Cleaning a 27c

[eburak]

I finally find a 27c green cadillac. Model need a good cleaning. There are a lot of dirt, stain plus rust in metal parts. Rear wheels are not turning freely. And also there are some gray like colour here and there of model. I never tried to clean any model before. Planning to use water and soap first. But i think it will not remove rust. Any recommendation will be appreciated.

Burak

[Tinman]

Soak the axles in Coca Cola. After soaking you can wash the rest of the model with warm soapy water and use and old toothbrush on stubborn spots. Use softscrub cleaner or even tougher spots. When that's all done put some very light oil on the axles and then wipe off the excess.

[eburak]

Soak the axles in Coca Cola. After soaking you can wash the rest of the model with warm soapy water and use and old toothbrush on stubborn spots. Use softscrub cleaner or even tougher spots. When that's all done put some very light oil on the axles and then wipe off the excess.

Thanks again Tinman,

Does Coca Cola cause any damage to paint? Should I have to be careful. Can I put model in Coca Cola or better to apply Cola with cotton bud etc?

And also what kind of "light oil". Machine oil or olive oil etc?

Sorry if I am asking funny questions but I am a noob

Burak

[Tinman]

The Coke soak is just for a couple of hours at most and won't damage the paint. I would use sewing machine oil, "3 in 1" oil or mineral oil. I would not use any kind of veggie oil that might become rancid.

[eburak]

Soak the axles in Coca Cola. After soaking you can wash the rest of the model with warm soapy water and use and old toothbrush on stubborn spots. Use softscrub cleaner or even tougher spots. When that's all done put some very light oil on the axles and then wipe off the excess.

Soaked in Coca Cola for 2 hours. And then 2 hours more. Then washed with warm soapy water, brushed and applied some oil. Still some rust on axles. But way much better looking now. And all wheels are turning.

Thanks Joe.

Do not understand these gray like paint though. Rivets, paint under bumper etc all green. But there is still gray like colour some parts of model.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Hello Burak, that is looking much better now and very displayable. Further work on the axles will reduce more rust, it will take a little time, depending on how good you want the axles to be. The temptation for some collectors with badly rusted axles, is to use a small modelling hand file but this is not recommended as you will eat into the surface of the axle metal and spoil them.

You can rub a pencil eraser on them and this will help remove surface rust and is very good on the ends of axles, the better the quality of the pencil, the better the quality of the rubber and this is what you want, cheap rubbers are not so good in my experience.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[Tinman]

Those areas where the paint is changing color is oxidation. Most probably from the lead used in the paint. The rusty axles shows this one has had a lot of exposure to harsh conditions and the oxidation in the paint is accelerated by those conditions.