/card laying on top?