32 replies to this topic

[jkaris]

HAHAHAHA, that is awesome and sucks rocks, all at the same time!

[TheOrgg]

:headbang:
EDIT:
errr....

I ment

Edited by theorgg, 06 October 2008 - 01:01 PM.

[dankingery]

so what you're saying is, l.designs jinxed you by talking about painted purple claws. damn that l.designs.


using your six degrees of kevin..er.. color muscles theory, do you think it's possible for a magenta claw to exist, or are we all still pretty certain that it doesn't?

[righteousman]

I agree 100% with Veers that different regions have different coloured muscles. I've actually found some undiscovered colours in my area (traded them away last summer though). Plus new ones I picked up recently. Plus I bought 300 coloured figs from a toy dealer in my area on behalf of one of the members of this board, and there were some nice rare ones in there as well.

One thing I'm not sure of though is if the purple claw is that common in Canada. Over the past few years a few 1000 coloured figures have passed through my collection, mostly from Canada, and I've never seen a purple claw before. This makes me wonder if it's also region specific -- IE Vancouver vs Ontario.

Ok, I can't wait.

I've been thinking a lot about the rare color situation. And it has mainly been the result of my success with the 6-degrees of separation theory. I figured if I contacted my friends, and they contacted their friends eventually I'd end up with some guys my age that had MUSCLE figures in their Canadian attics.

I've often said that I don't really consider the "rare" figures to be rare. I believe the figures are simply Canadian. I posted the idea for my theory in this thread, but it still needs work. I feel my finds help lend credence to the theory.

Plus rightusman said he bought some figures at a show in Canada, and he ended up with some "rare" figures. They shouldn't be rare if they turn up every time someone buys figures in Canada.

So the guy I got in contact with had seven figures I needed. He also said he had some figures he painted to make a chess set. This mention, plus a l.designs thread, got me dreaming of a painted purple Claw.

Well, it happened. I scored another Purple Claw.

Unfortunately it is completely painted silver. And get this, it is painted with marine enamel – boat paint. Luckily there are like five other figures painted the same way. These have acted as my test figures. I believe I can rescue the Claw from its silvery grave.

I'll try and post some pictures tonight or tomorrow.

I wanted to save this story as the launch story for my UofMuscle website, but I have no idea when I will be able to really do all that work. I just had to share the story with you guys. I couldn't hold it in any longer.

[TOPHER]

Ay,Chad wanna trade it for my spare #1-Purple ?.
Now ya got somethiong to trade.if yes,leave it the way it is.

[imperfecz]

Denatured alcohol Prim used on his M.U.S.C.L.E. Hauler works amazing on a lot of stuff.... if you are having any issue w/ getting the paint off.














Hey I didn't "start" the talk about painted "Purple Claw"

[TheOrgg]

Use plastic to hold Acetone. It's actually used to clean up organic chemical spills due to it's odd qualities.

Edited by theorgg, 07 October 2008 - 08:30 AM.

[BaltanII]

Since there's not that many crevices on the Claw, sticking to the 409 soak doesn't sound like a bad idea, if you're impatient. Otherwise, I'm interested to hear what else you try to solve this problem.

[imperfecz]

Denatured alcohol is about as harsh on plastics and what not as rubbing alcohol, and doesn't react with materials as would acetone. You could test some with Q-tips rubbing, once it loosens the paint I would suggest dipping a tooth brush in and scrubbing away!
You could let the figure sit in a cup of it if it is working, then scrub away with the tooth brush if you want, might make it work faster.

[jkaris]

You could swallow it. Your digestive track would take care of the paint and leave the M.U.S.C.L.E. intact. It would hurt coming out though, especially "head first".

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

Would boiling work maybe?

[gilgar]

mineral spirits eats somes paints & some other things but won't eat plastic like acetone. Also good for getting sticker residue off things, even finished wood.

[Airot]

Cant believe I didn't think of it earlier - eucalyptus oil. don't know if they sell it outside of AU, but that stuff works wonders on practically anything - I use it to get gunk off videogame cases, sticky stuff, marker pen, whiteout - it leaves the plastic intact, and the smell goes away pretty quickly.

[Starman]

I found this, where a household oven cleaner has been used. Not sure if it's of any help to you.

Procedure

In this example we'll use a couple of old soft-plastic polythene figures. They're all in good condition, but have been painted with thick blobs of enamel paint.



A word of warning - oven cleaner is caustic and may cause burns to the skin or eyes or respiratory problems if not used correctly. I would stress that it be used with caution. Minors should never use these products themselves, they should ask a responsible adult to do it for them.

Start by laying out the plastic bag on a flat surface and place the model or figures onto the bag.
Put on your gloves. Make sure you use plastic gloves to protect your hands as oven cleaner can burn the skin. Don't use latex gloves as the oven cleaner may dissolve the latex.

Hold the oven cleaner spray in one hand, and spray the model liberally. With the other hand you can turn over the model while holding it over the plastic bag so as to get into every nook and cranny.



Close the plastic bag with the model inside and tie a knot, place into the plastic bucket and leave overnight. The plastic bucket is so that if any oven cleaner leaks out it will not stain the floor.

Rinse any over cleaner off your gloves and put them away and leave over cleaner to work overnight.

24hrs later, get out your plastic gloves again and take the bucket to somewhere you have access to a cold water tap and a sink.

Put on your gloves, take the model out the plastic bag - you'll find a huge gooey mess, but don't despair). Throw the plastic bag away and put the model into the sink.



Turn on the cold water and you'll find the paint will fall off as you rinse it. Now with the toothbrush and with a little detergent you can remove any stubborn remnants of paint stuck in little nooks and crannies.



Give them a final rinse and leave to dry. Rise your gloves and don't forget to clean out the bucket or container.



Once dry that's it, finished. Shiny "new" figures!

[TheOrgg]

This must be documented.

My idea from a year ago is partially coming to frutition! What Will Melt MUSCLE? Apparently Acetone will. What else? Anyone have any Hydrochloric Acid? How about Carbonic Acid (carbonated water)?

Now if we could only get someone to start What Will Keshi Melt?...

[CCVegita]

If you are really desperate you could test stuff on battle beasts. I am not sure they are exactly as absorbant as MUSCLES, but they are rubbery figures with paint already on them and I know that they stain really easily with markers and such. Only down side is that they arent painted with "boat paint" as you have already said. Kinda pointless to pain up BB with boat paint as test subjects when you could just as easily paint up a few MUSCLES and it would be exactly the same plastics. Good luck cleaning it off!

[gilgar]

Cant believe I didn't think of it earlier - eucalyptus oil. don't know if they sell it outside of AU, but that stuff works wonders on practically anything - I use it to get gunk off videogame cases, sticky stuff, marker pen, whiteout - it leaves the plastic intact, and the smell goes away pretty quickly.

Don't do it, you'll never get rid of the koalas

Edited by gilgar, 09 October 2008 - 06:23 PM.

[Jet-Mech]

I have some experience with marine coatings...and they're resilient SOBs! Especially when they've been undercoated with epoxy-primer. The usual method for removing paint on shipboard is the needle-gun, but that would destroy the poor purple 153, so I don't suggest it.

I've had good luck using non-fuming Easy-Off to remove paint from polystyrene, which is harder and a lot less absorbant than M.U.S.C.L.E. material. I might give that a try on the 37 or the 22 just to see the effects of it. 409 works well for removing a lot of unwated coatings, but it takes time and elbow-grease.

Good luck!

[Jamesullivan]

 The_Ringa__2_.jpg   59.17K   20 downloads

Edited by Jamesullivan, 16 October 2008 - 08:04 PM.