The clear part of the decals in my accumulated kits (>5 yrs) are now yellowed with age. Any idea on how to restore them to a clear condition? BTW they are tamiya decals… Thanks in advance
The age-old remedy that I’ve heard is to tape the decal sheet in a sunny window and let the sun bleach them back to white. Might take a while in the winter though.
That does work, but you need several days of bright direct sunlight to be truly effective. Got a set taped to a window now; it may be ready by spring [;)]
Did you remember to place them in an airtight plastic ziploc bag so there would’nt be any moisture near them? I always seal mine a bag when bleaching since I do’nt like humidity anywhere near them.
seal them in a bag, and if you can drop a few silica gel crystals in (available from photography stores) . my hasegawa F-14 decals took about 3 weeks but that was in the tropics. its incredibly important to keep them away from places where condensation will occur, for obvious reasons.
since the idea of whiting lies in the UV rays exposing them to such light is bebeficial.
I have a set basking in the sun for a few days and under a UV lamp and it has started to show.
i am really relieved that somebody asked the question that i was gonna ask
I have an F- 16 -which i received from a friend, he kept it in his wet drippy basement for 3 years!!!- the decals are practically yellow!!!
thank you!!!
Hey jinithtih, i thought it was a stuka, not an F-16, i’ve even seen it, and that ‘friend’ well… he’s a friend for giving you those models! Can i have one?
this is soooo off topic but remember me showing you all of the things my friend gave me?
In a little box with the illustration of the F-16 on it were the parts to the Falcon.
sorry about that.
Himmmmmm… yule have to show me that some time! When ever i drive by i can see those decals deyellowing on your window!
I found if you tape the decals in the zip lock baggie to the rear window of the car, you get more direct sunlight shining down on it then a window of your house. Just park you car at work in the morning to catch the sun as it moves to noon and then at lunch park it in another position to catch the afternoon movement.
Cheers
Thom
Now that is clever. I’m sure I’d get a few strange looks from folks at my apartment complex (since I work at night, and the car’s at home during the day…) LOL I’m still going to try it though!
http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=33929
I ran a little test a few weeks ago with some older hasagawa decals that had yellowed a bit
I posted my before and after scans in my last reply in the thread (link above)
check it out as I was amazed however fast the sun took out the yellow (like 2 days and then after 3 or 4 no yellow at all) Decasls were placed in a Ziplock bag and then put in good south facing window.
I will also link the images below too
Below is the starting scan (2pm Tue) and a scan only a little over a day later (5pm Wed ).
