Restoring game jewel cases

[MiG]

I just thought I would post about some restoration work I have been doing recently on some of my US Sega Saturn cases..

As many will know from experience, these cases are fragile and its very hard to find replacements, if they do survive the trip through the postal system they are quite often scratched up and scuffed..

If this was a standard jewel case I would just replace it with a brand new one, but with US Saturn games, US Sega CD, PAL PS1 or PAL Dreamcast games finding replacement cases is not cheap anymore, so I wanted to find a way of restoring these, to avoid the expense of buying new ones..

I have tried other polishes with limited success, Brasso can work but can leaves the plastic smoky..

So I bought a set of plastic polishes by Novus, they are quite cheap, I picked up a set on ebay for less than ?20 and so far they seem to last for ages as you need very little per case..

I thought I would share some photos of the last case I did for a US Guardian Heroes...

Before, as you can see the case is quite scuffed and scratched, there are scuffs inside too where the manual has been sliding in and out:



Its quite tricky taking a photo to show the full extent of the scratches, but its quite scratched up:



After cleaning it off with the plastic cleaner (Novus 1) I applied the Novus 2 fine scratch remover, just rub in circular motions until it's dry, work a little harder on any particularly bad areas:





Once you are satisfied, take a clean cloth and buff it off, you can repeat the process if necessary but you can get good results after just one pass:







I'd be interested to know if anyone has tried something similar and what success you had...

[Colin]

I think I remember Daytime Dreamer doing this on a piano black PS3 and it came up really well.

[importaku]

I have used Novus on loads of stuff, i bought it originally for cleaning my pinball machine but discovered it has maaaaaany other uses it's really good. My Aibo ERS7 had loads of scuffs and scratches on his face visor so i carefully used Novus to remove them it works suprisingly well. Works on CD's too but you have to be careful not to go too far, the thing you have to be really careful of is coated plastics like stuff that has a fake chrome effect i have stripped off the coating before but you live & learn hehe.

That saturn case looks like it has come out lovely, good job.

[Shozuki]

Awesome, that's useful to know. I've been replacing my collection and have a copy of Popful Mail which is scratched to all hell, but the box is intact... Gonna give this a go!

Thanks!

[MiG]

I think I remember Daytime Dreamer doing this on a piano black PS3 and it came up really well.

Yeah, when I was looking around for info I saw on AV Forums someone mentioned using it on a PS3..

I can imagine it being useful for loads of stuff.. I also used it to polish up the little CD window on my Saturn console!

[speedlolita]

This is excellent. Need to get a set myself I think.

I have used Novus on loads of stuff, i bought it originally for cleaning my pinball machine but discovered it has maaaaaany other uses it's really good. My Aibo ERS7 had loads of scuffs and scratches on his face visor so i carefully used Novus to remove them it works suprisingly well. Works on CD's too but you have to be careful not to go too far, the thing you have to be really careful of is coated plastics like stuff that has a fake chrome effect i have stripped off the coating before but you live & learn hehe.

That saturn case looks like it has come out lovely, good job.

I've wanted an Aibo for over a decade. Damn you!

[importaku]

I'm still salty about Sony closing their robotics divsion i can only dream of what Aibo would have been like with newer technology. He's the one thing i'd never get rid of he contains memories of his previous owner and myself as i never reset his personality. Nowdays it's pretty pricy to find anything Aibo related it all seems to have held it's value hell even the Aibo pink memory sticks cost more than vita ones and they only hold 32meg LOL

Might as well share a pic, you can see Novus really worked a treat on his face visor it used to have a dull haze around the edge where it was super scuffed on his nose up but now it's like it never had any marks ever.

[Colin]

You can add me to the fan club for this now. Bought some from ebay yesterday and it came this morning (brilliant seller). The Super Famicom I just bought, while very tidy had a couple of fairly visible scratches on top. Have just cleaned and polished the whole console with Novus 1&2 and they're completely gone, console looks superb. And as much as I was looking at the system when it arrived thinking it looked great, I couldn't believe the dirt that came off of it. Superb stuff.

[Yakumo]

That Novus stuff looks so good I went and just ordered some on Amazon Japan. Only ?13 shipped! I don't know what I'll use it on but I sure know I'll be looking around for something

[importaku]

All i recommend is until you get used to it be careful with number 3 as it's pretty abrasive. For most things 2 is all you'll need, number one doesn't remove scratches but it does bring out the shine in plastics a treat.

Also be careful on anything that has a pitted/textured kind of like the finish on a SF cart as when you are finished removing scratches it will make that part look smooth so compared to the rest so it will stand out if you have restored something.

[Yakumo]

Thanks for the tip, Jason. I'm thinking of cleaning up the16 bit area on my Mega Drive as that is looking a bit nasty. May also give the plastic area near the power and rest buttons on the Saturn a Polish with liquid 1.

[importaku]

With a MD you should be safe just be careful near any gold print or lettering if you go for 2 or 3. Prepare to be amazed that stuff is really good on plastics, it will shine like mad hehe

[DaytimeDreamer]

Holy thread bump!

Yes I did this with a PS3 back in Greece. Here is the link to a Greek tech forum:

http://www.thelab.gr/forums/topic/90357-project-ps3-shine-remove-ps3-exterior-scratches-with-novus-with-pics/

Ended up in this thread through google. I'm currently looking to do some polishing on some Sega Saturn US cases myself and also on some Jap PS1 cases (the double cases)

I'll post results here when done on the weekend.

[Leon Retro]

I've just ordered some Novus #1. Should make my consoles nice & shiny.