what is the best way to preserve paper models for years to come ?

[Fox]

hi all, what's up ?

my question is what you guys usually do to preserve your paper models for a long time ? do you coat it with plastic glue ? or maybe with some sort of lacquer ? i know that good quality plastic glue, usually becomes clear/transparent when it dries and doesn't have that whitish milky finish. that's great but what do i do if the model has that silver color on its body for example ? i see photos here that the model looks exactly like the real thing. how do you guys do that finish on the model ? and what do you do against dust ? is there a safe way to clean the model and not spoil all its tiny little parts ?

sorry for so much questions all in once and on my first thread...lol...:D

thanks a lot.

cheers.

[lee4752]

Welcome. Regarding all your questions, from what I gathered in the year or so since I started this aspect of my modeling hobby (paper, that is) those models that don't get into museums eventually get destroyed by children or are fed to cats.:D No, seriously there are some products that can be used to protect completed models. I heard of people using clear varnish or lacquer (sprayed or brushed on). You need to test the coating you plan on using to see what it will do to the ink (or paper finish in the case of metallic papers). some finish coatings will cause ink to run or otherwise get splotchy (I think that's a technical term). One product I had good results with when modeling in plastic was Future floor finish. It is a high gloss acrylic coat. it is water based and sprays well through an airbrush without needing to thin it. Extra care is required to apply very thin coats, since this is one of those finishes that will cause ink to run.

[Jim Nunn]

I store my finished models in a display case but other then that I do not apply any finish to the model. Some of my models are well over 10 years old and I have a model that is 30 years old that was stored in a box and looks new. Sunlight seems to cause the most problems, it bleaches out the colors. Cleaning is out of the question I do more damage to my models handling them then any thing else. In fact at the last IPMS-OC competition my model fell apart from some rough handling. Several of my paper model friends do use future floor wax as a finish this is sprayed on with an air brush in a very light fog coat. It adds a very slight sheen but it does seal the painted parts of the model and also evens out the finish texture of the paper. In Europe it is common to “varnish” a finished model I would assume that they are using some sort of polyurethane finish.

For what it’s worth I personally like the matt texture of the finished paper with out using any sealer to my eye it is very realistic and is a true scale finish. In competition with plastic models I have received several complements on the finish of my paper models.

Jim Nunn

[B-Manic]

These are two Krylon products I use.

The workable fixative I spray on sheets before I start cutting. It makes it easy to to remove excess glue, adds some stability to the paper, especially at the cut edge, and minor mistakes when edge coloring can be removed with an artists eraser. Sometimes the marker slips and I get a small line on the printed surface of the piece, whoops. It also prevents fingerprint damage on inkjet printed models.
Krylon: Products: Paper Finishes Workable Fixatif

The digital photo and paper protectant provides UV protection and a smooth matte finish over the entire model. I use this very lightly when the model is finished.
Krylon: Products: Paper Finishes Preserve It! Digital Photo & Paper Protectant

I have found this type of tool useful when using any type of spray can.
Krylon: Products: Snap & Spray

They have a number of other spray products that I have not tried but may be useful to the paper modeler. Has anyone here used them?
Krylon: Products: Artist & Clear Coatings

[redhorse]

I use the krylon UV protector spray and haven't had any problems with running. I'm mainly worried about color fading as my house has a lot of windows and there isn't really a good display area that's both dark and cat proof in the place. As far as cleaning goes, I've used canned air and soft painbrushes to get rid of dust with good effect.

[Fox]

wow. this is just great guys.
thanks a lot for the tips.

so, you dont recommend me to coat the model with glue before the spray ? or how about coating a little with glue the parts from their inner side before assembling them one another in order to make the model a little stronger ?

[Sakrison]

If you keep the models dry and out of the sunlight--and away from the cats--they should last indefinitely. I have a couple of paper models I built 20 years ago that have suffered a bit from moves but have not otherwise faded or deteriorated. I use acid-free paper for my printouts and soft natural-bristle paint brushes and canned air for dusting.

Coating them with glue seems like a lot of overkill. If you want to coat them, use the Krylon acrylic spray or UV protection.

No worries,
--David

[Oliver Weiss]

The question in my mind is how the finish will hold up over the years. I've worked with some acrylic finishes (not on paper models) that turn yellow with time.
Right now I use workable fixative or nothing, but I'll give the digital print and paper protection spray a try. Other than that, I sneak the small models into the acrylic cases I had gotten for the larger ones to keep the dust off. If you don't want to spend cash on these cases (which can be quite expensive) pick up the next fish tank you see curbside on trash day

Just my $.02

Cheers,

Oliver

[Papercut]

I have used and had great results using a product I was told about from another member of this forum. We paper modelers have two really mean objects to over come, #1 sunlight/fading color, #2 dust, those are the two I fight, no cats at this home to deal with, just one Boston that thinks she is the Boss. I was turned on to this great protective coating: Patricia Nimocks, Clear Acrylic Sealer, Matte, product number CS200306, 12oz can. This is used to seal art work, prints and restorations, and anything that good for art is well worth the effort/cost to protect the finish of a card model. Apply in light coats, apply in well ventilated area and only re-apply between coats as they dry to the touch. No color bleed, color tones out, model is sealed in a acrylic coating. I have had great results. As for dust, a light blast of air sends it flying, dust does not seem to stick to the acrylic very well. Hope this is of help.:DRick

[PixelOz]

Contrary to popular belief sunlight color fading doesn't happen mainly because of the visible light but because ultraviolet light. The visible part of the light spectrum only contributes to a small part of the color fading so if you want to protect your models against color fading you can try putting UV resistant film on the windows of the room in which you have the models, this will help a lot. To make it better try to keep them away from the sun as much as possible anyway. You can clean the dust in the models, you just don't use a regular duster of course, what I use is small brushes with soft bristles as a duster and I dust them very carefully (you assembled them carefully so put the same care in handling them when dusting). I have used this method for a long time for dusting successfully. If you appreciate your model a lot, particularly if it is a very detailed model consider putting it in a display case, that will protect it from many things like dust (and even cats if they don't push it to the floor but that may be prevented also) if you get a display case you might get a UV resistant display case, there are many in the market. You might even combine UV resistant window film with the UV resistant display case for extra protection. If you can't get a pre-fabricated display case you might consider building a display case with acrylic yourself. If you do you might try buying UV resistant acrylic for this. Acrylic is very easy to glue because it doesn't use glue, it uses a special solvent to glue it that does this very fast, you just have to learn how to apply it carefully so you don't ruin the faces with blotches and there are tips and/or tutorials for that on the Internet. Also acryllic can be polished with a welding torch, ideally with a hydrogen torch but for those on a budget you can use one of those propane torches used for plumbing and that gives the edge a great look like those nifty woofer boxes, it just takes a bit of practice to learn how to do this, there is information of how to do it on the Internet and there are even videos in YouTube of people showing you how to polish the edges like this. The method is called flame polishing, use this term to search in YouTube.

gluing acrylic:
YouTube - How to glue Acrylic

polishing acrylic:
YouTube - how to flame polish plex

I hope this helps.