i need HELP!!! MCLAREN F1 Collection, moving out from italy! I need suggestions

[jvcardesign]

hi everybody. as some people know i live in italy, but i'm colombian.
i'm leaving the country november 26 and i'm going to Colombia for a month and a half.
i WILL TAKE with me my mclaren F1 collection. it's a 4000 Euros 1/18 mlcaren f1 Collection and 2 1/12 models. the thing is that my city in colombia is very HOT. the weather has 100 % humidity all year and temperature always 35 C° and the collection will stay there, while i'm Canada next year.

i need suggestions. what would you do? would you sell the whole collection? would u take it with you?
Does any of u live in a hot weather city and have mclaren f1's? what could happen to the decals? would they become yellow? or fall?
if i kept them in my closet covered and with anti-humidity thing, do you think i can keep them in good condition?
if they get destroyed with the weather i rather to sell the complete collection and leave it to someone who can really take care of it.
please if someone has any idea what a warm weather does to these models, i would really appreciate any suggestion to keep them in great condition.
thnx!!

[Peloton25]

I got a Harrod's 1/18th scale GTR that came from South America (Brazil) and it looks great. I don't know how it was kept there or for how long, but there's nothing wrong with the decals or paint.

Is there another place you could store your collection? It seems a shame to give up on it and sell it if you want to keep it.

>8^)
ER

[Noddy]

I will store your collection in my secure climate controlled facility until such time as you are ready to take custody of them again. There is no charge for this service. The collection will be entirely safe but I am afraid that one 1/12 scale F1 will disappear under mysterious circumstances.


On a serious note - does anyone here subscribe to the idea that models stored in their original styrofoam packaging may be damaged by the "out-gassing" of fumes released from the styrofoam? Unpack those F1s boys before it is too late!

[Peloton25]

I subscribe to the "diecast are intended to be displayed" theory and I actually throw the boxes away. If I ever were to sell them (which I highly doubt in the case of the McLarens) I'm not going to cry about the lost revenue. Some may call it foolish, but not in my mind. I don't have a place to keep all those boxes anyway.

>8^)
ER

[F1 GTR modeler]

I live in one of these North American areas where temperature and humidity vary a lot from summer to winter. I do not have any experience of 100% humidity climates, but can tell you that a dry environment can do a lot of damage to these UT models. In fact, the UT models do not age very well as many get plagued by some aspects of what I call "diecast cancer".

First, cracks (or fractures) often develop in these UT decals after a few years. Once this has started, they may also lift or chip, with some fragments falling down when you manipulate the model. Up here in Canada, a few collectors' girlfriends have even found their mates down on both knees, desperately crying in front of their diplay cabinets! Dry air resulting from winter heating does not mix well with UT decals. Direct sunlight is just as bad. I keep buying some of these models in stores which take some back from customers and most of these seem to have cracked/flaked decals. I have always been disapointed in UT and Minichamps's (1/43 F1s & F1 GTRs) reluctance to get more into tampo-printed graphics. Long live to AUTOart (Gateway) which diecasts entirely rely on this process!!! No more decals!

Secondly, the paint on many or most of my 1/18 UT Models F1 GTRs' wheels have turned gooey after several years. It partially melts , with some colors being worse. The dark metallic grey ones are some of the worst. Try applying your fingers on the painted wheels, especially on the rim where it meets the tire. You might feel the wheel's paint stick to your fingers after a while. Applying more pressure may cause your fingerprints to leave marks into the paint. In the worst cases, I have seen some paint coming off the wheels when I manipulated the model for a certain duration. I also had the same problem with a few 1/43 Ebbro NSX diecasts and Tamiya used to send replacement tires for some of their 1/12 plastic kits because of this. It seems like many modelers complained about their wheel's paint melting down where it came in contact with Tamiya tires. Although chemistry is not my trade, this seems to come from a reaction occuring between the rubber or vinyl tires and the wheel's material. A friend once suggested this could be prevented by priming wheels before applying their final color, a step bypassed by several diecast manufacturers to save on production costs.

On the long run, I fear these problems might cause our beloved collections to depreciate even more over future years. I am not refering to their money value as such, since I hope to keep my models untill I die. I worry more about how these models will look like several years down the line, when these 2 types of problems get even worse...

"F1 GTR modeler"

[murraydeschot]

I live in Amsterdam, where the average Relative Humidity is 92%. My entire diecast, white metal and resin collection sits unboxed in display cabinets, out of direct sunlight naturally. I have noticed no visable degradation to either the colours or decals on any of them in the 4 years since I had them shipped over to Holland from my parent's attic in Scotland.

[jvcardesign]

Hello everybody. this is me again and i arrived in colombia one month and a half ago.
my mclaren F1 collection arrived via Airplane 2 weeks ago in perfect conditions.
thank you all for your comments and suggestions. they were packed very safe, every single car, with their boxes and everything. i paid 500 euros for shipping, a very good price for 3 big boxes and one suitcase. in total 110 Kilos, wich 65 were only my mclaren collection.
i will now keep it very carefully because of the weather and humidity here as i said before, but temperature in my house keeps betwen 23C. and 25 C.

thank you again and hope to be posting here my mclaren collection pictures very soon.