Rust: Toy preservation with surface rust?

[Tinman]

Today I finally added an example of the Marx Rex Mars target game to my collection and found it had a little surface rust in a small area at the bottom…on the surface where it touches whatever it's sitting on. It wasn't mentioned in the auction description and isn't noticeable until the toy is picked up and examined. It's not a deal breaker by any means and I'm surely keeping it cause they're hard to come by in any condition, anyway, I was wondering about preservation. Will the rusting get worse over time or will it stabilized if the toy is kept in a temperature-controlled environment? I'm thinking the latter cause it's probably been there since the 50's but I thought I'd ask for some opinions...perhaps Phil could provide some guidance? I'm pretty sure any example of this toy is in less than mint condition cause it is a target after all, being shot at with wooden pellets.

Auction pic...the bottom of the toy is made of lithographed tin:

[Morbius]

Beautiful piece Tinman!! Pictures don't do these justice. I recall seeing a similar piece of Dr. A.'s displayed at Botstock last May and couldn't take my eyes off of it with the depth of the colours and workmanship, a wonderful piece for the collection. Congrats!

I'd guess many of these have been shot up pretty well over time if they were loved by a kid a long time ago.

[robothut]

if there is rust then it can get worse with time an humidity. I don't like putting anything on my toys but I would think that a little wax coating would seal the open rust area from the air and grately slow down any more rust action.

[Racerxc70]

What I do and remember this is just what I do, is remove the rust and seal thie exposed tin with acrylic lacquer, like Phil says humidity, air and time are the enemy, so I remove two of two of these, many of my project robots are rusty wrecks and I use a dremel rotors tool and stainless steel wheels or steel wool and sometimes a little CLR liquid and Q-tips for those hard to reach places, to clean them up and then I seal the unpainted metal with clear acrylic, the does devalue the piece but it also extends shelve life and since I am not selling them for profit this works for me; another solution have it restored, but of course you know that.

PS, I don't seal the gear boxes I just remove the rust, just so there is no confusion about that, good luck!

Look closely at the before and after photos, see the acrylic shine on the green paint

[Morbius]

What about repro'd unpainted bare metal 'bots? Should any special care be taken with these as they don't have a protective paint layer? You know what happens to train rail tracks on their way to their destination?

[Racerxc70]

I have two ideas

Vacuum sealed display boxes or a thin layer of Vaseline, I know the Vaseline idea sounds crazy but it works

[Tinman]

Thanks guys, I appreciate everyone's thoughts and ideas. I think I'll try a thin layer of wax as suggested by John, I wouldn't want to mess with it too much cause it is lithographed tin. Who knows where it's been for the past 50 years but while I have it, it'll be kept in a controlled environment.