I was getting a Roundhouse / MDC FMC Covered Hopper ready to sell and was checkingit for any damage, coupler height and weight. What I didn't see before was that the previous owner had wrapped the car in bubble wrap and the circles were visable when looking at an angle.
I tried to research how to remove them and came up empty. Has anyone on this Forum ever successfully removed the spots without damaging the car? It's really a nice car and I would hate to have to put it on the 'bargain' table.
Thank you.
This worked ONCE, no idea if it will work again...
I had something shipped to me in bubble wra I bought online. I opened it up to look at it, seemed ok, then I wrapped it back up in the bubble wrap and put it away.
Months later, I had bubble-wrap spots on the model that would not come off.
I tried a few cleaners, nothing worked.
I sprayed it with Testors 1260 Dullcoat, and the spots were gone.
Note: If this does not work for you, the spots will be sealed under a protective layer of dullcoat.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
See if you can provide a detailed close-up of the marks in oblique light. Do they appear to be raised, or 'etched in' when seen up close? Do the marks extend across decaled areas, and if so are they consistent on both paint and decaling?
It's remotely possible that hot air from a hairdryer might reduce raised spots. A very fine polish, perhaps even toothpaste, followed by Dawn-style detergent rinse might make the worst of the effect go away. Work carefully and slowly.
I agree with Kevin that if the spots can be leveled with polishing, giving the car a final coat of something consistent like Dullcote is reasonable.
I checked as close as I could, using my Optivisor and couldn't find any raised areas. I'll try the toothpaste trick and see how that works. Otherwise, that car will only be run on dark sections of the layout.
Thanks for both the responses.
Len S
Wraped stuff in bubblewrap for years and never seen this but others have reported it. Beleive it is caused by uncured paint. Acylic paints can be totaly dry to the touch but still not fully cured.
I use bubble wrap & have not seen any signs of markings on the models. Curious, could it be the "brand" of wrap you are using? Where did it come from? What color is it?
Most of my bubble wrap I have around for various things came as packaging material in items I ordered.
No way to know the source, manufacturer, or any of the ingredients. I would assume there are hundreds of manufacturers of bubble wrap.
I would think most people are similar.
That is weird that some have problems and others don't. could it be storage conditions, I live on the west coast and it is ussually a mild climate.
I've seen different reactions to paints and plastics "gassing-off" and causing reactions.
I used some of that rubbery-mesh drawer liner stuff thinking it would be great to protect cars stored in large, flat blueprint drawers I have. I found out pretty quickly that some of the paint on the cars had reacted rather quicky and actually bonded to the drawer liner stuff. Others left latent marks such as described above. Nothing but a full strip down and repaint would repair the marks.
I recall warning Kevin (SeeYou190) about it as he almost made the same fatal mistake. There must be a source that museum curators get information about using protective wrapping. I'm sure they wouldn't want to risk any priceless artifacts.
Many recent models seem to be wrapped in a silicone type of material. I believe Rapido uses such a wrap then places the locomotive in a clam-shell poly cradle. Maybe they will give you a name or source for the stuff? Perhaps this?
https://techneticsptfe.com/products/ptfe-tapes-films/relic-wrap-archival-packaging-storage
Good Luck, Ed
Part of this will be plasticizers of one sort or another. Some are reactive; some generate chemicals over time that outgas and are reactive.
I think Ed is right in looking for 'archival-grade' materials which will have been carefully made and tested not to produce potential reactions.
gmpullmanI recall warning Kevin (SeeYou190) about it as he almost made the same fatal mistake. There must be a source that museum curators get information about using protective wrapping. I'm sure they wouldn't want to risk any priceless artifacts.
BrassTrains Dot Com sells acid-free acrhival plastic wrapping in "HO" and "O" scales. These are just different sized precut sheets.
I have all of my models wrapped in this material now.
My saved bubble-wrap is used for mailing gift packages to the girls.
gmpullmanPerhaps this? https://techneticsptfe.com/products/ptfe-tapes-films/relic-wrap-archival-packaging-storage
Off gassing is a real possinilty. I know about its effect with strafoam, so proubly the same with bubble wrap, I have always used very old bubble wrap.
Overmod I'm not so sure about a storage-packing solution whose shelf life is listed as no greater than 5 years —
Hence my carefully chosen word in the reply "Perhaps" followed by a question mark.
The end-user will have to determine their specific needs. I simply pointed to one product as a general suggestion not an iron-clad recommendation.
A friend working in the electronics manufacturing field gave me several rolls of brand new solder. "They were throwing it away, passed its expiration date". Ten years later the solder still seems to be performing OK for me. Likewise I brought home several gallons of reagent-grade 99% isopropyl alcohol from my employer. Again, they couldn't use it, expired in 2003. It also seems to work OK for me.
Manufacturers that have to comply with strict RoHS and material tracing and tracking have to use "certified" material (ISO 9001) and part of that certification, I'm sure, is specifying a "shelf life".
I hope I haven't misguided anyone.
Thanks, Ed
I think its called Poly-foam U-line sells it in both perforated or non-perforated rolls
https://www.uline.com/BL_857/Uline-UPSable-Foam-Rolls
https://www.uline.com/Grp_18/Foam?keywords=polyfoam&SearchKeyword=polyfoam
gmpullmanI hope I haven't misguided anyone.
Here was a company prominently boasting about 'archival' Teflon wrap and packing tape, chemically inert, etc. ... but promptly weasel-wording even the storage life of their product to ridiculous-sounding levels. i was going to say it was like someone advertising archival-quality DVDs that were only guaranteed 5 years... but there, the 'unfixed' chemistry of a blank, like undeveloped Polaroid film (any younger ones remember that stuff?) might have limited shelf life.
The problem with Teflon is that it can hydrolyze a little under certain conditions. I think this is unlikely for models in typical storage, but I's also hate to run an impromptu experiment on whether fluorine was more effective than chlorine in effecting contact or outgas damage...
Personally I wouldn't hesitate to use 100% PTFE as storage membrane to protect against any prospective contact or vapor damage from a bubble-wrap layer. The immediate question then is 'where is the bubble wrap that itself has PTFE film face or construction' -- perhaps using dry nitrogen in the cells. Surely that stuff exists!
Had not even a shred of intent to shoot the messenger ... or mock him. I apologize prospectively if that even appeared to be so.
OvermodHere was a company prominently boasting about 'archival' Teflon wrap and packing tape, chemically inert, etc. ... but promptly weasel-wording even the storage life of their product to ridiculous-sounding levels.
I get a kick out of some of the labeling some products might have.
How about a fire extinguisher that says "Do not use near fire or flame"
Here's a few more. https://www.rd.com/list/funny-warning-labels/
OvermodHad not even a shred of intent to shoot the messenger ... or mock him. I apologize prospectively if that even appeared to be so.
I did pick up on the irony no harm done —
Cheers, Ed