Sunday, 3 November 2013

Yellowed LEGO Bricks, How I got them white again!

Last week I dug out My 1999 Star Wars LEGO sets from my parents house. I Started to have a real good look at them and noticed a few of the white pieces had Yellowed. I must admit, I upset that this had happened. After all, they were never played with. Never exposed to any sunlight and only displayed in a glass cabinet. It got me worried about all my other 'white' LEGO pieces and in ten years time will it happen to all the new sets I have today. I can't predict the future so I will have to wait and see... only time will tell.

Fingers crossed they don't.

I did a bit of research into how I could get the pieces white again. Finding links from The Brothers Brick 
that then gave me a link to another site called Amibay where users restore old gaming consoles like C64's and Amiga 500's. I read through a lot of those pages looking at results.

So I then spoke to a few people who have done the Retr0bright treatment, who had mixed results. A couple said they have had no issues after the treatment and a couple said they came back yellowed more then they ever were. Some had use 12-35% solution  hydrogen peroxide so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the various results.

What we purchased at our local Woolwoths.

Before even attempting to use these products please wear rubber gloves and protective glasses and be safe!

I got my wife to take a trip to our local Woolworths to pick up some Faulding: Hydrogen Peroxide which is a 3% solution so I could give it a test run. We already had Varnish Oxy action laundry powder. I did my first test run on Friday just past with a piece with printing and a 4x4 plate.
I poured in about 75Mls into a small glass jar, just enough to cover the pieces and less then a 1/4 of a teaspoon of oxy action and stirred well till it was dissolved. 

After about 3 hours in sunlight and keeping a very close eye on it, to make sure it wasn't doing major damage to the pieces.  It was a success! The printing was intact and the 4x4 plate became white as ever! With no physical signs of any brittleness. They felt and looked like new.

Then the next day I did a larger batch of about 45+ pieces into a clear takeaway container with about 325Mls of hydrogen peroxide and a 1/4 of a teaspoon of oxy action and stirred well till it was dissolved. Then put in all the pieces and waited for about 4 hours in sunlight, checking in every hour to see how things were progressing. and here are the results...



They look like brand new again! Whether they stay that way only time will tell and I will update you if there are any changes to those pieces I "restored".

I hope I have explained this process easy enough for you to give it a try yourself. I am very happy with the results so far and I will be giving my 1980's LEGO the treatment in due course.

***UPDATE*** 
 After 2 years and nine day thanks to a reader's comment reminding me about this post I thought I would post that very picture I took today. 

The parts that I treated have reverted back to their yellowed state. :/ 
I never reunited these parts to their respective sets so it was easy to find as they haven't left my side on my computer desk.

 Here is that photo... 








Sunday, 20 October 2013

New 2013 LEGO The Hobbit Sets revealed!

Well they have finally surfaced! The new The Hobbit Sets have been revealed.
 And I must say they are spectacular!!! You can bet your bottom dollar I will be getting multiples of each set which I'm sure most of you all will be doing also. The Minifigures in these sets look sensational.  All are perfect for army building.

December can not come quick enough.

Enough of my blabbering take a look and judge for yourself ...

As usual you can click on the image to enlarge it.



Set 79014 Dol Guldur Battle

Set 79011 Dol Guldur Ambush

Set 79012 Mirkwood Elf Army


What do you guys think about these sets?

Monday, 14 October 2013

My LEGO Kings Castle Exterior MOC

Hello again.

After reviewing LEGO Castle 70404: King's Castle this morning I had shown a little WIP photo at the end of the review.

Well here is a teaser shot of my MOC. It is almost done... Is a MOC ever completely finished? This is my second time I have attempted to do a MOC.


It has been built on three 48x48 grey baseplates and each section is modulated to come apart and connect easily.

As usual you can click on the image to enlarge it.



More photos to come... When I work out the best way to photograph it that is. Might have to go out and buy a white bed sheet.


I hope you like what you see and thank you for looking...

Tan Tile.

LEGO Castle 70404: King's Castle Review.

Well it's finally here! The biggest and final set of our reviews in the Castle theme. I have been looking forward to building this big set since I purchased it a few weeks back. So I got stuck into it the other night. We were able to pick it up during the Target sale for $99 but a week later we picked up a second set at Myer for $89. Both prices are fantastic for a set this size.
LEGO Castle 70404: King's Castle 
 The set contains 996 pieces and retails for $139.99.
 Comes with 7 Minifigures: Battering Ram/Catapult, Horse, and modular Castle with 6 sections.
  
Note: All photo's can be clicked on for a larger view.

The Front of the box show the Kings Knights defending their Castle from the Dragon forces who are trying to steal the Kings Gold once again.


On the back of the box Show us the main layout of the Castle. On the left side of the box it gives us examples of other ways the Castle can be laid out. There are also images of how you can lock up prisoners,  fire the catapults, work the drawbridge and gate and where the King stores his gold for the Dragon Knight to steal.


Inside the box we have 10 numbered bags, a unmarked bag for the larger plates and a cardboard insert with the instructions and stickers inside.


Inside the insert there are 3 instruction books a sticker sheet and 3 Plastic Flags with Lion and Crown.


Here is a close up of the sticker sheet and 3 Plastic Flags with Lion and Crown. There are 11 stickers to be applied throughout the build.


Let the build commence! Here is the contents of bag 1. This will build all 7 Minifigures in the set (to our Sons delight!), including the horse and the catapult.



The Lion King! (not Simba) He comes with a single side face print, printed front and back torso. Printed legs and he has a a Dark Blue Cape, Metallic Gold Crown and a Pearl Gold Sword.


The King's Knight with crossbow has a Blue and White with Chest Strap torso printed on the front and back, and a single sided face print. He has a Metallic Silver Helmet with Neck Protector.


This King's Knight and bow and quiver comes with scale mail torso print both front and back. Single sided face print. He has a Metallic Silver Helmet with Broad Brim.


This King's Knight with Armor and sword comes with a single sided face print, printed front and back King's Breastplate torso, and printing on the legs, He also has printed armor and a large shield with a lions head. He has a Metallic Silver Helmet with Light Bluish Grey Pointed Visor and a Blue Plume.


This Dragon Knight with Armor and a large sword, has a double sided face print, the torso has printing on both the front and back with printing on the legs. He also has printed armor and small shield with a Dragons head . He has a Black Closed Helmet and Red Plume.


This Dragon soldier has a double sided face print, and the torso has printing on both the front an back and printing on the legs. He come with an axe. He has a Black Helmet with Neck Protector


This Dragon soldier has a double sided face print, and the torso has printing on both the front an back. This soldier comes with a spiked mace. He has a black Cheek Protection Helmet. This Minifig is the same as 70400: Forest Ambush.


The White horse is the new mold. It comes with Lion Kings Armor and a close look at the new horse-head armor mold.


The Battering Ram/Catapult step by step build. Comes with 2 Brown 2x2 round bricks. When you push the front of the nose it fires the catapult. 1 Sticker was applied here.


Now we move on to bag number 2. This will start the build of the main gate and drawbridge.


A step by step build of the gate.


This is what it looks like after bag 2 is complete.


Bag 3 will build the middle section of the gate.


Here is the step by step build of the middle section of the gate. This is where the drawbridge section begins to work when you turn the wheel.


This is the contents of bag 4 and it will build and complete the upper section of the main gate.


A quick look at how the wheel is assembled to open and close the gate.


Some front and back images of the completed main gate/entrance. 1 Sticker was applied in this section.


The contents of bag 5 will build the left hand side octagonal section of the Castle.


Here is a step by step build of the octagonal section


A front and back view of this completed section. By pulling the catapult down and putting pressure onto the technic piece, letting go will make it fire... It works well. My son is happy just to play with this section alone. There were 3 stickers applied in this section.


This is how it looks when connected to the main gate/entry.


Bag 6 will build the right side corner section of this Castle.


This section was a very quick build. here is a step by step look at the building process.


This is how it looks when finished. A quick front and back view of the corner section. The panel in the middle and be pushed out so the Dragon faction can enter to steal the Kings gold... or over run and take over his kingdom.


Here is how it looks when added to the other sections of the Castle.


Bag 7 will build another corner section that will go on the back left hand side of the Castle.


The build is almost identical as the one above with the exception of the added stairs and no removable section in the wall.


Here is how it looks added to the rest.


Bag 8 will build the second octagonal section of the castle that will be place on the rear right side.


The build is pretty much the same as the first one, the only difference is the added prison. Just a close up of how it is done.


Here it is complete. There is no catapult on this one. There were 3 stickers applied in this section.


It is really starting to come together now!


The contents of bag 9 will start the build to the King tower and his throne.


A step by step build of the tower.


Here is what it looks like after bag 9 is complete.


Bag 10 will build the upper section of the tower. Oooooh!! Some Chrome gold pieces :-D  Nice!


Yep... another step by step build of the upper section.


The tower is now complete! Here is a front and back view of the tower section. There are 3 final stickers to apply in this section.


With the Tower complete so too is the rest of the Castle! When finished it quite large!


Here are the spares we got for this set.



Some alternate images of the completed Castle. Front and back.








Overall it was a fun build with some cool pieces used. After doing the first 2 walls on either side of the main gatehouse it gets a little repetitive because the other 2 walls are the same with very minor differences. The Kings Tower was a good build but the "throne room" is on the small side. I am totally in love with the Minifigures! The prints on them are impressive and highly detailed! The Castle theme as a whole is packed full of printed elements and I very much prefer this, instead of always applying stickers to a given set. With a few alterations this could be a fantastic Castle! As it stands it is still a solid set and I have added to it in this W.I.P pic below... I reversed the L shape wall for this set up to work, and plan to add another 48x48 base plate at the front and use the parts from the second castle we bought to build an outer defense wall and add the 70402: The Gatehouse Raid to it. If you can get it for the right price like we did, we highly recommend you picking up 1 or 2 of these.   ;-D



Just in case you missed the previous Castle reviews, the links are below...

LEGO Castle 70400: Forest Ambush Review.
LEGO Castle 70401: Gold Getaway Review. 
LEGO Castle 70402: The Gatehouse Raid Review. 
LEGO Castle 70403: Dragon Mountain Review.

Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed the review!

As always and if you want too, let us know in the comments below, what you think of the set. I would love to hear others opinions on it.

Until next time this is Tan Tile... MOCing a medieval scene till the next review.