Eff off, 2020! Here we go, 2021!

 We're 3 days in to the new year! Here we go!

First off, I managed to finally get the monitor back into the Galaga cab. The bezel of the monitor was painted black, so it's a lot more camouflaged behind the glass. I tried stacking washers behind the monitor to raise it up to butt up against the glass, but that didn't work. I could fidget with the mount itself, but that might be a later this month/no later than next month fix. I still haven't figured out a diffuser solution for the marquee, and I have yet to wire it into the power supply. 

Now, the next project was to finally get a UV box for retrobrighting my old consoles. If you looked at the PSX that I modded a few months back, the console was super dingy and yellow. I couldn't care less about that, but it started getting to me, especially compared to my wife's PSX. So I got to building it. 

I bought a storage bin, some foil, tape, and a UV LED reel. I also bought some 40vol hair developer cream (hydrogen peroxide). I lined the storage bin with the shiny side of the foil facing out, then taped the UV LED strip around the bin and on the underside of the bin's lid.

Now, I've heard horror stories about the "blooming" effect from retrobriting, but most of that was because of heat from people using sunlight. It basically makes splotchy effects, usually when the hydrogen peroxide is thick in one spot and it doesn't get moved around. Because my PSX is REALLY badly yellowed, I didn't want to risk blooming, especially for my first time trying this.

Instead, I sacrificed my AV Famicom that I got several years ago. 

It's been kinda worked. There's a huge gash in it, among small cracks here and there. Still full functional, though. This will be a future candidate for and NESRGB.

Here's the comparison of the shell. Under the power and reset switches shows the original color of the shell and how much it yellowed over the years.

I took the cartridge flaps out to give them the treatment as well. I cleaned up all the pieces that were going into the bin and dried them off. I put the flaps in a small zip top bag, added some of the developer cream, closed it up, and mushed it around the parts. 

I then took some plastic wrap, placed the main shell on it, then poured some developer cream on it. I used a paint brush to brush the cream all over the shell, making sure to get all the vent holes in the back and all the sides. I then wrapped up the shell, mushed the cream a little more, then proceeded to take it to the UV bin.

...I could've sworn I took a better pic of this bin, but whatever. I had some of the foil fold out of the bin...no reason, I really should've just tucked it under the lip of the bin.

I forgot that I should have them elevated off the bottom of the bin, so I found some clear plastic from a blister pack and used that. I placed the flaps and the shell on the risers, closed up the bin, then plugged it in. I then let it chill in there for about 24 hours. 

The following day, I checked briefly on the process around hour 18. It looked like it was working fine, so I mushed the cream a little and let it chill for the rest of the day. At about 25 hours or so, I unplugged the bin and took the pieces out.

After washing the parts in the sink, thoroughly removing all the cream and scrubbing them with soap again, I was greeted with this...

...I wasn't sure if there was a change in color. Compared to the first pic, this does look lighter. 

As in the first comparison shot, this is after 24 hours in the UV bin. It's pretty good here. There's pretty much no defining line anymore. I don't think there's any blooming effects on the case, so I think the UV box works well.

I'll probably start taking apart the PSX tomorrow to get the UV treatment. I'm confident that it'll come out nice and bright. 

First project for 2021 done. Here we go!