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SuperChamp82

Vintage box restoration

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A few threads have combined our love of old box art and blister packaging but I can’t find any bringing together what must be years of experience restoring vintage boxes and inserts ?

So - what are your tips for cleaning old cardboard + repairing rips, cracks, tears, punctures and splitting ?

And do you treat inserts differently ? 

What about opened blisters - do you leave in situ, throw away or store separately ?

Look forward to a variety of views 😂

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I have carried out some light restoration on a few boxes , mainly removing old packaging tape etc . I used a hair drier to heat up the old tape and carefully peeled away the tape . Any remaining residue I cleaned off with 'sticky stuff remover' and then clean the whole box with damp cloth and soapy water . The box is resilient but too much work on it can remove some print , so carefully does it . For rips I've use paper glue / PVA and back up with tape on the inside . Any missing artwork can be painted back in if it is a small amount . I never throw away any inner packging from a kit box . The blisters do tend to peel away , so if it isn't much then just leavit alone as any lifting to re-glue can cause more seperation . I have use a small amount of clear double sided tape to hold down a corner or 2 , this can be slipped under the blister with tweezers so not much lifting involved .

One example here :-

kit box tape on.JPG

kit box tape removed.JPG

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I have several vintage boxes that are suffering the packing tape thing. I had resigned myself to the fact that it couldn't be removed. I shall definitely try the hairdryer method now.

Also, I never thought about touching the missing artwork in. What paints are you using for that?

I have also had some luck with out of shape boxes, by ironing them on the inside. You have to leave the iron on one spot for a couple of minutes (just not long enough to burn...), and although not perfect, it does work.

J

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I've used Tamiya acrylics and poster paints to touch in with . I have also laid a flat object inside a box lid to re-shape / flatten for a few weeks ( similar to using the iron I guess ) , but this way I can just leave it for as long as I want . On stubborn marks I have used very diluted Tesco own brand white version of Cif , very lightly though

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My additional tips for restoring boxes... (as I have done this dozens of times)

Use PVA glue to repair tears, or lifted edges.

If your box is warped, get a clean spray bottle and spray some mist water on the underside of the box to make it damp. Then place something large and flat on the affected side, and weigh it down with heavy books. And leave it for several days. Clean water won't discolour anything and will disappear once dry..

Even the worst, most warped Tamiya boxes can be restored this way and end up with fairly square sides and corners again. I know I posted one a while back...

 

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