BlueMax

Well said, and thank you @sqidd for the measurement data/ knowledge. The objective is then "How to delay the yellowing for as long as possible". Although UV undoubtly by itself is a huge factor, I will urge everyone to pay attention to, and attempt to minimise the other contributing factors (plastic composition, direct exposure of bare plastic to air, sustained heat, touch/sweat/oil on skin, high humidity) as well. Also, these are not just as standalone factors, but each and every factor can be a catalyst for each other (eg, bare plastic with bad composition, exposed to sustained heat, visible/invisible light spectrum, and frequently handled by bare hands.) Some things we cannot control, but I am of the opinion that a clear coat, especially a UV cut version, would aid tremendously in buying time before perceptible yellowing sets in.

Nice! Thanks for sharing! Always great to see your updates.

The next logical question is: if the plastics used is the base problem, is there still anything we can do to prevent yellowing, or at least delay it? Or is it futile no matter what?

That’s the thing... it sure ain’t exposure to UV in your case, though prior exposure might play a part. Yellowing can occur regardless of the color of plastic, just a matter of whether it is obvious or not. Maybe a few questions you can ask answer: Were the items handled with bare hands regularly prior to storage? Is it an even yellowing? Does the yellowing somewhat correspond to where contact was made when handling?m, or mainly the “top-sides” and parts generally visible to the eye? How long were displayed in regular settings before being settled in a dark room? Why kind of lights were you using in regular settings? How hot and humid is your dark room?

AC use would probably give the best results, but in my case, that room has no AC, so desiccant packs/ hungry hippos (from Daiso) for me now, plus a hygrometer for measurement. This is in addition to making sure I limit my time inside (previously I would spend lengthy periods inside trying to look for stuff, and that would result in me becoming very hot and sweaty, raising the temp and humidity levels. I made use of the Circuit Breaker period ( in effect a Soft covid lock down) to fully rearrange the room and offloaded loads of unwanted stuff. Now things are sorted properly and catalogued so I won’t have to spend unnecessary time going through stuff.

Not a Chemist, but from a common sense point of view, what I can think of and what I am currently trying to do is minimise the risk factors at play. All the risk factors, seem to have this in common: Exposure of bare plastic to: AIR, combined with heat, humidity, organic contaminations (oils, sweat, etc) and visible / invisible spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Except for visible light, i am attempting to eliminate or at least minimise the risk factors’ direct interaction with the bare plastic. I am currently sealing all new and opened Macross toys’ white or light coloured bare plastics with a top coat, specifically Gunze’s Mr Super Clear (semi gloss) and the UV cut version (flat). Of course, we won’t know the outcome until a few years later... and even then, it might not be conclusive. I’m not setting this up as an experiment after all, more to protect my toys the best I can.

I have a room, totally non-ventilated, which is used to store all my valks and other stuff, from about 2011 onwards. Since then, more than 95% of the time, the room is not accessed and is is basically in darkness until the ligts are switched on. However, the room is constantly between 30 - 32 Deg Celsius (86-90 Deg F) and maybe even higher on warmer days. Humidity level is high, because I live in the tropics (I have since corrected this in the last couple of months to be more inline with ambient humidity), and is evident by instances of whitish mold growth on some of the boxes (most obvious on the TF masterpiece black boxes). There are 2 main results. 1. Toys that have basically seen very little or no display outside its original packaging and stayed in packaging for the duration of the 9 years. Very limited to zero handling by hand. 2. Toys that have seen substantial time outside (months to couple of years out out box, but out of direct sunlight, but exposed to flourescent light at night for up to 4-5 hours each night) and then either left in the dark exposed, or put into storage in ziplock bags and sealed. Also, most have been handled by bare skin pror to being put back in storage. For toys under 1: There seems to be little to no yeallowing at all, when I pulled a couple out of storage just days ago to take pictures to facilitate selling (Yamato 1/48 VF-1A Max and Kakizaki) . To be clear, alot of MISB toys' condition are unable to be ascertained. For toys under 2: Substantial yellowing, and for some, very serious yellowing. Regardless of whether they have been in ziplock bags or not. (Examples include: Yamato 1/48 Roy Focker and VF-1A Hikaru, All 1/60 VF-1 V1s, 1/60 Roy Focker VF-1 V2 and Bandai 1/55 CF, Interestingly, once those in group 2 were exposed to regular ambient light, after a couple of days, the yellowing subsided a little, not as bad, but still obvious. (intense exposure to sunlight for the severely yellowed items yielded good (up to 70% less yellowing), though with somewhat uneven results (some parts only yielded 20% or so) Makes me wonder how many factors there were in play here simultaneously, and how much each contributes. Heat? Light? Prior exposure to visible/ invisible spectrum of light? Organic residue after being handled by bare hands? Moisture? Quality of plastics (some parts remained as white as ever)?

Thanks. Time to replace my 2700K leds!

4000K or 6500K?

Way too generous... more like milliseconds

Very nice! Can I ask if the finish is semi-gloss or gloss? thanks!

I was in disbelief and almost certain someone was pulling a prank when I saw the news... until I saw the source(s). My deepest condolences to his family.

Nono, I’m not asking for step by step, I’m just saying that I appreciate the sharing on your choice of TOP coats, as well as how you prepared the resin kits, and the various things to take care of

Amazing customs and photography! Also the step-by-steps are very much appreciated!

Hi all, so I’ve scored some loose Regults... only thing is....they don’t come with Tamashii stand adapters. Does anyone know of any shapeways link that has such replacements? thanks in advance

You see the true cost of a fully decked out DX VF-1! Well, thats the genius of bandai's marketing (besides artificially created scarcity)..... making us think the the DX Chogokins are more reasonably priced, but with all bells and whistles in (which all diehard fans will want anyway), it is waaaay more substantial that what we think we are willing to pay when we tried to convince ourselves that a plain VF-1 is enough....

I have tried this for myself, and the results are good, and it is probably less damaging than perioxide if exposure isn't long term (like weeks or months). However, for some of the more serious yellowing, it cannot be completely reversed, and can only achieve about 70-80% results.

Hm... there was a Go-bot that looked almost like this edit: found it

I have tried the Sunlight only method, it aomewhat works, but much slower than peroxide, and some stubborn yellowed parts refuse to return to the original whiteness Right side VF-171 was not subjected to the sun treatment. Total exposure time was about 5 hours.

For whatever it is worth, the DX YF-19 was shipped and sold by Amazon itself. After that, I never had a problem like that with Amazon Japan, but obviously the problem is still occuring. My impression is that even if the item is sold by a third party, it is still packed and shipped by Amazon, not the 3rd party seller.

I had the DX YF-19 shipped to me the same way. When confronted, they apologized, but did not take responsibility, and out of "goodwill" only gave me an one-off paltry few dollars worth of store credit.

I'm in

Currently available for international shipping... go go GO!!!

Caught it a few days ago, and i feel.....

Dear all, i’ve managed to score a VF-31A! But it is used and has a big problem: the wing root swivelling mechanism, specifically the tube/cylinder that swivels round the rod for transformation is broken. Can anybody advise how to go about doing that? The broken tube parts are safely in storage. thanks in advance