old Corgi rust question

[politoys]

hi All
I am Steve I live in South Africa and I am a Corgi Toys fun since I was a child
I recently found some old Corgis from the late 50' unfortunately in a bad condition and with a rusty bottom plate
I don't want to repaint them because I like them to be originally played with but I like to ask the following question
if I store this model with others of the same time period would the rust spreed to the good ones?
thanks very much for your reply
regards

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Hello Steve, welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy your stay here and have some fun. Now, it is very unlikely the rust found on your model's sheet steel baseplates will affect other models stored in the same place, even if they are touching. For this to happen they would have to be touching under pressure from something heavy resting on them and the conditions around the models would need to be damp to encourage the rust already there to become more active.

Rust tends to come from the surface of metal once a protective layer of paint is damaged, or if the metal surface was not properly prepaired, is sitting in a dormant state waiting for a trigger and the most common trigger will be damp conditions.

Rust on these model's baseplates is common and can be seen on fairly good models as a slight cracking or crazing, but if the models are stored in dry conditions, this hardly gets any worse and a wipe over with a cloth dampened with WD 40 (There has been a lot talked about this stuff somewhere on the forum), will be OK.

If these baseplates are very rusty, then not a lot you can do, just rub them hard with a nice oily cloth.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[Idris]

As Ghosty has said, rust is not some kind of metal disease which can spread from object to object. It is simply the result of iron oxidising to iron oxide and is most commonly cased by bare metal being exposed to moisture. In your case, the baseplate paint was probably damaged before the models were put away, thereby exposing the underlying metal. Prolonged exposure to damp atmospheric conditions did the rest.
I would suggest a careful wipe down to remove any loose surface rust followed by thorough drying in a warm place (e.g. on top of a radiator). If the models are then kept in the house, there should be no further deterioration.

[politoys]

hi
Thanks very much h for your help and welcoming
much appreciated regards
steve

[GHOSTHUNTER]

No problem Steve, any pictures of your models you want to show us?

Ghosty.

[politoys]

I am not tooled up for web pics I will see if I can get some help
happy new year to all
steve