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Yellowed glass


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I have an AMT '61 Valiant glue bomb I'm restoring and the window glass has spots of 1961 tube glue I have to remove. I've polished the glass down to a grit that has 'smoothed' the surface to the point I can see the defect is much deeper and can't be removed without sanding the glass down to over half it's thickness. Here's some pics, but this is not what I'm after.

valiant%20window%20glass%20DSC_2055_zpsz

valiant%20window%20glass%20DSC_2056_zpsu

valiant%20window%20glass%20DSC_2057_zpsd

 

Now, unless someone has a miracle cure for these deep glue defects, I found a 61 Valiant glass on ebay that I think will fit. My glass doesn't have the interior peg mounts but looks to be the same, ie. side glass for a 2 door car. Maybe this is from a promo of the same body. The glass has yellowed considerably so I'm asking if polishing it will remove the yellowing, or is this typically all the way thru on this 1961 plastic?

61%20valiant%20glass%20s-l1600_zpsfwwevy

Edited by Foxer
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Wow, never seen that before on injection-molded styrene, though I have seen it on vacformed parts.

You can see "very" yellow on the edges of your part, so I'd say that the yellow goes all the way through. It might have even been originally molded in that color. I doubt you're going to be able to un-yellow it.

Doesn't hurt to try polishing it, but I don't think it's gonna work. Sorry.

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Mike if you're gonna try polishing out the Yellow I suggest doing it on the Mounting Tabs. If that fails you might want to ask around if someone has a (or you might want to build your own) Vacuum Forming Box that could "suck" you up a new clear set of "Glass". Mattel made one back in the '60's, but you can build one and atach it to a Vacuum Cleaner or better yet a Shop Vac and use thinner plastic than the old Toy units used.

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I agree with what Ed and Snake say. That's going to be mighty tough if not impossible to get that yellow out. The yellowing is more of a chemical reaction in the plastic than anything else. I'm no scientist, but that process goes beyond simple buffing and polishing. 

If you don't want to go the vacuforming route, you could always use clear stencil sheet to make the front and rear windows. Those are simple curves that bend only one way it seems--------looks like a fairly straightforward job of making a pattern from the window openings, and then tracing that on to the clear stencil sheet.

At least that's the way I'd approach it, and I've done my share of homemade glass! :o

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I would try polishing it out. I would think the yellowing process is similar to full size headlights, and they can be polished out. Try it on a mounting tab or connecting strap, and no harm done.

If all else fails, fill the window inside with modeling clay, and vacuform a new window unit.

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I agree that if it is indeed the plastic itself that has yellowed, nothing will remove it. Like Snake though, that is really unusual. Is it possible that it is something like cigarette smoke staining?

At any rate, if you cannot fix the original clear parts, why not spring for the yellowed one - and tint it darker so it looks like it was done on purpose?

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Looks similar to the clear plastic that southwest U.S. toys eventually obtained as a result of the Sun . I had numerous toys with yellowed 'glass' and faded paint when I was a kid . I'd watch for how brittle that 'glass' is , too . The lightest pressure could crack the heck out of it !

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I agree that if it is indeed the plastic itself that has yellowed, nothing will remove it. Like Snake though, that is really unusual. Is it possible that it is something like cigarette smoke staining?

At any rate, if you cannot fix the original clear parts, why not spring for the yellowed one - and tint it darker so it looks like it was done on purpose?

I doubt it's cigarette smoke. I had many models displayed in a smoke-filled house for over 20 years and never saw anything like that on the clear parts.

If it IS cigarette smoke, Windex or rubbing alcohol will take it off. Or a polish.

But the key here is the bright yellow of the edges. I suspect this is a "Gaga Problem:" It was "Born This Way." It's made out of yellow-tinted plastic.

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Thanks to the experts I respect for all the information!

I haven't bid on the piece yet. If it's really yellow plastic I could use it, so a done deal.

What I do if I get it has many options, thanks to the rest of you.

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I wonder if the yellowed piece with the tabs isn't from a promotional model.  If that's the case, it might not be styrene; it could be acetate.  And if it's acetate, there's a good chance it may not fit the kit body.  That stuff does shrink. 

The kit piece (the sanded one) originally had the mounting tabs like the promo model piece...they were removed at some point.

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I've had moderate success removing some minor yellowing by soaking the glass in Super Clean.

Usually this old kit glass would benefit from a good cleaning anyway, & the Super Clean does a pretty good job.

I have had some old kits with yellowed glass before, but nothing that dramatic, so I won't guarantee that it will help.

I did have some minor yellowing on the last project that I worked on, but by the time I was finished soaking & tinting, it was indiscernible.

That's another option that may help is some light tinting.

 

Steve

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Mike if you're gonna try polishing out the Yellow I suggest doing it on the Mounting Tabs. If that fails you might want to ask around if someone has a (or you might want to build your own) Vacuum Forming Box that could "suck" you up a new clear set of "Glass". Mattel made one back in the '60's, but you can build one and atach it to a Vacuum Cleaner or better yet a Shop Vac and use thinner plastic than the old Toy units used.

Here's a vacu form you can build at home

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/101743-poor-mans-vacu-form/

 

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Hmm. I have a few yellow/grimey looking windows from some glue bombs I picked up. Two that stick out in my mind are a mustang and a charger... Will have to see what fixes em. I have many types of automotive polish and plastic polish. I'll see what happens. 

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I have an AMT '61 Valiant glue bomb I'm restoring and the window glass has spots of 1961 tube glue I have to remove. I've polished the glass down to a grit that has 'smoothed' the surface to the point I can see the defect is much deeper and can't be removed without sanding the glass down to over half it's thickness. Here's some pics, but this is not what I'm after.

valiant%20window%20glass%20DSC_2055_zpsz

valiant%20window%20glass%20DSC_2056_zpsu

valiant%20window%20glass%20DSC_2057_zpsd

 

Now, unless someone has a miracle cure for these deep glue defects, I found a 61 Valiant glass on ebay that I think will fit. My glass doesn't have the interior peg mounts but looks to be the same, ie. side glass for a 2 door car. Maybe this is from a promo of the same body. The glass has yellowed considerably so I'm asking if polishing it will remove the yellowing, or is this typically all the way thru on this 1961 plastic?

61%20valiant%20glass%20s-l1600_zpsfwwevy

The "glass" in the last picture is the color it is, not "stained" or aged.  A clear look at it shows that the "tint" goes all the way through the plastic.  For whatever reasons, that did happen on occasion, back in the day.  Vacforming a new set of glass is pretty much the only way to get clear "glass" for this model.

Art

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The "glass" in the last picture is the color it is, not "stained" or aged.  A clear look at it shows that the "tint" goes all the way through the plastic.  For whatever reasons, that did happen on occasion, back in the day.  Vacforming a new set of glass is pretty much the only way to get clear "glass" for this model.

Art

I'm believing you, Art. I didn't get that piece off ebay so, the fit and yellowing has passed. So has finding a replacement for now. I don't have a vacuforming machine, but seems it would be easy to do this. I do keep looking at Micro Mark's Vacuum Forming Machine, but it's still a bit much for how much I'd use it.

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Just because you can see color on the edges of the glass does not mean it's necessarily all the way through. 

Here's a pic of a couple I tinted a few years ago with Tamiya acrylics. The edges look green like it's all the way through but I know it's not as the only color on them is what I sprayed on the inside surface myself.

111 1101

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Just because you can see color on the edges of the glass does not mean it's necessarily all the way through. 

Here's a pic of a couple I tinted a few years ago with Tamiya acrylics. The edges look green like it's all the way through but I know it's not as the only color on them is what I sprayed on the inside surface myself.

111 1101

I just have to comment on that tint ... it must look perfect installed with the roof edge! Nice fade .. :D

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