I bought an Akane USRA Heavy Pacific 4-6-2 recently. It was manufactured in 1964, in Japan, and was professionally painted for the Erie Railroad.
The professional paint job is in pretty good shape. The open-frame motor is in the middle of an overhaul and the guts are being greased as we speak.
I would like to sell the model soon and wondered if I should take the time to scrape off the model’s paint job down and polish it up for higher re-sale value. I don’t know if that is advisable. Please send me your thoughts.
Better yet, what is the best way to get maximum value out of brass anyway?
Ignatius.
If you remove the paint then you will quite probably remove about 90% of the value… If you are selling a model of this vintage then your best bet is a specialist auction house. The “hand me down” Basset Lowke models that I have are worth far more with their paint as supplied than stripped.
regards
ralph
Yes, anymore, with the detail quality of the new plastic stuff, I don’t know anybody who actively is looking for Half-Zero brass anymore.
Akane was not quite the detail in '64 as later stuff, if I remember.
Leave the paint on it!
Let the consumer remove it!
To strip it, you will need to chemically bathe it to remove any tarnish and corrosion, and clear-coat it at any rate, so just leave that to the new owner.