A forlorn and somewhat mouldy box
Savage came up will all manner of smart ideas for bookcover designs that would incorporate information into the cover. The colour of the cover would indicate which nationality the troops inside belonged to, a logo which arm they belonged to and a "title" to indicate the regiment.
Therefore the box contains the 4th and 88th regiments would have a red cover (British troops), a stand of arms on the spine (infantry) and a title, "Adventures with the Fourth Foot and Connaught Rangers".
This is no doubt, a long way off as I will obviously have to organise somewhere to put them - but the grand plan develop a minor setback today, when I went to inspect boxes in advance of a game next week and discovered that some of them had mould growing on them.
The field forge of the 13th cuirassiers
I moved the boxes to a new location, have been cleaning off the mould as best I can with a cloth and hopefully while the boxes are a little damp at present - this won't effect their strength and durability in the long term.
Surely that should be 'mould'? Nasty stuff in any event.
ReplyDeleteAs to your main point, doesn't one stand books on end? And if one stood a file full of figures on end then wouldn't it do some damage? Or do you have access to magnets of such a strength that they would hold the figures in place perpendicularly as it were?
"..But their souls keep marchin' on!! Glory, glory.. etc., etc."
ReplyDeleteLarge 'books' lying on their side would look fine methinks.
What kind of 1/72 stuff do you have BTW?
Conrad Kinch,
ReplyDeleteI have had a similar problem with file boxes in the past. In my case they were stored in what I thought was a dry place ... but for some reason they seem to absorb the damp from the surrounding atmosphere if the storage area gets gold.
In the end I had to move over to wooden boxes. More expensive but also more resistant ... and they looked quite nice as well (but not as nice as faux bookends will look).
Good luck with sorting your problem out,
Bob
IM - you are exactly right. I had a momentary rush of American to the head. Yes, one normally puts books on end. However, with old cloth bound books (the books Savage intends to emulate) this can strain the binding and they are usually placed on their side.
ReplyDeleteRosbif - That they do! I have British and French Napoleonics with a growing collection of Portuguese. A few Austrians awaiting paint and large mob of "Moghuls" cobbled together from Zvesda Turks and Esci Arab warriors.
I hope to add some Newline Sikhs in the near future. I also have a large-ish collection of German and Russian Second War stuff, that doesn't get out very often.
Bob - it's a problem and a solution for another day. But fingers crossed.
Nasty stuff indeed. Been there. Are your bases wood? If they are cardboard, keep an eye on them.
ReplyDeleteI like the book cover idea!
-Ross
I read your tale of mouldy box files with some alarm - all my 20mm toys live in box files, together with rather more modest quantities of other scales. I've been using them for nearly 20 years now and so far I've not had any serious issues - but they do live in a heated room. I must run a post on my box labelling project which had proceeded in fits and starts over the past two years.
ReplyDeleteConrad,
ReplyDeleteI work at a state archives. We've found that once mould gets a foothold, it is hard to completely get rid of it. Might I suggest you also wipe the boxes with Lysol disinfectant (a household product that is sold under that name in USA) which might help inhibit any regrowth. You might also consider getting a dessicant (may be able to get it in packs) that you can put on your shelves to help absorb any atmospheric water.
But you may find that you will have to completely replace your boxes if the mould returns.
Good luck,
Jim
Ross - the bases are plastic card and magnetic sheeting, so we should be ok.
ReplyDeleteTim - they were stored in one of the darker spots of a building constructed in the 1830s. I should probably have known better.
Jim - oh dear - well I shall give it a try, I can only console myself with the knowledge that only a few boxes have been affected so far.
Someone wrote in to correct your spelling? Wow.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely old fruit - standards must be maintained!
ReplyDeleteFair enough. If someone did that to me I would block them.
ReplyDelete