Again tapping the tremendous expertise of the Forum members…
I have a little used 2344 ABA set that is nearly flawless except for
one thing: none of the cars have any shine to them. I’m just wondering
what they looked like originally in this regard. I’ve seen any number of
the 2343’s and their descendents and they often have a marvelous
gloss to them. Were the 2344’s like this too, or did they originally
have a matte finish? And if they were originally glossy, what can
safely be used to revive that?
-iSpy
My best suggestion is to carfully wa***he shells in warm, soapy water with an old, soft toothbrush. When you finish, spray them down with Pledge furniture polish.
You’ll be suprised at how much they shine after doing this.
If that’s not enough, there are some other excellent plastic polishes out there, but I’m not sure about how safe they are to use on painted surfaces.
What effect will washing them have on the decals?
I f they are rubber stamps, they can rub off if you put too much pressure on the decals when cleaning.
I would be quite careful and recommend that you simply wipe them down with a damp cloth, being especially careful with the decal areas until you see how well thay are adhered to the shell. If these are in the fine condition you describe, I would leave it alone. Anything you do to alter the appearance of an original set and finish can significantly lower its value to other collectors (if that is a concern to you)
Old decals and heat stamping can present some challenges. I once followed advice in one of the older issues of CTT on gently washing a milk car only to watch the heat stamped lettering wash off! I stopped in time to preserve about half of it. That was the last time I immersed the shell of an older pre/post war item.
Regards,
Roy
True, I hadn’t thought of the decals. It’s entirely possibly that a dunk in water would cause them to lift off.
Roy’s advice about washing down with a damp cloth sounds like the safest bet, given the fairly high value of the pieces. I wouldn’t worry about dunking them with a common decaled piece, like a 6465, but it would probably be best to stay away from it with your 2344s.