My retrobright experience

[WonkeyDonkey]

Ok, so after some interest I've decided to open a separate thread detailing the retrobrighting work im using in my restorations.

I'll update this thread as I go along and include pics, links and all the necessary information you will need if you want to do it the same way I have.

The results so far have been great, and the procedure and ingredients have been much much simpler than the original retrobright support thread. Hats off to all who posted in that thread mind you!

Later today I will add the juicy bits and pics, and you will be able to follow me along with the procedure as I go about retrobrighting an Amiga 500 case (Or three!)

The usual caveats apply here of course :

Your results may differ slightly;

You may need to apply more than one coat of retrobright to your kit;

Make sure you follow the necessary safety information on the products we will use;

Make sure the room you do it in is fully ventilated;

Get yourself some protective gloves;

What I have also done in my case is to keep a large bucket of water nearby; if you get the mix on your skin or any other surfaces where damage may be caused, the water will dilute the mix and reduce potential damage.

[WonkeyDonkey]

So first of all, we come onto the ingredients.

This is very easy and we need just 2 products to make it work. Previously in the original retrobright thread, you needed several ingeredients, some of which were difficult to get hold of. This is not the case here.

First of all is the peroxide mix. This came in a 1 litre bottle; it is a viscous mixture, a little thicker than washing up liquid. The one we use is called Igora Royal :



A close up of the label part so you can see exactly what to look for :



Look for the same bottle as this. Notice it is 12% strength. It comes available in 6%, 9% and 12%. Several posts in the original retrobright thread discussed the differing strengths of peroxide to use. It seems that the weaker the peroxide, the longer it takes to work once it is applied. So for this example, Im sticking with the 12% one. It works for me.

The second ingredient is the bleach powder. This is also made by Igora; its full name is 'Igora Vario Blond Extra Power'. It comes in a dark blue drum containing 450g :



Again, a close up of the label part :



On looking inside we find a small plastic scoop :



And the powder itself. This is a fine white powder :



Note I have already made several mixes from this; originally the drum was full.

So there you have it folks. Just 2 ingredients, readily available at retail.

This is all you will need.



To find these, I looked and found them on eBay and also there were several hairdressing suppliers in the UK selling them. I searched for 'Igora 12%' to find the peroxide and just 'Igora' for the bleach powder.

Here are direct links for both of them; first of all the peroxide :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCHWARZKOP...item4d04892be1

If you buy from this seller, make sure to use the drop down menu to pick the strength you want; again Im using 12% here. The retail price is currently showing £7.99; delivery is £5.50.

And now the bleach powder :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Schwarzkop...item2c6674c6f5

This seller is doing it at £16.39 with free delivery.

Total then is £29.88. This may seem expensive depending how much you want to do. These 2 containers will provide enough to make several batches though, so the value isnt actually that bad.

[WonkeyDonkey]

Next we come onto the tools you will need. These are items you should probably have lurking in the house somewhere; if not you can buy them cheap enough at any DIY shop.

First of all, a measuring jug :



You can use glass or plastic here. I've used a normal pyrex glass one.

Next, a small paint brush. It doesnt need to be expensive, but do make sure it is clean :



Then a spoon to mix it with. Im using a normal teaspoon :



As i mentioned in my first post, keep some water to hand in case of spillage etc :



So there you have it; all the tools you will need.



How easy is this then

[WonkeyDonkey]

Next up, we will run through the mixing and application.

This is very straight forward.

First of all though, Im off into my man cave to find an Amiga worthy of this procedure. Its an old Amiga 500 that I bought from the other bay for the price of a few beers.

It is very very yellowed though, bordering on brown; a good candidate for our example here.

Remember that depending on the level of yellowing, you may not actually achieve the full original colour, but we will certainly improve on the current condition.

Pics of the Amiga in question coming shortly.

[WonkeyDonkey]

Well this is going to be a real challenge folks!

Here we have our intended target for retrobrighting.

Looks like this old girl has seen better days

Here she is :



A close up :



And another :



The yellowing here then is excessive. Im actually stood between the light and the camera whilst taking the pics so there is a bit of a shadow.

This looks like a clear case of Amiga neglect !

To give you a better idea of how yellow this actually is, here is a pic together with an amiga PSU case part which I have just retrobrighted. Now you can see the massive contrast between clean and dirty/yellowed :



We obviously have quite a task on our hands to bring this girl back to life; she looks quite poorly right now....

[WonkeyDonkey]

So Ive opened her up to remove the top section of casing which we will be using.

As is often the case, we can always find little surprises when we open up an Amiga

Flipping her over we can see she is cleaner underneath and has a missing trapdoor :



But an original Commodore seal, still intact :



That tells me she has never been opened. A normally positive sign then. But that sticker needs to be removed.

How do we tell its a genuine Commodore seal ? Well when we remove it we get the chessboard effect which makes its impossible to replace it back without showing signs of tampering, and the remaining squares stay quite shiny and silver :



Inside she doesnt look all that bad :



Even the inside of the casing is much cleaner than the outside :



And whats this on the keyboard; never seen this before :



A close up view shows some rivets/screws in unusual places; again Ive never seen this particular configuration on a keyboard before :



And again at the top left side :



Maybe this is an early model. This keyboard is new to me though, anybody seen one before ??

[WonkeyDonkey]

One final pic now, showing the contrast between a clean top casing and our target one :



Such a dirty girl!

[WonkeyDonkey]

So here I will cover the actual mix and application of the mixture. We will get quite heavy with pics.

My aim with this is to share with you my experience and also give a good pictorial guide that is easy to use and follow.

So, mixing up the retrobright paste then.

First of all give the peroxide bottle a good shake and squeeze some into your measuring jug; Im going for around 80mls here as im not applying it to the full surface of the cover. Once you have done this a couple of times you will get used to the amount of mix required, so dont worry if you have too much. If you run out simply mix some more in the same jug :



Then simply fill your scoop with bleach powder and level it off. The amount of bleach powder doesnt need to be measured to the nearest gram. I generally use a scoop full :



Throw it into the peroxide and give it a good stir :



When you first stir the mix you will see some tiny lumps; this is the powder. We need to get rid of those, so just keep stirring until they disappear and the mix goes nice and smooth. 5 minutes of stirring will be enough. You will then have a super smooth mixture that is nice and thick; the consistency should be similar to that of whipped cream; it should stick to the spoon really well and feel very gloopy :



Now we can start applying it to the case top.

What i have found is that we need to make sure those vent slots are completely immersed. Also make sure the amiga lettering itself is completely covered. I do this part first :



A close up showing complete coverage and 'full' vent slots across the top :



Note here i have only gone approximately 2/3 of the way across the casing. The reason for this is because I think we may need 2 applications. So the left hand section will remain as it is, the middle section will have one application and the right hand section will eventually have a second application. Then you will be able to see the results after each and the contrast between them. Eventually I will fully retrobright the entire case.

After filling those slots and lettering, then apply very liberally across the whole area to be treated. Dont skimp here at all. It needs to be nice and thick with as little plastic as possible shwing through. Ideally it should be completely white :



Make sure to get good coverage at the ends too :



Any remaining paste should be spread on nice and thick until it is used up; again; dont be shy, get it all on there :



Now we have the application complete :



Its time now to clean the tools you have used.

A thorough clean with warm soapy water will suffice. Notice how clean and shiny your jug and spoon have suddenly become ?

Now we have to play the waiting game. I'll be leaving this for a full 24 hours.

A couple of things will happen during that time, but no need to panic! I will show you the changes as the process goes on.

The main point now is : dont touch it, dont move it, dont do anything with it. Leave the mix to do its job!

Stay tuned folks, and if you have any questions, feel free to post away

[WonkeyDonkey]

We are now waiting for the magic to happen. As Im sure Merlin will tell you, its not actually magic, its just a simple chemical process we are using. If you have some time to pass, go and read the original retrobright support thread. Theres some great information and insights in there and many posts from Merlin who is our resident chemist and all round good guy

A few points while we wait then.

The mix between peroxide and bleach powder; you should work somewhere around the 2:1 ratio (2 parts peroxide, 1 part bleach powder). This doesnt need to be exact though. You can add a little more powder if you want a thicker paste for coating round the edges and the bits between the keyboard sections.

Ive found no adverse effects by varying the amount of bleach powder.

So far I have not seen any signs of spots and patches developing after the procedure, which happened to a few guys using the original retrobright cocktail. This seems to be down to 2 possible things; inconsistency in the mix itself (Simply make sure you mix it really well!) or poor quality of the plastic mix that was orignally used to mould the casing. In the case of the latter, there is nothing we can do about that. Or maybe I have just been lucky so far; time will tell.

It could also be because the mix has dried out when the part was left outside exposed to sunlight. We are not doing that here.

I carry out the application of the mix on one of my kitchen worktops. These are very sturdy and hard wearing. There are no signs of staining, bleaching, or anything else, when the mix has come into contact with the worktop. If you have proper marble ones or something equally expensive, then my advice to you is to do it elsewhere on a surface that will not be affected by the mix.

Once again, leave it as is. Dont move, touch or play with it!

A couple of changes are going to occur during the next few hours or so.

First of all the mix is going to thin out i.e go a bit runny. This is perfectly normal and happens as part of the procedure. Bear this in mind when choosing the surface you will use to apply the mixture.

It will look a bit like a cake with runny icing as the mix appears to start dripping off a bit. Again, leave alone, this is normal.

Some time after that, the opposite will happen. The mix will appear to start thickening up. This again is a normal part of the procedure. The surface will go dull rather than shiny as it is immediately after application. The mix will eventually turn into a foam-like substance; the running will have completely stopped by this stage. It doesnt actually thicken as such; the consistency simply changes.

By the time we wash the mix off after 24 hours, it will be like part dried foam.

No forced uv light is required for this at all. I dont get a lot of natural light here because im on the ground floor of a 3 storey block. There is natural daylight but the sun cant shine through. The process will still work though.

It *may* work faster or a little better if done with uv applied i.e using a uv bulb over it, but you dont *need* this.

You could also put the plastic part into a plastic bag and seal it. This will at least stop it from drying out, and I would do this if I was putting it out in the sun. For the purpose of this though, I will leave it as is.

[80sFREAK]

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