Preventing Kit Storage Damage

I know there are some folks who build as fast as they buy. But for the vast majority of us, kits tend to pile up on shelves. I'd like to start a discussion of ideas to better preserve our collections and avoid preventable damage. To start:

I recently built a Model Factory Hiro 1958 Testarossa that I have had for about five years. When I removed the decals from the plastic envelope there was a piece of tissue paper firmly glued to most of the decal surface. Needless to say removing it wracked my nerves! Some of the paper fibers were left behind and had to be carefully separated while in water just before application.

I have since gone back and checked my other Hiro's and found more of this tissue paper adhering to decals but, fortunately, not as bad as the TR kit was. Since my TR was the oldest Hiro I own it must be a gradual problem exacerbated by storing the decals at the bottom of the box with all the weight of the model pressing on them.

I suggest that everyone with (older?) Hiro kits check their decals, remove the tissue if it's beginning to stick, replace the decal back in the cellophane and store the decals on top of the model contents.

Here is a common problem with the Fujimi kits.
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp280/cratecruncher/Miscellaneous/swbfrt014.jpg
Over time the tires get pressed down further and further onto the wheels leaving permanent impressions of the sprue gates on the inside sidewalls of the tires. It's a big deal on my P4 build because the sidewalls will be exposed. I've gone through my EM series kits and found several with sidewall impressions. In most cases I just pushed the tires away from the gates without taking them out of the bags but a few were so tight they had to be taken out. Perhaps the best fix is to store the tires in a separate bag but...

Decals stick because if moisture. Make sure you keep them in a dry place. Throw some moisture absorbent in the kit box if you need to.

This has always worked for me:

• Take the decal sheet out of the box and put it in a plastic envelope. Store the envelope in a dry place.

• Take the body out of the box, and put a foam block inside (this way, the body won't loose it's shape). I store all the bodies in a big plastic container under the bed. :biggrin: (Usually, the body of the kit applies pressure to the part trees).

I hope this helps! :smile:

Whenever I look at any kit, I always make sure to put the decals in the instructions, and separate the chrome, clear and tires in plastic so that nothing can rub/eat/scratch/melt them. When I repack it, I do it so that the body is not being pushed or pulled and usually have the chrome and clear on top of the rest of the kit and then the instructions with the decals being the last things on top. Too many of my older kits have screwed up windows and scratched chrome due to mishandling or mispackaging.
I've also read where some people put their decals in sleves inside binders. I'm sure that would work as well but for me, I prefer all the parts of the model in the same box so I don't have to search for 'em when I need them. Also helps with trading as I'm sure I'd forget that I'd taken the decals out of that one or this one...
The wheel and tire thing I ran into with some aftermarket tires. They were getting flat spots from the packaging. I took them out of the packaging and now keep them in one of those flat, adjustable bin organizers.

Great thread CC...hopefully it will stickied?!

I'm very interested in this as I'm studying the care of collections at college (for metals) and I have a damp loft full of kits! Hopefully, I'll contribute more when I have the time.

Please beware of certain Tamiya tyres degrading in their kit boxes, some do some don't and it's not particularly down just to just storage conditions ,or age. If anything it's a reaction to other types of plastic in a kit box 'off gassing' and is best reduced by storing the tyres in their own plastic food boxes. You can buy these in packs of 10-20 for next to nothing from local food stores.

The decal issue could be down to high environmental relative humidity (RH). Why manufacturers still use tissue against their decals is beyond me - it used to be an issue with old Airfix kits, 40 years ago and it's the first thing I bin from the box! I also like to keep my decals together in a draw to protect them from UV radiation. Sounds odd as sunlight can be used to bleach out yellowed decals, but it seems to work for me.

If the kits can't be dry stored in a dry environment, then at least store their componants in their own micro-climates. This can be done by again using plastic storage boxes with silica gel pellets. I tend to keep any pellets that come with new product packaging but they can also be bought in bulk from conservation suppliers (pricey though).

Don't store too many kits on top of each other, it's amazing how both the boxes and kits can get crushed in a very short space of time. Boxes will crush down quickler if the envornment is damp, too.

if you need to wrap parts to save them causing contact damage with each other, acid-free tissue can be used or a product called 'Plastizote' which is a very safe foam. Again, both of these products are available from conservation suppliers.

if you're a real saddo, wear latex gloves when handling kit parts if they 're going to be stored for a while. Skin acids can eat through metals over a long period of time so they can't being doing our plastic model surfaces any good either!
Hope this is of some use!

I start by removing the decals from the box. I keep them all in a sealed box inside where I know they'll be safe. I'll also take a few minutes to scan the instructions and save them to my hard drive. Comes in handy when you want to just browse the instructions without having to search for the kit. Also it's a nice back up in case something does happen to the boxes.

The model boxes themselves are put into a large plastic bin. You can get them at any Target or K-Mart. I have the 35 gallon bins as they're big enough to hold 1/12 scale kits. After theat, I play a game of Tetris to see where I can make the model boxes fit. To prevent crush, I put the boxes in on their edge instead of flat. Put the lid on, then store them on a large shelving unit.