That sounds interesting Dennis, Southern Cross was a very interesting ship and ahead of her time – in some ways she innovated many features of modern cruise ships but she looked good too.

Can you post some photos of the model and perhaps close ups of the damaged areas?

Colin

Denisi, that's quite some model you have there. What a pity it has been allowed to deteriorate like that.

I rather doubt if you will find anyone on this Forum with the expertise to give you the advice you need. perspex is not a very common model boating material although it is used by Adrian Gosling of Speedline Models **LINK** for his superstructures.

I wonder just how similar the material used to construct your model is to the acrylic sheet used today. You would be probably better off trying to find somebody who specialises in perspex/acrylic sheet modelling of any description.

Colin

That damage to me looks far more than would have happened naturally over time. I would think it has been subjected to intense heat, maybe following a fire wherever it was stored! I use a lot of perspex (another name for acrylic) but only for display cases as it is hard and will not bend unless heated. The model looks more like it is made from plasticard sheet to me, that is far more user-friendly when it comes to bending etc.

Bob

Although SOUTHERN CROSS was completed in 1955, he said the model was 45-years old and that puts the building date as about 1967! But I wouldn't be surprised if the model does date back to the mid 1950s and may have been built for publicity when the ship was new! I have no idea when plasticard came in though. I did not hear of it until about 1974! If not plasticard, maybe it was built of celluloid. I know that was widely used in model passenger liners built for adverising purposes that this one could have been!

Bob

Hi Denis

If the model is perspex then you should be alright trying some of the gentler solvents such as white spirit, methylated spirits etc. You could also try brake fluid on a swab to see if it shifts the old paint – it can play havoc with car paintwork if you spill it!

Be careful with the polycarbonate, have a GOOD look for advice for gluing and suitable paints. There was a spate a good few years ago of motor cycle crash helmets being ruined by being painted with the wrong sort of paint. Polycarbonate is very fussy and can disintegrate almost before your eyes with the wrong solvent applied to the surface, perspex and "acrylic" are much more user friendly but I think the term "acrylic" gets used a bit widely and you're not absolutely certain what plastic you're actually dealing with.

If the perspex parts are robust enough to stand a bit of pressure from a rubbing pad, then a car paint cutting compound could be used to shift the paint and to clear up any scratches, as could the old favourites "Brasso" and "Silvo". "Duraglit" wadding might also be useful – you'll have to have a look in your local supermarket or harware store for your local equivalents

Good luck – I remember seeing these type of models in the travel agents windows in Birmingham in the UK during the 50's and early 60's – I think one of them was of the Canberra.

Keith

ps one thing I forgot to add with perspex and "acrylic", beware of getting solvents accidentally on any cut edges unless you're tyring to glue the plastic. You can get a effect where nicks in the cut edge can propagate into the body of the plastic and cause a crack – and that does happen while you watch – you can reduce the tendancy for this to happen by smoothing the cut edge as much as possible – almost polishing it.

Edited By Keith Long on 12/08/2012 11:12:56