Princess Raya
Padawan
I've been debating whether to post this story or not. I'm new around here and there are a couple of controversial points contained herein. I don't want to be chased off with pitchforks, but feel the need to confess my sins.
My AT-ST was one of 4 surviving childhood toys. Recently rescued from my parents loft, but it wasn't in a good way:
It's fought in many battles, and has the scars to prove it. It's trampled many ewoks in it's time, and yes, those are Ewok blood stains [red felt pen]. My brother is the artist of the family and kindly(?) resprayed it silver to cover up the blood stains. The paint didn't take too well, and it's been gathering dust in my parents loft ever since. Along with my newly found desire to rebuild my collection, I'm also keen to restore my Chicken Walker.
Following some online research, it's had a few chemical baths to try to clean it up. It started with Fairy Power Spray. That got rid of some of the silver, but involved a lot of elbow grease for little pay-off. Then came the Dettol. Now this was good stuff. It dissolved the silver paint and faded the Ewok blood. Progress had been made. I replaced the missing pieces using ebay and straightened his legs and guns with boiling water. Me and the Chicken Walker are starting to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel.
However, the pink Ewok blood still bothers me. I've come this far and I want to finish the job.
The sun was shining yesterday, so I had a go at the Hydrogen Peroxide treatment. This has removed a lot of the yellowing (not my primary goal), but the damn Ewok blood remains. That brings you up to date with the story so far. I haven't put him back together again for another photoshoot yet, because I'm still working on the pink stains. Here's the before and after shot pre-HP to give you the general idea.
Now yes, I am aware of the controversy hydrogen peroxide seems to generate. I know there are risks. Nobody knows what it will do to the plastic. He might crumble to dust before the year is out. But my view is thus: Everything comes to an end sooner or later. In the long run we are all dead. Everybody dies; not everybody really lives.
If I had done nothing, my AT-ST would have gathered dust in a loft somewhere and eventually deceased, alone and unloved. But now, me and my Chicken Walker are on a new adventure together, and enjoying every minute of it. The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and my AT-ST is burning so very very brightly!
[And for the record - No my Stormies will not be going anywhere near the Hydrogen Peroxide!]
Finally on to my second point of controversy. I need some stickers. Now I'm with you all on this one. I do not want to put money into the pockets of anybody producing repro crap that might be passed off as original. But how else do I finish my AT-ST project?
So in summary:
A) Any tips on removing red ink?
B) What do I do about the stickers?
C) Shoot me down for the Hydogen Peroxide and wanting repro stickers. But be warned, we're ready for the fight.
My AT-ST was one of 4 surviving childhood toys. Recently rescued from my parents loft, but it wasn't in a good way:
It's fought in many battles, and has the scars to prove it. It's trampled many ewoks in it's time, and yes, those are Ewok blood stains [red felt pen]. My brother is the artist of the family and kindly(?) resprayed it silver to cover up the blood stains. The paint didn't take too well, and it's been gathering dust in my parents loft ever since. Along with my newly found desire to rebuild my collection, I'm also keen to restore my Chicken Walker.
Following some online research, it's had a few chemical baths to try to clean it up. It started with Fairy Power Spray. That got rid of some of the silver, but involved a lot of elbow grease for little pay-off. Then came the Dettol. Now this was good stuff. It dissolved the silver paint and faded the Ewok blood. Progress had been made. I replaced the missing pieces using ebay and straightened his legs and guns with boiling water. Me and the Chicken Walker are starting to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel.
However, the pink Ewok blood still bothers me. I've come this far and I want to finish the job.
The sun was shining yesterday, so I had a go at the Hydrogen Peroxide treatment. This has removed a lot of the yellowing (not my primary goal), but the damn Ewok blood remains. That brings you up to date with the story so far. I haven't put him back together again for another photoshoot yet, because I'm still working on the pink stains. Here's the before and after shot pre-HP to give you the general idea.
Now yes, I am aware of the controversy hydrogen peroxide seems to generate. I know there are risks. Nobody knows what it will do to the plastic. He might crumble to dust before the year is out. But my view is thus: Everything comes to an end sooner or later. In the long run we are all dead. Everybody dies; not everybody really lives.
If I had done nothing, my AT-ST would have gathered dust in a loft somewhere and eventually deceased, alone and unloved. But now, me and my Chicken Walker are on a new adventure together, and enjoying every minute of it. The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and my AT-ST is burning so very very brightly!
[And for the record - No my Stormies will not be going anywhere near the Hydrogen Peroxide!]
Finally on to my second point of controversy. I need some stickers. Now I'm with you all on this one. I do not want to put money into the pockets of anybody producing repro crap that might be passed off as original. But how else do I finish my AT-ST project?
So in summary:
A) Any tips on removing red ink?
B) What do I do about the stickers?
C) Shoot me down for the Hydogen Peroxide and wanting repro stickers. But be warned, we're ready for the fight.
