Classic Space Restoration Project

[caperberry]

Best explanation ever

Since I use the creme, and don't actually dip the parts into the H_2 O_2 but rather just smear it over the problem area,

I've really had absolutely no issues with destroyed parts, even after a long exposure

Thanks boba - good you have had positive results - to generalise, my research so far suggests those using the creme approach seem to have better results. I'm going to try both.

The headless lady with pearls in blue trousers... I'm finding it a little hard to tell her condition in the 'before' pic - feels like a bit of the print got lost, and that her blue trousers have gone rough? Or was she like that already?

What was the longest you left the creme on for?

[edit] Meant to clarify - by "tricky to get right with Lego" I meant that the results within the vintage computer/gaming communities seem more consistently positive. From the LEGO communities I've found discussing it, reports seem more mixed; plenty of happy customers but also many who didn't get good results, including Rufus if I've read his comments here correctly. I'm trying to figure out if this is something to do with LEGO's ABS formula, or different recipes AFOLs are using, or something else...

Edited July 17, 2013 by caperberry

[boba_jagoda]

The headless lady is equally bad as she was before - no additional color got lost.

Unfortunatelly (or not), I've had no "good" yellowed minifigs for testing.

I've also treated some pirate flags whose print remained jet black, but was't able to catch the (visible) difference in whiteness with my camera.

The treated parts eg. horses looked considerably whiter afterwards than the horses I didn't treat (beacuse they didn't look at all yellow) - so there's white and there's White.

Some parts were left out on the balcony for days (most of the time not in the direct sunlight though), and re-treated every once in while when the creme dried out...

[caperberry]

The headless lady is equally bad as she was before - no additional color got lost.

Unfortunatelly (or not), I've had no "good" yellowed minifigs for testing.

I've also treated some pirate flags whose print remained jet black, but was't able to catch the (visible) difference in whiteness with my camera.

The treated parts eg. horses looked considerably whiter afterwards than the horses I didn't treat (beacuse they didn't look at all yellow) - so there's white and there's White.

Some parts were left out on the balcony for days (most of the time not in the direct sunlight though), and re-treated every once in while when the creme dried out...

Interesting, I've read of problems on the computer/gamer forums when allowing cremes to dry. Looks like I have a lot of variables to test!

Funny you say "good yellowed"... I've bought some off BL to test with, it's very weird to be hunting down the worst parts you can find for a change!!

Edited July 17, 2013 by caperberry

[Rufus]

Sorry I haven't checked in here for a while. The CSRP us taking (another) little hiatus, but I'll be back before too long to finish up 918.

I use a weak solution of hypochlorite for the white pieces - they come up a treat after a long soak (24 hours +). The results on any other colour tend to be variable - and cause spotting and patchiness.

[caperberry]

I use a weak solution of hypochlorite for the white pieces - they come up a treat after a long soak (24 hours +). The results on any other colour tend to be variable - and cause spotting and patchiness.

I've read of hypochlorite being used, but again concerns around the brick texture being altered put me off - so it's good to hear you are confident with it Rufus (on white anyway). Looks like another variable to add to my tests!! Erk.

[DPrime]

Thanks for the science lesson, Caperberry! Interesting stuff. I await your results with great interest!

Best explanation ever

Since I use the creme, and don't actually dip the parts into the H_2 O_2 but rather just smear it over the problem area,

I've really had absolutely no issues with destroyed parts, even after a long exposure

this is a before and after for a horse and some other stuff (sorry for off topic)

Hmmm... Where do you get this stuff? Drug store?

[boba_jagoda]

Hairdresser

[DPrime]

Hairdresser

Good to know, thanks!

I was wondering if someone could point me in the direction of a tutorial on vintage parts? I'm restoring a number of CS sets myself and am learning a lot about the small differences... But it can still be quite confusing! :)

Also, anywhere I can find out how long sets were in production and in stores? Years they were released are easy, but I'm interested in how waves overlapped, as well.

[Rufus]

Chapter Three: 918 One-Man Space Ship

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3.2: The Box

Apologies again for the long delay ... but I'm back now to conclude this part of the project. I was lucky to get hold of a good quality box for this old classic: mine had long-since gone. Let's take a look at it!

This gorgeous little box is a European original - free of the text that legally has to clutter the US equivalents. The ship is beautifully posed, lit, and photographed - I always wondered how they took the photos back in the days before Photoshop; was the set suspending on strings in front of a mock-up backdrop?

A lovely little tray slides out of the box sleeve:

At the moment there's only the instruction manual in there, but this is a great feature: you can store the parts in the box, and build straight from there.

A few alternatives grace the sleeve's rear:

I particularly like the bottom left one, which looks to have an enclosed cabin. It's a shame you can't see all round if you're trying to recreate it, but I guess that is the challenge!

The instructions are a single large sheet, printed on both sides - here's half of one side:

The instruction steps are printed at a slightly larger-than-life scale, which gives adult-me the odd sensation that I'm looking at it though a magnifying glass. I read somewhere that kids are better at accommodating at short distances, which is why they sit so close to the TV. Maybe that has something to do with it.

I think it was caperberry who said that there was a little landing pad on the rear of the tray. I couldn't remember, but he was indeed correct!

And it's a smaller-scale version of 928's landing pad! A great touch, particularly if it's your first set of the series and you haven't got a base yet.

I'll be back soon to show you the finished model! And then the Classic Space Restoration Project will then take a scheduled break. Ahem.

[Roger_Smith]

Yay, Classic Space Restoration is back!

Can't wait for the shots of the finished model.

Recently I finally managed to get most of the missing parts for my 928, which I built last week. Beautiful design. I only need to get three more of those big cones for the underside, the antenna and one 6x12 plate (substituted it with a 6x4 and a 6x8) and it will all be there.

I also got the printed LL918 bricks in pristine condition in a lot of classic Lego I scored on Ebay, so I'll very likely build that one aswell.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Roger_Smith

[DPrime]

Oh man, thanks a lot Rufus - now I just HAVE to track down a 918 box as well! I love the little landing pad on the tray.

So glad to see an update, finally, but I totally understand now how long it can take to restore these sets, much less take pics and post descriptions as you do it. I've been doing a little restoration myself, inspired by this thread. I managed to get my original Lego from my mother's classroom (yes, that's where it ended up!) and piece together my original Robot Command Centre! It too needed some upgraded parts (as you can imagine, what with it being in a primary school classroom for the better part of the past twenty years; the figures were all stolen by students!), but only today did I get the final pieces I needed.

The only other set I could salvage was a Knight's Castle... the rest either went to my vintage spares bins or - for the ones that were chewed up (there were many), but still usable - my daughters' Lego. But I did manage to get some other Classic Space sets locally, including a 924 that needed a few new parts, too. The order that came in today included those as well - so pumped! :)

Now, if I could only get my hands on a 928 to complete the trio... On a side note, it's pretty awesome that we'll be getting a 929 this year, too! Classic Space is finally making a comeback! :)

[Rufus]

Recently I finally managed to get most of the missing parts for my 928, which I built last week. Beautiful design. I only need to get three more of those big cones for the underside, the antenna and one 6x12 plate (substituted it with a 6x4 and a 6x8) and it will all be there.

The cones should be ok, and the plate will be easy - but the antenna piece is rare and can be pricey. Good luck!

So glad to see an update, finally, but I totally understand now how long it can take to restore these sets, much less take pics and post descriptions as you do it. I've been doing a little restoration myself, inspired by this thread.

I'm glad the thread inspired you! Restoration can be very satisfying.

Actually the delay wasn't due to restoration taking time. I had this set ready ages ago - and thought I'd taken photos, so I took the sets apart because I needed the space. Turns out I hadn't taken pictures ... and when taking the set apart, one of the 8x4 wedge plates snapped. That's the peril of old LEGO. So the whole project went on the back burner for a while.

I managed to get my original Lego from my mother's classroom (yes, that's where it ended up!) and piece together my original Robot Command Centre! It too needed some upgraded parts (as you can imagine, what with it being in a primary school classroom for the better part of the past twenty years; the figures were all stolen by students!), but only today did I get the final pieces I needed.

I have that set. It doesn't need much restoration - it was one of the later sets I acquired, when I had learned to look after my LEGO. You'll have your work cut out to restore it, though, if it's been in a classroom for some time!

The only other set I could salvage was a Knight's Castle... the rest either went to my vintage spares bins or - for the ones that were chewed up (there were many), but still usable - my daughters' Lego. But I did manage to get some other Classic Space sets locally, including a 924 that needed a few new parts, too. The order that came in today included those as well - so pumped! :)

Now, if I could only get my hands on a 928 to complete the trio... On a side note, it's pretty awesome that we'll be getting a 929 this year, too! Classic Space is finally making a comeback! :)

Be sure to share some pictures of your restorations! And yes, I'm excited about 929 too.

[Roger_Smith]

The cones should be ok, and the plate will be easy - but the antenna piece is rare and can be pricey. Good luck!

The antenna goes for ~10€ in german stores, which is just a big NO for me. Especially since it's very fragile, apparently, so there's a risk of it being broken during shipping.

I included the plate in a Bricklink order I placed yesterday (my first Bricklink order ever - yay ). The cones may take some more time, only few shops have them, and none of them had a sufficient amount of the other stuff I wanted. But I'm in no hurry.

I had my old parts for this set set aside for pretty much a year now. Then two weeks ago I won a bulk Ebay auction of 3kg of old Lego that proved to be a veritably bonanza of old space parts, so I was able to source almost all the missing pieces from there. Some sets that were in that lot include 918, 1593, 6927 and 6930, but there are more - I found no less than 27 complete classic space figures in red, white, yellow and blue in various conditions from near mint to badly worn logos in there (and another 6 incomplete figures missing their helmet / air tank)

Edited January 19, 2014 by Roger_Smith

[Rufus]

(my first Bricklink order ever - yay ).

Be careful - it's rather addictive!

Then two weeks ago I won a bulk Ebay auction of 3kg of old Lego that proved to be a veritably bonanza of old space parts, so I was able to source almost all the missing pieces from there. Some sets that were in that lot include 918, 1593, 6927 and 6930, but there are more - I found no less than 27 complete classic space figures in red, white, yellow and blue in various conditions from near mint to badly worn logos in there (and another 6 incomplete figures missing their helmet / air tank)

Sounds like a good deal! ebay is rather hit-and-miss, I've found; I avoid the ebay parts stores, bulk buys can be good, especially for generic 80s parts; you've been lucky indeed to get figures with good logos!

[Brickadiergerard]

918. One of my favourite ever lego sets, and one of the few complete sets I was able to rebuild from the bricks I salvaged from my parents' attic when they moved house. Bringing it back to life was great - it really is a perfectly sized set for kids to play with (as I see when mine swoosh it). And the colour scheme is wonderfully iconic.

[Rufus]

Chapter Three: 918 One-Man Space Ship

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3.3: The Result

Mostly, 918 just needed a jolly good clean. I replaced a few missing parts with other 80s bricks I had acquired during the projects (mostly blue bricks from where I had modified the original), but the blue 4x4 plate was badly discoloured and replaced, and the missing 1x2 grey plates are back now. I've used new parts for the four transparent 1x1s; the blue CS slope is of course a much better replacement.

I've included comparison pictures here, unfortunately not always from the same angle! Click the thumbnail for a larger image.

Lil' Rufus's custom decals have thankfully gone!

The set looks much better now. The 3x6 trans-yellow slope hasn't come up as nicely as I'd have liked; I gave it a wipe immediately before taking this picture which makes it look a little worse than it is, but I'm still trying to find a better way to restore these parts as good replacements are near-impossible to come by.

One of the rear wedge plates had to be replaced as the original snapped when I took it apart. This is the danger inherent in handling old LEGO.

You may also notice that I've put the grey doors on the right way round this time.

It's lovely to see the Classic Space badge in such good condition:

I've searched long and hard for these parts - I have a sizeable collection of rejects which weren't as nice as advertised. :hmph_bad: You might also notice that the nearside wing wedge is a slightly darker tone than the front ones; cleaning them up has made this more obvious. I don't know whether this is an age effect or a difference in the original colour; it isn't too obvious in the flesh. The pronged 1x2 plate at the front is a little darker too; I might see if I can dig out a matching replacement with the mid-mounted prongs as featured in the early releases of this set.

The underside didn't need much work!

A good clean was sufficient here. I always loved the way this ship used a low-set base to accommodate the figure (I remember even as a kid knowing that you needed three bricks' and two plates' height to fit a seated spaceman!)

I think this figure is one of the ones I acquired in the Doodz interlude a couple of pages back:

He's got a lovely logo, and the joints are all nicely stiff.

Classic Space Restoration Project: End of Part One

---

I'm really pleased with how these three classic matching sets have turned out. I can't begin to tell you how much the project cost - mostly because I wasn't simply buying a few replacement parts, but hunting around for anything I though might be useful for Classic Space restoration or possible future MOCs. I have found that replacing generic parts isn't too difficult, whereas reliably cleaning the parts is hit-or-miss and frequently quite disappointing - so it's generally easier to replace parts if they are discoloured or damaged. The exceptions are the CS-logos, and especially the trans-yellow slopes, which are almost impossible to acquire in a guaranteed good condition.

Classic Space Restoration Project will now take an intentional break. I will be restoring many more smaller sets from this early wave, and will post these from time to time; I will also restore some larger, later sets, for which I'll probably use a new thread. I'm also likely to do some reviews of those sets which are already in good condition ... but I'm not making any promises as to timescale.

I hope you've enjoyed the project so far!

Rufus

'Niner-one-eight, make best speed to Regula One!'

'Roger, Mission Control. Setting gas mark six.'

[The Architect]

Good luck! .

[Magma]

I hope you've enjoyed the project so far!

An awesome project! 918 was my first real Lego set that I can remember, my first love as it were, and I still have it after raiding my parents house. But it doesn't look anywhere near as beautiful as your restored one! Great photos, great work. If you restore other sets, please show the results.

[Doom2099]

Since I use the creme, and don't actually dip the parts into the H_2 O_2 but rather just smear it over the problem area,

I've really had absolutely no issues with destroyed parts, even after a long exposure

this is a before and after for a horse and some other stuff (sorry for off topic)

Wow, this is a great thread, both for the tips on older parts restoration, and of course all the classic space goodness! Hope we get to see more classic sets and boxes in the future.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Interesting project! The classic space sets were the last ones I bought as a kid before the dark ages - and I thought they were (are) great!

And a standard feature was the broken helmet....

I am looking forward to your updates!

[Roger_Smith]

Thanks for this whole thread again :)

The last update made me want to go and dig out the pieces for LL918 from my collection. I'm missing the 4x4 cone, but the rest should all be there. Will be nice displaying it side by side with the LL928.

And I need to get more of those cones :D

[DPrime]

Hey Rufus (or anyone else), do you use the old "moulding pip on the side, not the stud" pieces, generally?

I'm talking mainly 1x1, 1x2, and 1x3 bricks, and most plates.

Just curious, as this is what I've been doing, for the earlier CS sets, anyway.

[Ulrik Hansen]

Great thread that I just found today via a general web search for the 924. I only had the 918 in my space collection back then but I definitely remember those lucky kids who got the 928. Just the fact that it had a cargo space!!!! I finally bought it half a year ago including many other cs-parts and very well-preserved minifigs.

Anyway, these three sets should one day be put out as legacy sets with everything as back then (colors and parts as the original), or we will just have to print them our selves

[Rufus]

Hey Rufus (or anyone else), do you use the old "moulding pip on the side, not the stud" pieces, generally?

I'm talking mainly 1x1, 1x2, and 1x3 bricks, and most plates.

To be honest, I hadn't considered that as a way of differentiating the older parts, but I certainly will in future. It's only really applicable to the plain bricks; there are ways to tell apart many of the other pieces.

I've used period parts as replacements wherever possible, but occasionally the odd contemporary piece sneaks in - usually because newer ones look better (the colour matches better, or, in the case of the trans-green and trans-red parts, old ones always look old and tired). If you're restoring, then it depends on time and budget - the more you have of both, the more you can worry about getting period replacements.

I look at it as a bit like restoring a classic car: a good restoration will use new replacements for some parts without shame.

Anyway, these three sets should one day be put out as legacy sets with everything as back then (colors and parts as the original), or we will just have to print them our selves

I have dreamed about this! Actually, if it actually happened I think it would devalue the classics (both monetarily and sentimentally). I think TLG have done the right thing by acknowledging the nostalgia value in the LEGO Movie.

[Commander_Rob]

Well darn, between the LEGO Movie, picking up a 6847 Space Dozer in a charity shop and remembering and (re)reading this thread, I fear I might get nostalgic for sets decades before my time.

Maybe it's time for another Bricklink adventure...