Greetings, all!
Last week, I made my own "UV box" as I'm calling it, for whitening yellowed models! Today, I will take you through all the steps I went through in crafting it and offer advice for making your own.
First, you will need to start with buying a UV lamp. Those that are marketed for resin curing are suitable for this purpose (UVA or UVB- UVC bulbs are meant to be used for disinfecting rooms and give off ozone, so do not use one of those unless you have *excellent* ventilation and you won't be in the same room as the box when it's on- I don't recommend this). Here is the particular lamp that I'm using- if it's not currently available, there are many similar products and price points on Amazon.
Your next step will be to make sure you have a sturdy box (with decently thick walls) that is at minimum 12" on all dimensions. You can go smaller if you are only going to be using it for Classics or smaller, but keep in mind that there will also be some level of minor ambient heat in the box due to the heat from the lamp, so going smaller may intensify that affect. The box I'm using is slightly taller than the other two dimensions. If you are trying to whiten a lot of large models, like Othello, or longer models like Cigar or the Akhal Teke, you may want to go a bit larger than what I have.
I taped up the box on both the top and bottom to start. You'll want to keep the original top and bottom, and not use the sides for this purpose. Next, I cut an entry flap in one side (above), and made sure all the flaps were taped down on the inside. It matters a bit less which tape you use for these first steps, but I still used duct tape just to make sure it was all secure. SAFETY NOTE- Since this project involves using sharp implements, I don't recommend it for children to do on their own. Please have an adult help you with the cutting!
Next, you'll want to decide where to place your lamp. If you only have one, I recommend following the directions for placing it on the top like I did. If you find that the output is not sufficient enough for your needs, you can always add additional lamps to the sides later on. Now, you'll see why I said you'll want to keep the original top and bottom of the box positioned the same! Having two layers of cardboard will allow the lamp to sit around the opening without needing to secure the lamp in place using other methods.
The best way to cut out the holes, is to first measure the outline of the lamp by tracing around the edge using a pencil or marker. Then, remove the lamp and cut through the first layer of box flap using an exacto knife or scissors (you might need to temporarily unstick the flap from the tape across the seam so that you have more leverage and ensure you aren't cutting through both layers). Next, take a look at your lamp and measure how thick the outer rim is (mine was 1 cm). This area won't be producing light anyway, and it will allow for your lamp to rest on the box and still produce light. Technically, you really don't need to do the two step process if it's too tedious- just do the second step on both layers of the box -but I wanted to do both steps so that the lamp is more stable, and won't get knocked around while you're trying to use it.
Now that you have a spot for your lamp, the next step is to create closure flaps for your opening, so that it can be temporarily secured while the box is in use (and will prevent most of the UV light from escaping). For this, I took a finished pasta box, and cut out the sides. I attached them to my box's entry flap using duct tape, on both sides, so that they fold up onto the top of the box.
If you have your lamp towards the front, like with my box, you may have to trim the edges of the new flaps so that they don't interfere with how the lamp sits on the box.
In order to keep the box closed while it's in use, you'll need a way to secure these flaps closed. I used grippy Command strips, but you could also use Velcro that has sticky on the back (or you can use double sided tape/glue/etc.) I like this method, because you can not only close the box tightly for use, but I also will fasten the flaps to a partially closed position when I'm done to allow any extra heat to escape (it tends to be minimal in my experience) and to keep the opening from getting in the way when not in use.
For the next step, you may want to have an extra pair of hands. Line the inside of your box with aluminum foil (shiny side facing you), and securing each piece with either foil tape (what we did) or shiny duct tape (not the kind I used on the outside of my box). The goal is to have as much of the inside be reflective as possible, to maximize the affects of the UV lamp. The second person helping you may need to be ready to hold the box steady while you apply the foil and tape, and assist with cutting/ripping the tape. I'll be honest, for this step I was the assistant and my boyfriend did the application.
Congratulations! Your box is done! Now more on how to use your box.
So far, I have not used the box any longer than about 3 hours consecutively. I have also not used the box more than once per day, so I'm unsure exactly how long it will take the lamp to cool off. It will get quite warm- not hot enough to burn you. I don't recommend using the box unsupervised for long periods of time. If you have to leave the room for a few minutes to make food or do laundry or something that should be ok, but I would plan to be in the same room for most of the duration that you're using the lamp. There's also no third prong on the plug, just for awareness.
If you want to add more reflectivity, you can add a flat mirror to the bottom of the box.
For flocked models, add hydrogen peroxide with a q-tip or a small brush to the white areas right before putting the model into the box. The stained/yellowed areas will not whiten on these without it. Do not use bleach.
Here are the "before" photos of my flocked Clydesdale Mare (gelding). For the first test, I only applied peroxide to the blaze, and the foreleg closest to the camera here.
After pass #1- significant improvement on the blaze, less so on the leg but it's better.
After session #2- Blaze isn't snowy white, but it's really good and there aren't many, if any more brown stains visible. Leg is coming along, you can now tell it apart from the other legs. I have done one more pass since, on the foreleg and part of the hind leg on the same side, with the model laying down. The others have been with the horse standing as I wanted to focus on the blaze.
Advice for non-flockies:
CELLULOSE ACETATE- Cover any photo-sensitive colors before exposure. This includes any colors that will fade with UV exposure, such as vintage pinking. Mask off the areas you want to protect as cleanly as you can with blue painter's tape.
ABS- The newer plastic models may also benefit from UV exposure *when covered in or sitting in hydrogen peroxide. I have not yet tested this, so I cannot give absolute advice, however, I plan to test this out in the next couple of weeks and I will report back on the results. I do know that plain UV exposure is often NOT good for them.
USING THE LAMP:
As much as possible, be sure to add and remove models to and from the box with the light off. If you do keep the light on for any reason during this time, you may want to put some sunglasses on to protect your eyes. As stated earlier, you do not want to leave the lamp on for more than a couple hours at a time, especially unsupervised, for safety reasons. Children should not operate the lamp/box without an adult's help/supervision.
I hope many of you will have the chance to try this project for yourselves! It's ideal for anyone who does not have good access to a sunning location, and for those who do, it will lengthen your "sunning season" to all year round! Plus, it can be done very inexpensively and does not take up a lot of space. You may even have most of the materials already around your home. It's easy to customize to your needs. Do you have a larger scale operation (like a buy/resell business)? Make several boxes or use a larger box with more than one lamp to ramp up your results and whiten multiple models at the same time! I look forward to seeing how folks adapt the box and customize the project to fit their own needs. :) If you do make your own box, I'd love to see how the project turns out for you and hear about your experience!
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