Heavy frosting Issue

Hi,

Purchased this carded Leia Bespin from ebay. Was aware it had frosting but thought I could remove it by trying the UV sun method or desk lamp method I have read about on SWFUK. UV sun method made no difference, although I only gave it 30 mins as was concerned the bubble may become more yellowed. Exposure to a desk lamp was working a little, however the bubble corners became clouded with moisture and the very mild heat from the lamp was starting to deform the bubble. It was definitely the slight heat that seemed to help, but even with constant monitoring it was a fine line between effective frosting removal and damaging the bubble.

Currently my opinion is that because the frosting is so heavy it is unlikely I can remove it without damaging the bubble. Successful frosting removal examples I have found appear to be on figures with only minor frosting to more localised areas.

Before I give up on my frosting removal campaign completely I thought I would ask if anyone has been successful in removing frosting this heavy and if so how were they able to do it.





Any thoughts or comments appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Richard

Put it in the sun for longer. Sunlight is not hot enough to melt the bubble, and a few hours of sun won't make any long term difference to the card or bubble, it takes weeks to fade things. Don't worry about the condensation, it will go. I had a frosty Ben and it took a good few hours to get rid of all the frosting.

I have a fett card with similar issues, not as bad, but had the card in the window in sunlight, not super bright sunlight but 3 days straight & still no joy, I don't think the sunlight fix it works in all cases, though I am a bit baffled as to why not :? be great to see the fett & your leia looking their best again fingers crossed someone chimes in with some miracle fix it cure I am not familiar with, - tagging along with interest!

It's not just the light that kills it, but the heat. It has worked everytime for me in sunlight. Some guys have also used a desk lamp or close lighting to add the same heat/light effect.

Also the moisture you are referring to is just the outgassing coming from the process off the figure, it will go away after a few days of drying.

Thanks for the comments. Think i am going to give the sun another try.

edd_jedi did you put frosty Ben in direct sun i.e. outside or by a window.

Frunkstar l am nervous about causing damage with a Leia would be terrified with a Fett

tiefighterboy said:

It's not just the light that kills it, but the heat. It has worked everytime for me in sunlight. Some guys have also used a desk lamp or close lighting to add the same heat/light effect.

Also the moisture you are referring to is just the outgassing coming from the process off the figure, it will go away after a few days of drying.

Click to expand...

But we live in the UK buddy, you know we only get 2 days of sun a year that actually also come with heat :lol:

Rich200 said:

Thanks for the comments. Think i am going to give the sun another try.

edd_jedi did you put frosty Ben in direct sun i.e. outside or by a window.

Frunkstar l am nervous about causing damage with a Leia would be terrified with a Fett

Click to expand...

It's not as dire as it sounds, it's a cut card thats been popped back on a cardback, but still sealed & I am happy with it for the most part, just be nice to see that dam heavy frosting a thing of the past.

True - i will be waiting a while for a sunny day coinciding with a day off work :lol: :lol:

Here's hoping we can yield some results. Bring on the sun!

Frunkstar said:

tiefighterboy said:

It's not just the light that kills it, but the heat. It has worked everytime for me in sunlight. Some guys have also used a desk lamp or close lighting to add the same heat/light effect.

Also the moisture you are referring to is just the outgassing coming from the process off the figure, it will go away after a few days of drying.

Click to expand...

But we live in the UK buddy, you know we only get 2 days of sun a year that actually also come with heat :lol:

Click to expand...

I live in Michigan which resembles Hoth about 8 months out of the year, so we are fairly even.

Rich200 said:

edd_jedi did you put frosty Ben in direct sun i.e. outside or by a window.

Click to expand...

On the inside of a window, didn't want to risk leaving it exposed to the elements.

Heres my budget tfp moc for my run which had frosted arms i defrosted a couple of months back, took less than an hour to fix. Before/after shots below. Im doing another defrost this week on another budget moc.

Good result poncho - i have some hope now

Assume this was by the window in the sun method.

Rich200 said:

Good result poncho - i have some hope now

Assume this was by the window in the sun method.

Click to expand...

Sun... in this country....ha

I Just used my old lamp

**Update**

After my original post I had Leia in the sun a few times with no success. Tried the desk lamp method again with no success. Gave up and decided Leia had permafrosting.

Recently read Poncho's guide to defrosting a figure using a desk lamp with particularly reference to the bulb used i.e. not an eco bulb. Inspired I tried again and the frosting is finally now clearing, whoop. Light spots of frosting remain but I expect a few more sessions will budge this.

Thank you Poncho.

Richard.

Huge improvement, looks great Richard!

A couple summers ago I tried the sunlight trick on a very bright, warm day. Here's a before and after closeup.

Rich200 said:

Recently read Poncho's guide to defrosting a figure using a desk lamp with particularly reference to the bulb used i.e. not an eco bulb. Inspired I tried again and the frosting is finally now clearing, whoop. Light spots of frosting remain but I expect a few more sessions will budge this.

Thank you Poncho.

Richard.

Click to expand...

cracking results

your most welcome

im glad i typed it up now

regards

chris

It's not sunlight you need, it's gentle heat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89ubByqFBYs

All you are doing is melting the frosting. Follow the video and it will look as good as new.

poncho said:

Rich200 said:

Recently read Poncho's guide to defrosting a figure using a desk lamp with particularly reference to the bulb used i.e. not an eco bulb. Inspired I tried again and the frosting is finally now clearing, whoop. Light spots of frosting remain but I expect a few more sessions will budge this.

Thank you Poncho.

Richard.

Click to expand...

cracking results

your most welcome

im glad i typed it up now

regards

chris

Click to expand...

Chris your a wizard!!!! cheers

Im currently trying this out with an AFA graded vintage Battlestar Galactica figure. So although it is obviously cased ive placed a desk lamp very near the surface of the case it is actually removing the frosting albeit a bit slowly. Approximately 5/6 hours in and has removed all the frosting off the face and about half way round the head.

moosinthehoos said:

It's not sunlight you need, it's gentle heat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89ubByqFBYs

All you are doing is melting the frosting. Follow the video and it will look as good as new.

Click to expand...

Have a look at the video again and the bit where you compare before and after, look closely at the base of the bubble between the prongs. You can clearly see your method, whether its the radiator or the lamp has caused the bubble to lift as you can see more of the spotting beneath this area. The bubble seal definitely seems worse. Like Edd has said before try in direct sunlight, short periods of time are fine and has always worked for me.