Lego/ Duplo ABS

craig · Post by **craig** » Sun May 03, 2009 12:59 am

I was told by a reputable boater that the little plastic toy building blocks are made of ABS. They melted down fine in acetone. I think it is a good way to color match repairs, since the blocks come in many colors and can be mixed to make different color shades. Any thoughts on this before I take it too far?

Yukon · Post by **Yukon** » Sun May 03, 2009 1:15 am

Don't be stealing my legooooo

Funny I just heard the same thing and then wondered myself. Let us know if it works the same. Way more expensive

ezwater · Post by **ezwater** » Sun May 03, 2009 1:41 am

I doubt it. Probably styrene like model boats and airplanes.

Think about it. Lego has huge outdoor sculptures in their Danish museum. How long would they last if they were ABS, a notoriously UV degradable plastic?

gumpy · Post by **gumpy** » Sun May 03, 2009 2:12 am

from wikipedia:

In 1963, the material used to create Lego bricks, cellulose acetate, was dropped in favor of more stable acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or ABS plastic, which is still used today. ABS is non-toxic, less prone to discoloration and warping, and is also more resistant to heat, acids, salt, and other chemicals than cellulose acetate. Lego bricks manufactured from ABS plastic in 1963 still hold most of their shape and color 40 years later, and still neatly interlock with Lego bricks manufactured today.

my guess is in 40 years craig's gonna want a new boat anyways...

ezwater · Post by **ezwater** » Sun May 03, 2009 4:28 am

Uh, gumpy, I still don't believe it. Not only is there the UV issue, but Lego plastic does not approach boat ABS in strength. It may be what you say, but it isn't what is in my Royalex boats.

Nate · Post by **Nate** » Sun May 03, 2009 10:43 pm

"The LEGO Group uses primarily ABS plastics in the manufacture of its products. This ABS material has been specially developed for our company and is not available to others" (LEGO.com About Us, n.d.)

Legos are undoubtedly made of ABS, but I am sure there are variations in production methods that create disparities in the final result. With regard to the UV exposure affecting the outdoor exhibits, we don't know if those specific legos may have been treated in some way to minimize degradation.

If you are not overly concerned about aesthetics of the boat, I would say give it a shot. The worst that could happen is that the goop does not adhere or dry well and makes a big mess, but that can almost always be rectified. I would try spreading it out on a scrap piece of any handy material just to make sure that it will in fact congeal adequately.

"LEGO.com About Us - LEGO Company and Toy Safety." LEGO.com The Official Web Site of LEGO ® products!. 3 May 2009 <http>.

phreon · Post by **phreon** » Mon May 04, 2009 2:14 am

I wonder if we could get them to scale this up?

Phreon

Randy Dodson · Post by **Randy Dodson** » Mon May 04, 2009 6:16 pm

try doin a search on this forum. Several people have talked about doin repairs using lego's before.

craig · Post by **craig** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:27 pm

FWIW I thinned the paste out to a paint-like consistancy. I put 3 coats on the high wear edges on my Detonator as the vinyl has worn off in just one season. The stuff dries in minutes on a sunny day! It seemed to hold up fine on a low water run yesterday. I actually was purposely scraping over ledges and rocks. The bond was good and scrapes that put deep gouges in the vinyl skin just put slight marks in the new coating. I don't think long term UV will be an issue as it will just wear off in time, and I can just coat it again. As for cost, just rummage around in the bottom of your kids/relatives/neighbors toy boxes, you're bound to find some. I'll follow up after a few more river trips

gumpy · Post by **gumpy** » Tue May 05, 2009 2:30 am

sounds great craig, i'll be doing the same sometime this summer. did you remove any vinyl from around the area to be reinforced or just "paint" your slurry over the exposed abs and surrounding vinyl? please keep us updated about how this stuff wears.

Crash · Post by **Crash** » Tue May 05, 2009 2:51 pm

Please make this clear,do you just melt some toys in acetone + paint it on with a brush?

Yukon · Post by **Yukon** » Tue May 05, 2009 3:50 pm

A Big lego canoe like that one looks like good lines to me.....
for moose hunting anyways nice big flat bottom easy to walk around in, no seats to get in the way for loading up and having the lego pattern on the bottom would make OUTFITTING so easy, think we are onto something now. If we could get Esquif and Lego to work togethor they could imprint the Lego shape all through the inside of their canoes. That would be unique and would be a great way to entertain the kids on Flatwater sections and be able to keep track of their lego, Geez could even get lego's glued to their pants and you can stick em to the floor

Think outside the box and new ideas evolve.

Or you can tell I am sufferning from a long Yukon winter and just waiting to paddle

craig · Post by **craig** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:06 pm

Yes I just cleaned the dirt off the hull with a little fine sandpaper 150#. I did not remove any existing vinyl skin. I then painted the stuff on with a paint brush. Each time a little bit wider as to feather out the edges. It seems to set up fast,so work quickly and let each coat dry before going over it again. 4-5 Duplo blocks and about 8 oz acetone +/-. The stuff will dry up in the jar as you paint, so add a little acetone to keep the consistancy fluid as needed. I did it on a sunny day in the yard and it dried in minutes. VERY FLAMMABLE don't do it indoors PLEASE!

gumpy · Post by **gumpy** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:08 am

Any updates Craig? How's it holdin up? Hopefully good as I've got a few boats in need of repair...

craig · Post by **craig** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:04 am

Only had the boat out once more since last post. Low flow, scrapy run. Bond was holding well and no wear on the repaired areas. So far so good.