Sticky finish to older models

[savagedccarguy4]

Hi, new to this forum, but a long-time MB collector. Started as a kid in about 1960, so I'm OLD. But I was sorting and cleaning up some of my 1969 to early 70s cars the other day and found that three have very sticky surfaces and I think it's the paint itself. Two are that sort of metallic lime green that in this case was on a Mercury Cougar and Mercury station wagon, the one with the dogs in the back. Both are sticky on the roof and hood and some on the sides. Another is a metallic brownish Cortina, again really stick on the roof and hood. Wondering if others have experienced this over time and if there's a reasonable way to clean them up. Otherwise I'm afraid I'll just have to toss them. I tried a little soapy water and it did not help at all. Thanks to anyone with an answer.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

How have these been stored.

[Idris]

I used to think this was the result of long-term storage in certain types of collectors' cases, with the result that the phthalate plasticiser in the vinyl migrated into the paint on the models, softening it. However, I am now cooling on that idea since I have a couple of early SF which have definitely never been anywhere near a collectors' case (in fact, they are still in their original boxes) but which have sticky paint. Furthermore, even if plasticiser were the culprit, once the models were removed from the case I believe it would eventually re-evaporate and the paint would return to normal.
I seem to recall Joe (Tinman) telling us that SF paint differs markedly in composition from RW paint, and I now wonder if there was a bit of a learning curve at Lesney during the changeover period. This resulted in a significant number of batches of models coated in the new-type paints not being processed correctly with the result that, over the years, the paint has softened slightly and become tacky to the touch. This idea is supported by the circumstantial evidence that (to the best of my knowledge) sticky paint only occurs on early SF, never on later models and never on RW.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

''never on later models''

I have evidence that says this is not the case.

I have a #66 Silver Spirit from 1986 which for this year means it is in a fine metallic beige. From new it has always had a tendency to be sticky to the touch as if the paint has never really managed to set hard.

[Tinman]

I've had several regular wheel models affected with this issue. They were all late 60's models. The best cure I've discovered is to polish them with a car polish that has a mild abrasive. It will remove all the dead & sticky paint and leave the model smooth to the touch and looking good.

[savagedccarguy4]

Tinman, I'll give that a try on one and see if the car polish works. For the record, the two green Mercury models were in an old MB storage case, the blue and yellow 48-car case. The other was in its original box. So that tends to support the idea that it's not the case causing this. Besides, I had plenty of other cars in that case and they are fine. If anyone has any other magic formula, beyond the car wax method, just let me know. I probably won't work on these until it's warmer out and I can do this on the patio to avoid stinking up the basement. Thanks!

[charliep]

K21B Cougar Dragster and K38A Gus Gulper from the Speedkings series tend to have this issue with sticky paint to the touch especially the ones colored pink.
If I am not mistaken, some cabs of the K4C Leyland Tipper may also have this issue. The color is usually orange.

[Idris]

K21B Cougar Dragster and K38A Gus Gulper from the Speedkings series tend to have this issue with sticky paint to the touch especially the ones colored pink.

...which lends credence to the idea that it might be something to do with the paint itself rather than the environment it has been exposed to.

[Tinman]

K21B Cougar Dragster and K38A Gus Gulper from the Speedkings series tend to have this issue with sticky paint to the touch especially the ones colored pink.

...which lends credence to the idea that it might be something to do with the paint itself rather than the environment it has been exposed to.

My thought's always have centered on the paint's composition. By the time these problem models were painted, the use of alkyd resins was nothing new and the kinks had been worked out years before. I've always suspected some cost cutting short cuts in the form of some cheaper alternate long chain molecule substitutions which eventually lead to surfactant leaching.

Lesney was known to be cost-conscious and a supplier could certainly undercut the competition by altering ingredients to sell a cheaper product. I lean towards this theory because it's not likely an accident in blending the compounds would continue to take place over a significant time span (as opposed to a one time accident or event). That and the fact that toys aren't something that are considered to have long lives and this negates the need for demanding requirements for paint longevity. This would make it easy enough to use substandard compounds which will work fine for a few years and offer a product at a lower price. The additives for certain colors could certainly exacerbate the issues or even be the catalyst for the problem.

[motorman]

It seems to me that the problem of sticky paint appears to be limited to a very small number models, the most commonly seen tacky candidate being the Superfast #44 GMC Refrigerator Truck in red and turquoise, the rear turquoise paint is notorious for that tacky texture. Look at this genuine factory issue I have and you can see how much the household and box fluff (I can’t think of a better term) sticks to the turquoise paint, and this particular example has been stored in its factory issue box for years not a plastic case, which would tend to lend some support to Hugh’s thought that storage is not the causal issue.