Is there a way to preserve postwar Lionel decals?

[Alfie920]

I am restoring my grandfathers train layout.

One boxcar, the Baltimore & Ohio Timesaver No. 6464-400 variation A, is in excellent condition however the decals are beginning to bubble slightly. 

Luckily, there has been to breaking/chipping of the bubbles...yet.

 

Is there a away to remoisten the decals and/or a product to help with or correct the issue and maybe protect them.

 

Thank you for your help!

Al

alfie920

[Firelock76]

The only thing I can think of is to make sure the car is clean and then spray it with something like Testors semi-gloss clearcoat to "anchor" the decals and put some kind of impervious barrier between the decals and humidity, but don't try that until you hear from some of the other folks on this Forum.  I can't claim to be an expert on this. 

[cwburfle]

Its impossible to judge the condition of your boxcar without nice sharp photographs of the car.
IMHO, if the car is still in "collectable" condition, there is nothing you can do to stabilize the decals and maintain its collectability.

If you are not concerned with collectabilty, then clear coating the car is an option. I'd suggest making certain the car is free from dust and dirt first. Don't want to trap that stuff on the car.

Were the car mine, I would just be careful not to handle the car by the decals.

I suppose you could look for replacement decals. At one time the ones used on your car were easy to find.

[Alfie920]

cwburfle,

car is in excellent condition. one small nick in the silver paint on top.

I am having no luck posting a pic on here, will get them up once i figure it out.

is there a trick to adding photos?

 

[rrswede]

See Bob Kellers post. Number 3 topic on this forum, or http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/t/261469.aspx

swede

[sir james I]

Micro Scale makes different products for decaling projects. But anything you do will distract for the original.