Caring For Your Model Cars

Displays of model cars can create an interesting focal point in a room but can collect a lot of dust and be tricky to clean especially if it is an open top model. Here are a few tips on how to reduce your work load and keep your model car in tip top condition.

Ideally keeping your model car in a display case will prevent the dust from getting to your car. The display case tops are generally made from see through Lexan and the bases are either plastic or wood, the latter being more expensive. There are a number of display cases on the market from several manufacturers of die-cast model cars in different sizes. Minichamps and AutoArt make the most popular display cases currently in 1/18^th scale. Single model car display cases are initially cheaper and can be stacked on top of one another as you collect more models. Larger display cases and display cabinets are more expensive but can work out more cost effective in the long run. When full a cabinet containing your die cast collection is a dramatic piece of furniture and is a great talking point for visitors. If you have a large cabinet it is a good idea to bolt it to the wall to keep your precious collection of model cars safe. If you can not afford a display case designed for car models a rectangular glass fish tank may well be the cheapest option for displaying your model car collection.

Adequate and directed lighting will enhance your display model cars but do avoid using hot halogen bulbs close to your models as these can fade the paint and warp plastic parts. Cold LED’s are an ideal solution and are pretty cheap to purchase now and not expensive to run.

To clean your model car, very carefully remove the dust with a soft make up brush, modelers dope brush or with a can of compressed air. If you are using cans of compressed air make sure you always hold it upright to prevent spraying out frozen propellant that could damage the paintwork on your model car. 

Model cars can be polished after dusting. The best polish to use is liquid detailing wax as this does not leave marks after buffing. Spray the wax on a cloth first and then apply very light pressure to the paint work of the model. Soft micro fiber cloths are perfect to apply the polish with. Care should be taken around the delicate features of your model car such as wing mirrors, aerials and gear sticks if you have a cabriolet model.

We hope that this keeps your model car collection gleaming and dust free. Display Cases for Model Cars are available on the Model-Marque website.