Oh no, what's happening to my car?!

it`s disheartening to see them do that.....but your photos are top shelf

                          ...........how about the `56 FM Nash Metropolitan

my car,but not my pic

Interesting but awful topic! 650-700 models and so far some rash but no rot. Pete heres my red FM Camaro. This is probably the worst rash on one of mine, and it has not got any worse over a number of years, either boxed or on display. Wondering if its Melbournes warmer climate? The other intriguing factor I reckon is there is only minor rash/rot on one of my cheaper models, the Hachette et al Europeans and Bburago Ferraris.

@geoff-jowett ...........just a bit of orangepeel on the roof ?

Pete Rovero, seeing a post like yours, I always get a knot in my throat.  I immediately headed to my car shelves and checked out the ones I have that you show pics of.  My DM '57 Ford Skyliner (green) is OKAY.  I then checked my DM '58 Apache truck, and thankfully it too, is in good shape.  My heart goes out to any fellow collector that experiences this awful rot cancer to any of their cars. 

A couple of years back, my DM '60 Thunderbird (red) turned in to a mess, see my photos below.  I also lost my DM '59 Chevy Impala anniversary edition (silver), as it literally started to bend in half, also see my photos below.  And finally, my worst rot cancer car was the FM '55 Pontiac (red/black) that finally just completely fell apart.  The photos of it below shows the rot over almost the entire car.  

@john-barry its pretty much all over John, my pic doesn't show it well. I only have the Skyliner and Apache truck of the others posted and they are both fine. I've seen too many pics of the T'Bird, Pontiac and Corvette to ever consider buying them. I have DMs original 59 Impala convertible and fortunately it too is fine. The other factor of interest as well is no difference to affects either boxed or on display. Before I bought my display cases, there were few models that had been boxed for about 20 years, and no rash. They were stashed in hard to access places so I never swapped them around.

@geoff-jowett........... thanks Geoff I`ve experienced that same photo revival effect in shooting less than perfect paint........and like yourself I have the same two cars in my collection....and none of the others

George, your pictures of the 59 Impala might be mine as my model is bending and twisting exactly the same as yours.

Thanks for your contributions, guys. George, did the red over black '55 Pontiac suffer the same fate as the black over red on you posted?  JB, I forgot about that poor little Nash Metro.  Geoff, your FM Camaro is probably the best looking one I've seen, in spite of the rash. Incidentally, the red '60 TBird I posted above is currently for sale on eBay for $295!  

I'm keeping an eye on DM's 1967 yellow Camaro RS/SS convertible.  It's one that's known for having a rash problem.  I had one with bad rash on the passenger side door, so I took it apart and stripped off the paint. I thought you all (y'all) might be interested in what I found:

Obviously, this rash won't ever polish out since the issue is in the casting itself. 

Any more models we should be concerned about?

It is a real shame that inter-granular corrosion has affected some diecast metal cars, It has seemed to happen to various manufacturers at various scales, although I think that perhaps Maisto and Highway 61 have so far not been affected as much. It would be nice if there was a reasonable, fairly inexpensive test that manufacturers could use at the delivery of the raw zamac material.

@pete-rovero just curious Pete did u smooth sand that, then prime and repaint it? If so how did it come up?

Posted by: @geoff-jowett

@pete-rovero just curious Pete did u smooth sand that, then prime and repaint it? If so how did it come up?

Geoff, Geoff, Geoff, I was saving that for another day!  But OK, because you asked, here's the casting filed and cleaned up with a 3M superfine sanding sponge.  Haven't done any priming yet, I'm letting it "breath", lol.

@pete-rovero incredible work Pete, thanks. Whats also interesting is I assume that is how it should have looked in the first place, which in turns shows up the poor manufacturing quality on some of the models, with probably no QC at various points in the process.

Thank you, Geoff.  It doesn't appear that there was any casting preparation other than cleaning and deburring by the manufacturer.  Below is the hood as stripped on the right and my prep on the left.

I use Deremel finishing abrasive buff for the job. It can easily reach all curvy recesses and more complex surfaces as the running boards on this Cadillac.