Protecting Snowtrooper Armour + any white armour

Yorkie Fett

Yorkie Fett

Sr Member
Recently I received a set of Snowtrooper armour, after a very long wait!

This particular vendor's white ABS armour is notorious for yellowing after only a relatively short amount of time.

Before I put it together, is there any way of protecting the ABS to prevent the yellowing process (avoiding a repaint). I was thinking about maybe a protective layer of varnish, or similar.

Any ideas for a preventative solution?
 
This is going to sound odd, but fellow members of the detachment noted that "sun bleaching" reversed yellowing that took place with their armor- essentially letting your armor stay out in direct sunlight for a period of time

Alternatively, there's this idea, which I have heard back didn't last long:

http://www.blizzardforce.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3279&p=23419&hilit=sun+bleaching#p23419

Same formula/application here

http://www.instructables.com/id/Restoring-yellowed-Stormtrooper-armor/

I've had un-used ABS snowtrooper parts I've kept in a closet only to yellow on it's own. I've not done any research on the science behind it, but perhaps this needs to be addressed to the vendors when sourcing their plastic. I've had my snowtrooper kit since 2009 and I've not had any piece of it yellow (knock on wood)
 
matty matt said:
DON'T put varnish or any other oil based coating on it. It will only yellow faster.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, you may have just saved me a lot of trouble.

It does seem to be a problem that's not exactly straightforward. A white set of AT-AT armour, I had, only yellowed on the side that was facing a window- literally 50/50.

Tried the retro bright treatment but I had no luck with that.

Tubachris- yeah, I've also heard about the sun bleaching approach which seems bizarre as it appears that's the cause of the problem, in the first place.

If anyone else has any preventative advice, would love to hear about it.
 
Yorkie Fett said:
If anyone else has any preventative advice, would love to hear about it.
Click to expand...

One approach is posted by mfilos in the Instructables link provided above, about 4/5 of the way down the page of replies:

"The answer is quite simple. Once the parts have been treated, you should coat the parts in a coat of clear, satin finish acrylic lacquer. This has the effect of cutting off the oxygen supply to the fire retardant and will prevent further yellowing."

I can't provide any personal experience with any of this, but am reading this with interest because I have a couple sets of Biker Scout armor arriving as well...

Dan
 
3DImpact said:
One approach is posted by mfilos in the Instructables link provided above, about 4/5 of the way down the page of replies:

"The answer is quite simple. Once the parts have been treated, you should coat the parts in a coat of clear, satin finish acrylic lacquer. This has the effect of cutting off the oxygen supply to the fire retardant and will prevent further yellowing."

I can't provide any personal experience with any of this, but am reading this with interest because I have a couple sets of Biker Scout armor arriving as well...

Dan
Click to expand...

You've actually just confirmed what I thought I'd heard- a coat of acrylic varnish.

I'm assuming that if it's a water based varnish instead of oil based, it should be OK.

Only one way to find out...
 
Yorkie Fett said:
Tubachris- yeah, I've also heard about the sun bleaching approach which seems bizarre as it appears that's the cause of the problem, in the first place.
Click to expand...

Well in my experience as noted above, I got the pieces perfectly fine, then put them away in a closet, with zero sunlight to penetrate it. It still yellowed. I am starting to believe that the yellowing is not related to UV/sunlight, but something else
 
tubachris85x said:
Well in my experience as noted above, I got the pieces perfectly fine, then put them away in a closet, with zero sunlight to penetrate it. It still yellowed. I am starting to believe that the yellowing is not related to UV/sunlight, but something else
Click to expand...

Again, read the Instructables post by mfilos - all the chemistry is described in there. UV exposure is one part of the equation, another is oxygen. I guess if we could keep our gear in the dark in a dry nitrogen atmosphere all would be well!

Dan
 
Last edited:
3DImpact said:
Again, read the Instructables post by mfilos - all the chemistry is described in there. UV exposure is one part of the equation, another is oxygen. I guess if we could keep our gear in the dark in a dry nitrogen atmosphere all would be well!

Dan
Click to expand...

Yes, I read it, but it's only stating that it's activated by UV exposure...
 
One suggestions I have is to purchase some of the Cerakote C series (air cure) so that there is no heat applied to cure. I would use Bright White. Then after is has cured, I would apply several coats of air cure clear gloss coat. This will protect the finish from scratches and abrasions and it will never yellow.

Assuming you have an airbrush and compressor the paint and clear coat would cost about $90.00. This stuff is used to protect firearms but works on plastics. For more information, check out Cerakote’s web site and I would recommend you call them and explain what you are trying to accomplish.
https://www.cerakoteguncoatings.com/finishes/?tab=coatings&cat=CSERIES
 
If you're going to go through the trouble of coating or spraying anything on it, you might as well lightly sand with 300-400 grit and use a high quality lacquer paint. It will shine like any fresh ABS and not have to worry about yellowing. Not to mention that Snowtrooper armor should be dirty! :)
 
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