Fading Fast - MT Heavyweights

[eja]

Just curious if anyone else has experienced this problem.

I have a MT 10-1-2 Pullman (Moose Lake) and the gold lettered PULLMAN and Moose Lake have become almost invisible.  The car is less than 6 months old, has seldom been handled and is not exposed to direct sunlight.

If I hadn't done a fair amount of detailing, I would probably be sending it home to Oregon for a replacement !   Looks like I need to find some decals.


eja

[bbussey]

Maybe this will help convince them to switch to the proper imitation gold lettering instead of using the pre-a/c goldleaf.

[peteski]

I have encountered similar problem on several European prototype models which had gold lettering, striping, or builder's plates.   It seems that there is some sort of reaction between the metallic particles and some substance on the surface of the model (probably salt in human sweat left by touching the car, or possibly something in the ambient air) which dissolves (or maybe oxidizes) the metallic particles. All that is left is the clear binder used in that gold paint/ink.  Usually, this is a slow process (takes few years).

I don't know of any way of fixing this. I suspect that if an overspray of clear lacquer (like Dullcote or Glosscote) was to be applied to the car when new, it would have protected the gold paint/ink from deteriorating. But who can predict that this will happen (since not all gold finishes are affected in this way).

[chicken45]

Never forget:



The gold leaf is very hard to see.