GHQ Models Forums

Finally the insurance company completed the counting of my mini.
All of them are mixed up in to 25-50 items lots.
I was able to save most of them but all have smoke film over them.
Because of this it’s all consider non salvageable.

The count came out to roughly 36K out of box and another 3K in packages.
Only 1/285 stuff since they didn’t count the ships.

Problem I have now is cleaning them.
It’s going to take forever to clean. And they are all mixed up too.
Some broken barrels but bent one for sure.

Any suggestion on how to clean?
Think about just toothbrush in running water? Or seal the smoke in by clear coating them but don’t think that going to work

I would have thought dish soap water and a toothbrush but that would take forever. How about some kind of mesh bag and a dish washer? Could they be put in the cutlery rack in some mesh bag or box that would hold them from bashing about? Just running thoughts to help.

If painted, soak in water with Dawn dish detergent. That stuff works wonders. If not painted then try soaking them in simple green or use the Dawn on them too. I feel for you nashorn88. You have a lot of work ahead of you. I wish you all the best and best of luck with the recovery from the fire.

My son suggested Dollar Store cleaner called MA's Finest. But it takes off paint, too. How about checking with Servpro to see the what and get suggest?

Man that is rough you have to go through that - sorry to hear... 39,000 minis that is a huge collection holy smokes!!!

So, if your minis are not salvageable, are you re-imbursed for cost so you can order 39,000 NEW ONES?!! And if you do, do you have to give the insurance company the old ONES? Or do you end up with SEVENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND MINIS?

Other suggestions I have received...

Coca-Cola - leaded. Full sugar. Not Diet, not Pepsi. Full-on Classic Coca Cola.

A foaming bathroom cleaner available on me at Dollar Tree. Subsequent side of a toothbrush may be required.

I would try either one on ONE vehicle first. Might have to soak a day or two.

I feel your pain, gosh, horrible.

I'm just trying to imagine 39,000 minis.

I've got x4 WWII Armies and x4 Modern Armies that I've been putting together for 40 years and that lot comes to about a 1000.

Here's an idea: It'd take you years to clean them. Ebay the smoke damaged ones, buy new ones with the insurance and enjoy the good ones.

B

Use Dawn 1st since I had it handy
Promising so far
Just spray them down in very hot water. No brushing and came out ok.
The 1st batch of 100 or so are almost dry.
So far no smell from them.

But yea insurance covers the cost of replacement 1 for 1.
They may give us just the policy limit since it may top that.

There is no way my wife would let me buy that many lol

Weellll... I make that out to be $93,200.00 if you divide 39000 by 5 and multiply the result by $11.95. Wonder how long it would take GHQ to fill that order? None of the rest of us would see anything for a while. MERCY! Is my math right?

How cool would it be to have a collection that big and get to build it over again? "Yeah, I never used those T-55s and I wanted more artillery!"

Oh, YEAH! More mech, more arty. No French or German battalion. More Brits, too.

OK, I've seen nashorn88's collection and I suspect 39,000 is a very conservative estimate. As for cleaning them the Dawn dish soap in water soaking technique mentioned above is probably your best bet. Smoke film is essentially a form of grease and that soap dissolves it quickly. That's why they use it on animals caught in oil spills. I have no idea what it does to paint though.