Older Lego town plan

Looking somewhat worse for wear, this is my older Lego town plan for use with the H0 range of vehicles. It has a pattern and style that's very similar if not identical to another town plan that Lego sold as a single piece of hardboard or printed on vinyl so it could be rolled up.

Reason my version is in two halves is that these formed the lid of a wooden sorting box. The two halves are made of hardboard, and one had a paper label on the back in the contemporary style including an image of children at play. Boxes at the time carried the Lego slogan of 'System in Play' where mine is a German version even though I bought it from someone in the Netherlands. I use this particular box to store my cellulose acetate Lego, keeping it separate from the ABS in other boxes.

Compared to the later cardboard town plan, this older version has less space for buildings but relatively wider streets to drive the little cars through. The flat trees in this image are also the original older versions. 

To close off, here's a picture from a contemporary folder showing the one-piece version. Price is in Belgian Francs, where 70 francs would be €1.75 and won't even buy you a loaf of bread nowadays.

Warped Lego sadly warps again

Early Lego was made from cellulose acetate plastic, which can distort quite substantially as shown above. The bricks on the right have remained pretty much unaffected, while the others have warped one way or another. Since the warped bricks are useless as such, I thought I'd see if I could straighten them.

The idea I had was to let opposite warps work against each other. So I put two stacks next to each other with a brick underneath and another on top to keep them forced together.

Each block was then immersed in pretty hot water (though not boiling water) and left there for some 10-20 minutes. This was intended to soften them just sufficiently that the warp would lose its force so the bricks would straighten out again.

Then each block was immersed in water as cold as I could get it. The intention being this would help settle the bricks in their straightened shape.

Final step was to reassemble the blocks as shown, with each level perpendicular to the previous one. At this stage it appeared that the operation had been somewhat successful. Although not as straight as new bricks, the warp had been greatly diminished. 

However, a couple of weeks later the warp had returned; the same stacks now sporting larger gaps again. I may give this method another try, and maybe use even hotter water and leave the blocks of bricks in longer. They're almost useless as they are, so any gain at all would be a profit.

Fixing loose Lego trailer axles

Lego trailers have a steering front axle that can't be removed, a heat-shaped flange keeping them in place inside the trailer frame. Many of those front axles have been removed anyway, but thankfully a good number haven't been lost completely. The photos show the Vreede method of fixing them back in place.

A broken Lego part of the right type (cellulose acetate or ABS) provides the top of a lug, cut off with a sturdy cutter. This is sanded down to make it a bit thinner and for an even surface on both sides using 400 grit sandpaper or even coarser.

The pin of the trailer is also slightly sanded down (a millimetre at most), and then the round piece is superglued on top of the pin. Letting the superglue thoroughly dry for 24 hours is recommended before continuing.

Next, the edge of the flange is completely sanded away at front and rear, so that it's even with the pin. The edge of the flange is sanded so it's narrower at the top than at the lower end. All of this is to allow it to get into the hole in the trailer frame and then stay put.

The pin won't get into the hole as it is, so a cut is made with a cutting disc on a Dremel mini-drill. This will melt as much as cut, but the displaced plastic is easily removed. When finished the two halves of the pin will have enough give to -gently- insert them into the hole in the trailer frame. Make sure they're still straight at the outer sides after cutting the groove; give them a pinch if they're not.

First insert the flange on one side, push the axle towards that side and turn it towards the trailer so the other half of the pin gets gently pushed in as well. Once it's in, the axle stays in place again without falling out. It may drop down a bit lower than it did originally because the flange is now on top of the pin instead of around the top, but that should be the only visible difference.

Lego bike repairs

 I have repaired a number of the little Lego cyclists, most of which were missing the little feet they stand on. Or not, as was the case with the motorcycle above at left. This had perfect wheels without a trace of damage, and no feet. The tell-tale in these cases is the missing paint behind the rider's leg. Because this motorcycle originally had a sidecar, which was in the way when the combination was painted by hand. Having three wheels it wouldn't fall over so didn't require the feet fitted to the two-wheelers in the series. The motorbike at right did have its feet broken off.

Most of these bikes are made of grey plastic which I repair with strips cut from a broken piece of grey groundplate. The feet are simple rectangular strips where I sand the ends to have rounded corners. Missing sections of wheel are made out of a bit of round edge from one of the lugs, also sanded a bit to round it off.

The bikes and scooter above also have one or two replacement feet. They're glued on with superglue, except the feet on the bikes that have lost their sidecars. The latter have feet stuck on with acetone, so that these can still be removed if ever I'd be so lucky as to find a spare sidecar.

I did fix one sidecar combination, which I got cheap because it was broken. Just glueing it back on doesn't really work, it easily breaks off again. So I used an extremely fine bit in the table drill to make a hole on each side, exactly where the original connection was. A little stem cut from the same groundplate was then inserted and superglued in the holes to reinforce the connection.

Final type of repair was a Lambretta rider who had unfortunately lost her head. Two bits of groundplate in two layers provided enough thickness to sand into a ball shape. A cut round the circumference resembles the helmet edge of the original and a tiny cut-off sliver made a nose. Flesh coloured paint was mixed to match the hands and legs, and the helmet was painted red to go with the original red detail on the rear.

Fixing broken Lego axle mounts

 Quite a few little Lego cars have been leaned or even stepped on in their time, which results in the fragile axle mounts breaking and the car then sitting with its bottom on the ground. But if the car can be easily opened, then here's how I fix that.

I use a window frame that's warped to uselessness, one of which will repair quite a few cars. It's the outer upright that's very useful, so the inner lip (part of the front of the frame) gets cut off.

First I cut a little notch in the middle, to the size of the axle diameter.

Next is a trial fit, to see if the axle turns freely and has a bit of vertical play. If the original mount on the other side is still present then match that, else you'll have to make two identical pieces, one for each side.

If the floor of the car has an incline then you'll need to cut the piece to allow for that. Next cut off the piece from the window frame.

You'll need to scrape the paint off the parts of the car's base where the piece touches, so it doesn't get in the way of the adhesive bond between the parts. Brush on some acetone, and position the red piece in place on the car's base. Use something to keep the base off your work surface.

Once the red piece is sitting where you want it, brush on some more acetone. This will run inbetween the two parts, melt them a little and help reinforce the bond between them. Repeat a few times, without touching the pieces (they can come loose with new acetone being applied). Any surplus will neatly evaporate (which means a ventilated workspace is recommended).

If the axle gets stuck as well, gently twist a wheel and it will come loose. This is why I use acetone instead of superglue, which will stick everything together in such a way that forcing loose the wheel will cause damage.

Final tip: if there's rust on the axles, then that can be cleaned off wth steel wool. If the axle is entirely loose then that's ideal for cleaning. If not, press some steel wool down on the axle and run the loose chassis back and forth on f ex a tablecloth to provide grip to the wheels.

Bleaching white Lego

 Old white Lego parts can darken to a yellow tan colour. Transparent and blue parts can also discolour to display rather brownish hues, as can grey parts to a much lesser extent. I've read somewhere that it's a flame-retardant bromide component in the original plastic mix that causes this, but other than that your guess is as good as mine. Why red and yellow parts are not affected I haven't found explained either.

Blue and transparent parts cannot be helped, but thankfully the white parts can be bleached back to their original white splendour, usually entirely so. Hydrogen peroxide is what's required, available from the chemist's and other sources. I got a 12% solution online. Its most known use is to bleach dark hair to what has often actually been called "peroxide blond" hair. Blue Lego will just get more and more faded over time and any printing will go in days. There's no point in putting in transparent parts. I have yet to try grey parts but apparently peroxide works on those as well.

Apparently the peroxide requires daylight to work, so transparent containers are a must. I use an empty instant-coffee jar sat on a window sill in the kitchen. Not shown here, it's now sitting on an empty tin can to get it up to the height of the window frame. I've cut a section of colourless PET water bottle that nicely holds plates upright. The bubbles seen in the picture are a reaction to surface dirt I think, they disappear after a while. 

So far, the peroxide in the jar has been in use a good year. I dunk in a load, leave it a week or sometimes longer, and then fish out the bricks with a throwaway pair of wooden chopsticks. I've topped up the level a few times with some water, where I'd say the solution will be more like 8 or 9% now. Now that the central heating in the kitchen is on since the start of Autumn, I think it's evaporating a bit as well. And maybe it's finally losing its potency, for the last batches seem to take longer.

Ive found that a jar half-full with parts works best, and stirring once a day probably doesn't hurt to get even exposure to light. Lego itself doen't float, but air trapped inside a brick does provide buoyancy. Tapping with a chopstick releases most if not all and a few layers of bricks on the bottom of the jar will still work out though with the odd stir. The first months of the year there was less light, but a week could show a marked difference as seen above. The summer months were very good of course.

Most vintage Lego will come out nice and white. Some of the old plates may still keep a buttery yellow hue. And newer Lego parts can come out whiter than white indeed. (The small grey patch is a leftover gunpowder mark, a souvenir from when we blew up Lego structures with little firecrackers many decades ago. The peroxide didn't much affect it).

Lego car repairs - stuff I use

 I intend to post a series on how I've fixed various of my little Lego cars. 

But for anybody wanting to do the same, I thought it might be useful to list in one post all the stuff I've used to do so. More details will follow in future posts, plus the odd very specific tool.

One important point to make first: everything you do to your Lego is your own responsibility. Be prepared to accept that things don't work out or get worse instead of better. If in doubt, leave well enough alone.

I'll be describing what worked for me, but I've ruined a few things as well. Other than that, do read the safety precautions on everything you use, and do follow those when you use it.

Acetone

I use this as an adhesive, for sticking plastic to plastic. It's especially good for replacement axle mounts (above), because rotating a metal axle will free it when it happened to get stuck as well (as opposed to superglue where your axle will no longer budge without damage). The surplus evaporates which I find handy as well.

Acetone melts plastic, so it's best to not use it for anything else. Certainly not cleaning, for you'll immediately damage the plastic surface with the first wipe.

Having said that, I've repaired a crack with tiny shavings of plastic picked up with a brush dipped in acetone and then quickly pushed into place with a toothpick. Very hit and miss and touch and go and it could've just as easily gone wrong. Whatever you do, it's best not to apply acetone on exterior surfaces - it will do much more harm than good.

Last point is that I don't mix plastic types - I'll repair cellulose acetate with cellulose acetate and ABS with ABS. One of the very few exceptions are my replacement axle mounts because I use parts cut from warped cellulose acetate window frames.

Boiling water

Not a good idea. It instantly softens and distorts plastic. I ruined a white cargo bed that way (I was trying to straighten it in a purpose-made clamp but should have known better).

However, I have managed to push a dent out of the bonnet of a little Ford Taunus by dipping it in near-boiling water and then pressing hard with a small teaspoon from the inside.

Compound wax

This is normally used by car body shops to smooth out and brighten up paintwork. It's mildly abrasive. Works well for polishing away the smallest scratches from plastic. My tin is several decades old and a bit dry but still works fine. Use clean soft cloths (dust rag type), nothing synthetic. Follow up with copper polish. 

Copper polish

For cleaning and shining up plastic. Use clean soft cloths (dust rag type), nothing synthetic. Dried polish looks whitish, and can be removed from details and creases with a toothpick or (even better) the sharp point of a diagonally-broken matchstick.

Methylated spirit (methanol)

Do not use. 

I've initially left parts of Esso trucks to soak in methylated spirit to remove the remains of damaged transfers (decals), because those were originally applied with it (not water). What I didn't immediately notice is that meths actually -shrinks- plastic (see above).

I've also tried to loosen Esso transfers from a couple of broken trailers. The not-so-good ones on the initial test started to buckle in less than five minutes and were salvaged. The really good complete transfers on the other trailer didn't shift at all until they started breaking up in flakes a couple of hours later. The trailer itself was ruined by this time.

Nitrogen Peroxide

Used to bleach discoloured white Lego parts. No use on transparent pieces; will discolour blue plastic. Bleaches any printing on the bricks. I've found a litre of a 12% solution online that has so far lasted me more than a year.

Superglue

According to the text on the bottle it glues fingers and eyelids together in seconds. Dunno about the eyelids but it is indeed extremely good at glueing fingers.

It's also very good at glueing fingers to any other surface, with the risk of leaving fingerprint gluemarks all over it. So drop what you're doing the instant you get the stuff on your fingers to avoid damage to your toy (on your fingers you can let it dry and peel it off with hot soapy water).

I use superglue to stick broken parts together again, esp in places not immediately visible (VW axle mounts f ex). I apply it with a toothpick dipped in a drop of superglue on some disposable surface. Because if there's too much it will inevitably run to some place where you don't want it (not to mention turning into a white frosty surface on some transparent parts).

Any superglued parts that need further work I've learned to let dry completely for 24H before continuing. 

Washing powder/liquid

Large quantities of soiled Lego go in the washing machine at no more than 40° C. Small parts go in one of those netted bags with a zip normally used for smaller items of clothing and nylon stockings. 

Do not use your dishwasher, it is -way- too hot (it will also remove screenprinting from metal, as I once discovered after I'd put the carousel of my Wurlitzer in it...) 

Washing up liquid

Used for cleaning because it dissolves grease and dirt and contains no abrasives. Use with a nailbrush that has -natural- bristles. Not nylon bristles, which may scratch the plastic surface (ditto for old toothbrushes). Let parts soak in warm water with a larger dose of the stuff to loosen up the dirt first.

Ink (still visible on the green plate above) can be removed with scouring liquid, left to soak for a while and then rubbed with your finger. 

White spirit

Not useful except for thinning enamel paint before use and cleaning brushes afterwards.

Paint removal

I've used brake fluid in the past on polystyrene model kit parts. This is very dangerous stuff indeed and best not used at all. I've never tried it on cellulose acetate but I've tested it on ABS (which is what Lego is made from since 1963). Brake fluid eats ABS as if it was made for it - it starts dissolving ABS fairly rapidly.

Undiluted Dettol works well and is a lot safer too (the original brown Dettol). It's thick enough that it can be locally applied with a thin paint brush or cotton swab. I've used it on both cellulose acetate and ABS with no apparent ill effects if brushed on locally and not left on too long. I later discovered Dettol will soften and warp ABS after prolonged contact over several days. UPDATE: even later I discovered Dettol will bleach the pigments in ABS plastic if left immersed for more than an hour or so. Cellulose acetate does not seem to be affected at all by Dettol. To finish, Dettol also seriously smells up the kitchen, so keep a window open to ventilate. Keep it off your skin and out of your eyes, wash hands etc.

I'm currently trying out isopropanol, bought at the chemist's. This is one of the active ingredients of Dettol (the other being linseed oil) and gets favourable reviews from model kit builders. Plus it doesn't stink like Dettol does. Particular paint I wanted to remove didn't budge but then it wasn't model paint either I think.

In the end it all depends on the paint you want to remove. Ask the item's seller what it could be. Test as much as you can. Try painting a few drops of Dettol on an inside surface. And if Dettol doesn't shift it quickly then best leave it be, before you ruin the plastic.

Broken Lego parts

Very useful as a source for replacement plastic of the right type and colour. It also ensures that after you've finished, the car may be repaired but it's still 100% Lego!

Cutter

A small sharp one to cut bits of plastic (from broken bricks and other lego parts to have the right type and colour of plastic).

Flat screwdriver

Used to jimmy wheels off axles. There's more to it than just a screwdriver - I'll cover this in posts on my VW Beetles and Pickups.

Humbrol enamel (solvent-based)

They probably don't make this anymore, but I've got some left from decades ago that's very good for touching up paint on VW Beetles. Mix up and match paint in (overcast) daylight.

(Update: I was pleasantly surprised to find Humbrol is still solvent-based like it always was, though the wide range of colours I remember has been more than halved now.)

Masking tape

Handy to keep stuff in place while drying f ex.

Pliers

Couple of small ones can be useful. Watch out not to damage the plastic.

Large plumber's pliers are used to get wheels back on axles.

Steel wool

Used for cleaning up the metal wheels and axles incl traces of rust, preferably when the axle is loose from the chassis. Don't use on plastic.

Thumbnail

Your very own built-in tool. Very useful for opening up various little Lego cars.

Sandpaper

I'm using extremely fine wet-or-dry sandpaper to smooth scratched surfaces - 1500 and 2800 grit obtained from an automotive supplies store. Rinse the paper before use, any dirt on it will make scratches. The trick is to let the wet paper do the work, so hardly press at all and take your time. A bit of tissue paper dries the surface to see how far you've come. 

Sanding plastic leaves a dull surface, which can be made to shine again with compound wax followed by copper polish.

I also use 400 grit to sand down replacement bits I'm shaping.

Toothpicks

Used to scrape out dirt from nooks and crannies without damaging the plastic. Also used as improvised tweezers, superglue applicators, protective pieces etc.

Don't use metal because it scratches plastic. A matchstick broken diagonally will have a nice fine point to get into even tighter spots.

Innocent Times Revisited - part 2

These Lego cars were sold as being in the H0 scale of 1/87. Compared to other makes, Wiking for example, they tend to be a tad larger, so possibly 1/80 or 1/76 perhaps. But they were still very useful for a model train layout; something which Lego also suggested in an early ideas book which featured an earlier town plan with an H0 model railway running round it, over bridges and past buildings made out of Lego (See scans on Brick Fetish - there are minute links at the bottom of the pages to see the rest of that book; the entire site is very much recommended).

The train track is overdoing it a bit to my taste, so I'm contenting myself with just having some contemporary buildings, based on various sources. [click on photos for larger view]

The front cover of the town plan shows some buildings that I've also built. Incidentally, the boy playing with the Bedford truck is a young Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the grandson of Lego Founder Ole Kirk Christiansen and the man who was CEO and Chairman of the company until 2004 (his last name starts with a K due to a clerical error when he was born apparently).

The back of the townplan shows other buildings, some of which were available as sets at the time. I've built a few of those to go with my townplan as well. The iconic Esso service station I initially built from loose parts, but then I found a glued-together display model at a swapmeet, made from all the correct parts including the special plates trimmed in red.

When this town plan period started, Lego was made from cellulose acetate. Which has a lovely slightly translucent shine to it, as opposed to the dense colours of the ABS plastic that came in from 1963. But it has less clutch power (as Lego calls it) which when young we countered by clamping a sheet of paper between the bricks and tearing off the excess (a trick I've used again f ex in the aerial on the fire station roof).

Its other disadvantage is that it can (and most often does) warp over time, making larger bricks completely useless. The white flatbed trailers made from cellulose acetate are very likely to be twisted into weird shapes (much worse than the relatively unaffected ones shown), and most Mercedes convertibles and removal trucks go somewhat banana-shaped as well. 

The Bedford trucks (and passenger cars) were issued in ABS plastic before the Bedfords were replaced with Mercedes trucks. But for sheer period nostalgia, the bright shine of cellulose acetate is hard to beat.

A first version of this post was published on Moonbase Central.