[Guest]

Quick queston...

When models are shipped from China in containers, does anyone know if they put something in the containers to take the moisture out of the air?

Also, tempratures, I am sure those containers go through drastic temprature changes while crossing those big ponds. Think any precautions are taken to make sure the models endure the heat.

Reason for asking, its really hot here, really hot. I have my models displayed in the garage and I know it is atleast 10 degrees hotter in there than it is outside. And its been hovering in the mid 90's and is suppose to get close to the 100's in the upcoming days.

I'm just trying to decide if I should move my cabinets in the house.

 

[Guest]

Darrick,
I'm not sure about the typical street cars, but I think the changes could affect the plastics in similar way that tey can in the older cars(remember the cracked and warped dashboards).

I know that heat and humidity can affect decalled cars as it can cause them to dry out, crack and yellow. A buddy of mine has had to re-decal many a CART/F1 car from areas such as Arizona and Vegas. It can also cause severe discoloring of some of the brighter colors(ie: the dayglo orange on the Penske CART dc) ullhair

If you've got "keepers" in the garage and are worried, I'd move them into a the more controlled temp of inside the house.

Maybe leave one of the not so valuable in the garage to see what happens, like a school kid science project and let us know the results. :giggle

And oh yeah, remember to keep any decalled cars out of brightly lit areas, this will truly screw them good. Too much UV light doesn't just kill humans, it kills dc decals. :scared

 

[Guest]

I have polished all of them with a nice coat of Meguiars, hoping that would help with dust, heat and cold.

I have always wondered about this, they made it through the winter just fine, but dang it has been scorching here as of late.

I remember asking Jeff about this before.

 

[Xenomorph]

For the last few moths I have been forced to keep my diecasts all around the house (because of the work done in my soon to be diecast "sanctuary" room), in every possible condition (boxed, unboxed, in cabinets, open air and so on) and the weather here is crazy. One week is scorching hot, the other is rainy. However, the humidity is so high, I have to take like 3-4 showers a day not to feel sticky and I feel like everything around me is moist and hot as If I lived in a swamp. Also, I haven't used any air conditioning, as I'm allergic to it.

So far, all my models behaved well. I was especially concerned about tires, decals and carpeting, but there aren't any visible problems yet. Also, last winter we've had a few weeks so cold even the heating systems couldn't handle it, but the models seemed to be fine. I guess that, either they have a higher environmental conditions tolerance, or it just takes longer for the effects to show...

:cheers

 

[Guest]

Do you keep your models in the garage all year round Darrick? I'm curious to hear how long you have had them out there and how they react to the mid-west winter. The reason I ask is I have my collection in a room downstairs in the basement with bad insulations and the temperature gets down to 40 degrees during extremely cold nights. This pass winter, some chrome wheels have cracked which I would guess came from the coldness. I was thinking about moving them into a warmer room but if yours can make it though freezing conditions, then I shouldn't worry about mine as much.

It's supposed to reach 101 degrees here today. I hope your models doesn't get damaged. I have a feeling that extreme heat would affect them more than extreme cold. If I couldn't move the whole thing, I would at least move a few favorites inside.

 

[Guest]

Tom,

We moved into this home last October, so they are coming up on a year of being displayed in the garage.

The winters were not a problem at all. It did get cold and the surface of all of the models were cold to the touch, but I had no problems with them at all making it throught the winter.

Ny concern is this hot weather. I check them daily by dusting them and rolling them around to ensure the wheels are not sticking. So far so good.

I am sure the conditions in those containers are a lot rougher, as thy have to contend heat, cold and salt water air. I just wanted to know if any precautions were taken prior to sealing up the containers.

 

[JSB 33]

I am sure that the conditions in the container ships are considerably more extreme than what they will be in your garage.
Just imagine how hot/cold it gets in the UPS trucks and what the model has to go thru when it is delivered in the middle of winter into a warm house. That is probably the worst climate even that happens to diecast.

Still, avoiding either temp extreme is a good way to go but I would think that extreme heat would be the worst.

I have been thinking of sacrificing 2 diecast to an experiment.

One, I will place outside in the weather for a complete year and the other I will place in my attic where it will undergo some serious weather shifts as our climate ranges well over 100 degrees from summer to winter.

If anyone has a distressed car that they want to donate please PM me.

Perhaps I can do a month by month report :giggle

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't sweat the heat - no pun intended - but I'd definitely be concerned if sunlight was involved. If any light at all gets to your little beloveds through a window, make sure you move them.

The cars I've kept in my attic have seen tempurature ranges (winter to summer, New York style) usually reserved for outlying planets, and they've weathered the ordeal just fine. But just a couple hours of direct sun, and, poof - there goes the windshield, decals, or thin applied trim.

 

[LUW]

Darrick, you're forgetting one factor: time. How long do the models sit in the containers? One month, three months tops? It's one thing to withsatnd heat and humidity for 3 months, but years of it is another matter.

 

[StygianMax]

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Good point Luc. The other factor I was thinking of is that woud the temperature be more of an issue if there are quick swings (from hot to cold or vice versa)? Expnasion and contraction of a material can lead to physical stress on plastics and metals. :mine

 

[Xenomorph]

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I don't know if this'll be of any help, but when I was a kid I had these little HotWheels with a special paint that, when exposed to extreme temperatures, changed color. They must have gone through thousands of quick swings from inside the freezer, to under boiling water (and vice versa), as I was playing with them and kept changing their color. I still have one of those little models and today, 15 years later, the zamac, plastic and even the chrome on the wheels is in perfect shape.

 

[Guest]

Well I'll keep an eye open on them and be sure to post if anything goes wrong.

 

[Guest]

I have been monitoring my models status in the hot garage.

Well today I rubbed all of my models surfaces and was stunned to find they all felt like sand paper :scared

The painted surface as well as the windshields all felt really rough. I dusted them off with a feather duster and the dust wouldn't even come off, not even a budge.

My heart skipped a beat as I feared my entire collection was certainly ruined. So now I started thinking, what can I do.

Well I got my Meguiars Auto Polish and a soft terry cloth and pulled a few models off the shelf. Both of my AUTOart 50th Corvettes and a Action 1:9 Busa DragBike.

After a light coat of polish followed by a stiff buffing, they were smooth as a babys bottom with a super shine.

A big smile came to my face as I was relieved.

When I originally posted this topic, I didn't notice or realize the surfaces were rough to the touch. I am not sure if this is a direct cause of the heat, but the heat is what made me take notice.

I would imagine that all collections will need a little preventive maintenance every once in a while.

So guess what I will be doing over the next few days. :WTF

 

[JSB 33]

It was twenty years ago today...
Well, actually it was 1 year ago from tomorrow but whos counting :wink

Last year I told of my plan to subject 2 diecasts to some extreme weather conditions and temperatures and here is the results.

The Green Maisto ML was placed in the corner of the garden for the last year. It had last summers blazing hot sun with temps in the high 90's (32+C) and then into the rainy fall and into a strong winter. The truck wwas buried under up tp 3 feet of snow as i shoveled the walkway and piled the snow up in the garden. Then came the very wet spring and finally into the summer again.
The car was actually much dirtier but we had some heavy rain and flooding a few week ago and it was completely under water and ended up with sort of a wash.

To me, it looks like the only deterioration of the model came feom the sun. The headlights are yellowed and the paint looks to have faded but as a whole, the model is much better than I thought it would be.

Here is where it sat for the last year then a quick shot in the grass

 

[JSB 33]

And some studio shots...

 

[JSB 33]

Stage 2 was placing another Maisto ML up in my attic (unfinished)
The variation in temperatures is very extreme.
Where I live, we can get temps below zero in the winter and over 100 in the summer.
The attic gets much, much hotter.

After one year up there, the yellow ML really doesn't look like it suffered at all.
It still looks the same to me.

I think the moral to all of this is that the sun is your models enemy, not the temp.

 

[Guest]

Wow!!!

Looks like they both held up pretty well considering the conditions.

Models that are displayed shouldn't have any problems. Which makes me wonder even more about the emelting wheels of the UT models - as I am sure those models were in ideal conditions. :dizzy

Thanks for the comparison.

 

[Ronan]

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:iagree They look good considering what they have been through! (You model torturer you! :giggle ). Also, concerning the initial question of Darrick's about what precautions are taken when packed into shipping containers from China, the small silica bags that some (mostly the high end stuff like CMC and Exoto anyway) models have inside the packing with the model would take care of any moisture problems. :cheers

 

[JSB 33]

Here is the dirty green one after it has been cleaned up.
I scrubbed it with a brush in the wash tub with warm water and laundry detergent (Tide) and a scrub brush.
After it dried i rubbed out the paint and waxed it.
The only lasting effects from its year outside are a bit of discoloration of the headlight lenses and the deterioration of the license plates (probably from the water and snow)

Lets face it, this wasn't a great model to start with, its only the 1:24 version that i bought at the drugstore for $5.

I think these models are quite a bit more durable than people give them credit for :lol

I did want to mention that I wiped each of them down with furniture polish (Lemon Pledge) before the experiment started

 

[Oldtimer]

The green one looks like you bought it from someone along the Gulf coast. :dizzy

And you know, if you rolled up the front windows, all that grass wouldn't get on the inside. :giggle

The only thing I keep in my garage closet (enclosed half of garage by prior owner, with ceiling fan) is my inventory of donors for future custom projects. If I am going to display anything, even if there is not existing interior shelf space ("Yes dear, I am going to start selling some of the old one's."), I will stick it in a closet to make sure its not more exposed to the elements than it has to be.

Have to admit, never thought of putting one in the garden. :lol

:cheers