Most of my models are water damaged

[kpnuts]

Well most of my models are stored in the outhouse. We had lots of rain and hailstones last night and the roof leaked right over where my models are stored, a lot of the guided parts of the Soliel will need redoing (they've gone all cloudy, I have them on the radiator hoping they will clear when dry) to say I'm upset is an understatement. 

[JohnU]

They'l dry up on your radiator all right, more likely melt into a pile of plastic goo!

[Jantrix]

 a lot of the guided parts of the Soliel will need redoing (they've gone all cloudy, 

Sorry for your misfortune. Can I assume this should read "a lot of the plated parts of the model will need redoing"?

I must agree with John. Get them off the radiator. At the least they will warp.

[disabled modeler]

Sorry to hear you have to deal with this....I have been there too back in 2011 we had a tornado here and my model room lost a few windows. Wind and rain,etc. came in had to toss out many old boxes,instructions,decals and a lot of them need parts now and repairs.  I would not put them on a radiator might not be good one the plastic...I used a blowgun and a air compressor on very low pressure to dry them out carefully. 

[Snake45]

Water alone shouldn't hurt most parts of an assembled model. It will damage white-glued areas (such as commonly used for carpet flocking, etc), and can damage unsealed decals, and can rust steel axles and screws. But if it dries off quickly, shouldn't be much problem. I often clean assembled models (cars and airplanes both) with soapy water, rinsing under running water and air-drying.

Prolonged exposure to water can damage chrome, and possibly paint. Do get your stuff dried as soon as possible, but don't use excessive heat.

DO NOT use Windex or anything with ammonia in it to clean up. This can remove chrome.

Relax. The damage probably isn't anywhere near as bad as you fear.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Snake45

[High octane]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, and hopefully most of your stuff can be salvaged.

[Dave Van]

Been there.....hurricane Danny put 300 of my unbuilt kits under water.

Some chrome parts came out OK but some the chrome came off or was cloudy and not fixable. Biggest issue was boxes, decals and instructions. All were tossed and I put parts in zip-loc bags.Rain water alone should not harm the plastic parts.....my water contained mud and gasoline which ruined many items.

Clean and dry your stuff.....good luck.

[Roadrunner]

Sorry for your misfortune. Can I assume this should read "a lot of the plated parts of the model will need redoing"?

I must agree with John. Get them off the radiator. At the least they will warp.

I think he actually meant gilded.

[Roadrunner]

It seems that this is not an altogether uncommon problem. Years ago, my foundation (which had always leaked a bit), sprung a major leak, and I had silty water sprayed all over about two dozen kits. Boxes were generally salvageable, as were instructions, but many decal sheets were toast. These were all unbuilt kits, and not the same thing as happened to you, but still very frustrating. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

I have no advice, but I'm sincerely sorry you had that happen. Good luck with the salvage operations.

[kpnuts]

Hi all well the after a day to calm down and looking tonight, its not as bad as I feared, most of the bases are rubbished, but the models are ok and the guilding on the Soliel bits have cleared up (just a bit of staining on the transom )
the models just need a wash in clean water, the warspite dio base could be saved but to be fair its taking up too much space so will probably break it down and make some smaller dios I'm just glad the Thermopylae and Soliel hulls were in the living room.
here's the warspite dio

and here's the Soliel guilding

As I said after a day to calm down not as bad as I thought, not too worried about the bases as I needed room anyway, so maybe its a good thing.

[Roadrunner]

I assume the term outhouse doesn't mean the same thing there that it does here?