26 replies to this topic

[HotRodaSaurus]

Saw these models for sale at a swap meet. They had been stored only 3 years but in boxes using polystyrene 'peanut' packing.
You know the stuff, I send models through the post using it, you have probably got something from the 'Bay' packed in it. Sure its safe but look at these tyres. They are original kits from the 1970s but were stored only within the last few years. The tyre melt has not affected all the parts or indeed all the rubber parts.
Look but beware.
John

[Eshaver]

WOWZAAA, DAT BE SUUMM SRERUSS TIRE BITIN GOINN ON DER John!!!!!!!!!!!! Better get me sumair fresners cause de smeeel dem tires be makin stink up de room!!!! Ed Shaver

[conor1148]

im confused.. what happened to the tires? i mean i know they are melted but why?

[georgeh]

Connor, there's some kinda chemical reaction happening between the rubber in the tires, and probably the chemicals in the foam peanuts.It happens when you leave the tires of really old kits in the box with the model.It's called tire burn.

[John Goschke]

Not sure it has anything to do with the packing peanuts. The real culprits are the chemicals in the vinyl (not true "rubber") model tires, which react with the styrene of the model (and the peanuts, if they're styrofoam).

AMT tires of the mid-late '60s (those nice Firestone Supremes) are especially prone to causing damage to adjacent styrene parts. If you're lucky enough to find a mint, unopened... say, AMT '66 annual Impala hardtop kit, you have to worry that perhaps the tires loose in the box for 40 years have melted through the roof!

Of course, we live with this problem anyway by building the model; inserting the styrene wheel into the vinyl tire. The models shown here are a pretty extreme case, but if you've bought an old builtup to restore, chances are you've dealt with this issue.

Current kit tires are not immune from this problem. I used a set of those nice whitewalls from a Revell-Monogram '59 Impala hardtop customizing kit to mockup a '60 T-bird build, and after perhaps three months on the shelf the vinyl tires started to melt the styrene whitewall inserts. Glad it wasn't a finished model!

If anyone has discovered a satisfactory barrier to prevent this problem I'd sure like to hear about it!

[conor1148]

ah! thanks! i dont even know of anywhere i could get a old model like that here..

[BigGary]

Forget it Ed, Your German(?) stinks worse than those tires. lol

[HotRodaSaurus]

One of the things I did notice about these two kits(Tony Nancy & the California Charger in the pics) were that only some of the rubber parts are melted. The rim of the rail dragster is virtually untouched, you cant really get a good view of the Nancy rear wheel but that looks the same.
I have had a couple of kits with tyre burn or tyre melt on built ups but the styrene is usually also melted.
One make of kits I dont know if this affects are Monogram, well the old ones at least. I have most of those classics plus Rommels Rod and Li'l Coffin, they have the styrene whitewall inserts and are all ok, some after 40 years, don't know about modern Revell/Mono but I had an original Mickey Thompson Challenger 4 engine car, on that the tyres were ok but the wheels were melted
J

Edited by HotRodaSaurus, 01 November 2008 - 08:48 PM.

[Billy Kingsley]

That's some serious meltage. If I may make a suggestion, how about making it into a diorama of a car that lost it's motor, and the tire caught on fire? That would work for the rear tire anyway.

I just put a bunch of kits in storage-probably 200 or more. Before I did that I went through each and every one of them and pulled the tires and decals out of them, and put them where they were not touching each other. In fact, I now have a big box in the basement full of tires in zip-lock bags with the kit they came out of written on the bag in Sharpie.

[John Goschke]

to me it looks as if the tires that were affected were done intentionally ( to simulate blow-outs) seeing as it only appears to be 2 tires. Just my 2 cents ( even though I have no sense)

Looking at the photos again, I think you may be correct, since the other tires have no apparent damage. Also, as HotRodasaurus points out, the tires here are affected while the styrene appears undamaged. The typical case of tire damage, the vinyl causes the styrene to soften, while the tire remains sound.

So, I have no idea what's going on with these dragsters but it's pretty strange!

[jbwelda]

when i saw that first photo, of the rear tyre, i thought "hey that looks like a pretty good technique for modelling tyre carcasses.

and the opposite tyre is OK, worn but OK.

so the concensus is that peanuts don't cause problems, old tyres cause problems. or look weathered.

[HotRodaSaurus]

Yes I can see the speculation here, I can only go by what the seller told me. If you look carefully at the Cal Charger front tyre there is a remnant of polystyrene peanut still stuck to the tyre
I did not buy them as they were a little expensive at £30 each(starting price). They sat on his table all weekend but I think they sold as a lot including a Prudhomme fueller in the glass case just visible and an Army Funny for around £50 for the lot.
None were in tip top condition and the chrome on the Tony Nancy is to the usual 70s Revell standard.
I have seen these tyres disintegrate into pieces of rubber, also the motorcycle tyres from the same era are prone to cracking.
J

Edited by HotRodaSaurus, 04 November 2008 - 12:48 AM.

[Casey]

 The real culprits are the chemicals in the vinyl (not true "rubber") model tires, which react with the styrene of the model

 

They can do some damage, eh?:

 

 

 

[cobraman]

Ouch ! Poor Javelin .

[wrecker388]

Wow, I feel bad for that poor Javelin.

[Ben]

The first thing I do when I get any model kit that I open or is already open is to put the tires in a Zip Lock bag, the clear parts in a Zip Lock bag and the decals inside the instruction sheet. For kits I want to leave sealed until I need them, I just pray they'll be safe!

[jbwelda]

yep thats a good reminder right there, first thing i too do is be sure to separate the tires from the rest. these days the mfgs do it for you most of the time though.

[peekay]

The first thing I do when I get any model kit that I open or is already open is to put the tires in a Zip Lock bag, the clear parts in a Zip Lock bag and the decals inside the instruction sheet. For kits I want to leave sealed until I need them, I just pray they'll be safe!

Yes, I've been doing that for many years now to good effect.

 

DON'T try it with glad-wrap (clear kitchen foil) though! It will put permanent blotches on chrome and clear parts.

[Austin T]

That poor poor Javelin, do you plan on fixing it Casey?

[dmk]

The first thing I do when I get any model kit that I open or is already open is to put the tires in a Zip Lock bag, the clear parts in a Zip Lock bag and the decals inside the instruction sheet. For kits I want to leave sealed until I need them, I just pray they'll be safe!

 

Same here.  I open every kit and repack the parts.

 

 After a bad roof leak one time that trashed decals and instruction sheets, I put the decals inside the instruction sheet and put them in one ziplock baggie and the tires in another. Just to be safe, I repack the box with the baggie of tires on the bottom, lay the instruction sheet on top of them and all the styrene parts on top of that. The tires in no way touch any plastic parts, the decals are protected from scratches and dampness/water. It's cheap insurance.

 

 I've noticed some kits now have the tires sealed in their own plastic bags, but not always.

Edited by dmk, 17 March 2013 - 07:36 AM.