Yellow Snes- Color removal/painting options?

[Opa Opa]

I was putting stuff up in my storage building and I found an old Super Nintendo (probably my cousin's from oh-so many years ago). Of course I get immediately excited like I discovered the Holy Grail or the Fountain of Youth, but after three seconds of examination it's apparent that it needs some cleaning. So after I spent about 4 hours cleaning this thing I have another Snes to sit on my shelf. But sitting next to my non-yellowed Snes, this thing looks ugly. What are my options as far as getting rid of the yellow color? (I know there's a guide to take the yellowing off somewhere...) But are there any other options to changing the color of my Super Nintendo?

All help always appreciated.

Edit:
Also, have there ever been clear console shells for the snes? Kinda like the N64 had different clear color schemes.

[BocoDragon]

Check out this article on SNES yellowing. http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/189

The article mentions a de-yellowing solution... but IMO I wouldn't expect great results. It's probably not worth it.

Painting it, on the other hand:
http://tinycartridge.com/post/100438902 ... ve-and-nes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joo0ey/5066355881/

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a

^Use RetroBrite, it takes the yellow right out of it.

[Opa Opa]

Painting it, on the other hand:
http://tinycartridge.com/post/100438902 ... ve-and-nes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joo0ey/5066355881/

Thanks for the links.

@Mod_Man_Extreme

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a

^Use RetroBrite, it takes the yellow right out of it.

I knew you'd show up. Thank you.

Edit: Also, I don't know if I will paint it or not but do you have paint type you'd recommend? I think I saw this in another thread a while back...

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Painting it, on the other hand:
http://tinycartridge.com/post/100438902 ... ve-and-nes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joo0ey/5066355881/

Thanks for the links.

@Mod_Man_Extreme

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a

^Use RetroBrite, it takes the yellow right out of it.

I knew you'd show up. Thank you.

Edit: Also, I don't know if I will paint it or not but do you have paint type you'd recommend? I think I saw this in another thread a while back...

Use either, Vinyl Dye or RIT Dye.

Be careful and learn your way around them first. I recommend vinyl dye as it sprays on like spray paint and is newbie friendly. Just learn to spray paint on plastic with random crap you don't care about first.

RIT Dye is very dangerous as it involves getting it under boiling and dumping you plastic in. After about 5-10 seconds pull it out and rinse it with cold water. But do it OUTSIDE and learn to do it first with junk parts.

[Flake]

I say paint it yellow.

[Opa Opa]

I say paint it yellow.

I'll paint it the same color as the top.

[Opa Opa]

Use either, Vinyl Dye or RIT Dye.

Be careful and learn your way around them first. I recommend vinyl dye as it sprays on like spray paint and is newbie friendly. Just learn to spray paint on plastic with random crap you don't care about first.

Should I use a plastic primer first? Or does such a thing exist? I know whenever I have to paint my walls I've got to prime them first but I don't know anything about painting plastic.

RIT Dye is very dangerous

I'll just stick with vinyl dye. I'm not a fan of danger and I'm new to painting so I think vinyl will work out fine.
---
Also, what about sanding the plastic a little first? I know some people swear by it and others do not. I've seen videos of the consoles this one guy paints and he sands the systems first and they turn out to be pretty awesome looking.
---
Edit: Another Question- What should I clean the casing with to prep it for painting?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

NO priming and no sanding, both are very VERY bad ideas. Just wipe the console down with water followed by some rubbing alcohol. Not to mention have it completely disassembled too.

Also, RIT Dye isn't dangerous per-se. It jut has too be hot and near boiling for you to use it and if you're not careful you can burn yourself. It's also a dye so it stains whatever it touches permanently that color. So make sure to do it outside.

Personally I prefer the RIT Dye approach over using spray on Vinyl Dye as it doesn't smell like crap (vinyl dye is an extremely heavy odor), not to mention it's cheap stuff at only $4 a bottle at wal-mart, k-mart, your local supermarket or a craft store nearby.

All you really need to do to make it work is disassemble your console, clean your parts well with water and rubbing alcohol, loosely tie a string around the case at some easy to pull on point (I suggest from the hole for the eject button around the front) dip it FOR NO LONGER THAN 10-15-ish SECONDS PER DIP and dunk it in a bucket of hot water next to you to cool it off and remove the excess dye. If after dipping it in the dye and dunking it in the water you're not satisfied with the color then re-dip it in the dye and repeat the instructions as stated above. The type of plastic used for consoles is called ABS and it can actually start shriveling up and imploding on itself after it's been in extremely hot temperatures. It's not dangerous to you, but if you leave it in too long without pulling it out and dunking it in cold water to cool it off you'll have a shriveled up SNES case.

RIT Dye links:

http://www.overclock.net/computer-perip ... dye-2.html

http://www.overclock.net/computer-perip ... guide.html

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php? ... 80260&st=0

http://www.google.com/search?q=rit+dye+ ... =firefox-a


These are two guides on dying parts, one text and the other video. The video one is using RIT Dye to dye RC car parts. RC car parts are typically made of PVC so the same time period rules will not apply. Remember only 10-15-ish seconds per dip and then cool it off in the water bucket or else.

http://www.drasticplastic.com/howtodyeplastic.aspx



EDIT!: Also, use a junk pot or something to dye your parts. At the high temperature the dye will stain the metal that color and you generally wont want to ever eat out of there again later either.

Sounds like a bit much, but it's actually a great and very cost effective way to get permanent coloring on your console.

Parts list needed:

A wide and deep metal broiler pan or very very large pot. Get one at goodwill for like a few bucks. Personally I prefer the large pot as it makes jiggling around the pieces as they dye preventing burning to be easier.

Some kitchen string to pull, dunk and jiggle parts as they dye. Use some slightly thick twine and tie it loosely around your pieces to prevent any lines.

A bucket that's at least as deep as your pot to fully cover all your items in water to cool them off.

Water.

RIT Dye.

[Opa Opa]

Okay.
Thanks for the help.
If I do decide to paint it I'll definitely post pics.

Edit: Do you know of anything it would be good to practice painting on? Plastic-wise, I mean.