Small Scale Military Headquarters

has anyone left one of their xd planes outside for a long period of time? I'm curious how well they stand up to the elements....especially the clear canopy and the paint. Otherwise i think they would take the extremes of heat and cold, very well and getting wet periodically shouldn't be a problem either.

I dunno about the aircraft, but I've had an M48, and a Tiger on the patio for about a month or so(they get some direct sunlight each day). The M48 looks fine, and the Tiger's just dusty. Natural weathering.

A part of me is afraid to ask... is there a story here?
My collection isn't exposed to constant direct sunlight from windows or anything, but a couple items that do get a fair amount of sunlight (Haleakala P-38 and one of the early Stukas) haven't showed signs of fading or discoloring yet--and I would think the green would be one of the most susceptible to fading. They haven't been exposed to more than a slightly damp dust cloth so far, though, so no clue on water resistance. Disclaimer: results may not be typical. Plastic is plastic, and white plastics especially tend to yellow in sunlight.

well, i've had alot of my stuff stored on my balcony for years, in plastic garbage bags. The winters have seen temps well below minus 20 and the past couple of summers have seen extended periods with temps well over 100 degrees, with the humidity. Additionally, i face west so i get alot of direct afternoon sunlight.

All the stuff stored in the bags is 100% fine, some of it's been out there for years. No cracks, warps etc. BUT they were inside bags and never got direct sunlight. Some of them did get pretty wet though as small punctures in the bags let water in. Even though they were soaking for a long time, sitting in moldy carboard boxes, still no problems of any kind. Just let them dry off, a quick wipe and they were 100%.

So these things are tough. My only concern is how long term sunlight might bleach the paint/plastic, cause it to crack or cause the canopy to go milky....through a window should be fine as most of the harmful UV is filtered by the glass but outside in direct light may well be a different story.

I was asking because i just had an idea for my Stuka....to have it doing a dive bombing attack hanging off my balcony. I live on the 6th floor.....so it's about 900 scale feet to the ground....somewhat close to reality. I was holding it over the balcony, in a dive and it looked really cool, looking from behind......quite dizzying in fact. and i thought it would be fun to leave it out there, hanging from a hook.

Common sense has since taken hold of me and i'm not going to do it.....though i may set up a hook and hang it out there temporarily from time to time. It looks so good. But the biggest problem i forsee is not temp, rain or snow, but wind. We get lots of windy days and it would be bucking and kicking around. May well snap the fishing line, jump the hook or if nothing else keep crashing into the side of the balcony.

It does look pretty cool though...

Down here in Florida the sun would bleach all the painted areas pretty quickly. Especially the brighter colors, blue,red, etc. Plastic would get brittle too and it would probably have things living in it after awhile.

Rowsdower wrote:it would probably have things living in it after awhile.

Nature's pilots.

I'm sure that the planes would stand up to the outside weather just fine. Some areas may fade but hey thats the weathering process that all planes have to go through. But I wouldnt be stupid enough to leave my planes outside anyway due to the fact they they would be stolen! Cant trust the little rug rats in my neighborhood.

I've never kept any of my XD outside. Sure I've taken tanks and planes outdoors to create dioramas in a variety of weather conditions, but never left them out there

Alot is stored in my attic, however, which is as close to being outside as my XD gets. The attic temperatures vary from about 40-50 degrees in the winter to 120 in the summer. Warping in the heat would seemingly be a problem, but nothing in my attic has been damaged beyond getting a little dusty

In Florida your not only worrying about the direct sun but the salt in the air and moisture that really does a number to metal.

STUKA wrote:In Florida your not only worrying about the direct sun but the salt in the air and moisture that really does a number to metal.

That's true. The screws and axles would deteriorate pretty rapidly.

flpickupman wrote: Nature's pilots.

maybe i could rotate my three stukas out there. In summer hang my desert stuka, in spring and fall my green stuka and in winter my whitewashed stuka.

Interesting thread. Very valuable for me, personally, as the wifey keeps threatening me..."You bring one more toy into this house and either you are going to end up living in a cardboard box in the back yard, or I'm leaving."

Kinda fond of the old girl, I'm gonna miss her.

TTT

Yuo could always coat them in Cosmolene, that's what the military used to do to preserve stuff. I've cleaned a few rifles that were wrapped and coated in the stuff, not a pretty sight I can assure you

I haven't left any of my XD outside, but my plastic hummingbird feeder bit the dust after just two years. The clear bowl got brittle and hazy and snapped when I was unscrewing it. The red base had become a chalky pink. I would imagine any of my XD planes would do the same in the hot, humid Houston weather.

The answer to the question of "what happens when you leave XD outside"...

People steal them! This actually did happen to me once! I was taking pictures of a piece of product in the parking lot of my downtown office. I realized I left a piece of equipment for the shoot inside so I just ran back in. When I came out 1 minute later it was GONE!

At first I was a little mad then I thought to myself, yeah this stuff is cool enough for people to want to steal. Someone out there is way happy about owning a new XD plane.

This thread should actually be called ...
How the sun and environment harms XD Collectors living outside by mandate of the wife.

or POST Depression...

Maybe someone could do some recon and hit some of the neighborhoods where the locals leave the christmas santas and plastic reindeer outside all year long - take some samples.

STUKA wrote:Maybe someone could do some recon and hit some of the neighborhoods where the locals leave the christmas santas and plastic reindeer outside all year long - take some samples.

There is a house by me that has life size ginger bread men out all year on there tree for about 7 years now. lol

I have a Fiero parts car that has been sitting been sitting out back for about 5 years now (and probably about 18 of the last 22 years outside), but somehow I don't think we are talking the same class of plastic... Although the front and rear fascias ARE starting to get a bit crispy and it has gone from a nice red to a kind of gritty pink... I am just waiting for a good excuse to run over it a few times with the front-end loader...

My biggest caution with leaving anything plastic exposed to a lot of direct sun is what happened to my GI Joe Storm Shadow figure (yep, the original 3-3/4 one, I still kick myself)--it sat on a shelf where it got hit by sunlight a couple hours a day for a few years, then was put away in a box. When I got it out a few years ago, it was pretty badly yellowed, especially the harder plastic areas, and when I tried putting it on a foot stand, the lower leg shattered because it was so brittle. So sunlight can be evil... very evil...

Oh man not Storm Shadow. I used to play out in the sandbox when I was a kid and forget em and the screws and joints would get all rusty. It bums me out to think of all the Joes I wouldn't have to buy on eBay now if I didn't leave them outside or destroy them in one way or another.

tko211 wrote:The answer to the question of "what happens when you leave XD outside"...

People steal them! This actually did happen to me once! I was taking pictures of a piece of product in the parking lot of my downtown office. I realized I left a piece of equipment for the shoot inside so I just ran back in. When I came out 1 minute later it was GONE!

At first I was a little mad then I thought to myself, yeah this stuff is cool enough for people to want to steal. Someone out there is way happy about owning a new XD plane.

Your lose my gain HAHAAHAHAHAHAH.

I Bought a Bbi Bbi pearl harbor zero, left it out side and some one walked away with it……
I like to think that the pilot became animated and flew off to Japan, to be with his family.

i have four XD planes hanging in my garage and they seem to be doing fine. i also have some in boxes also. Why do i mention garage, well, because it is now 11 degrees outside and snowing again. It got down to -7 last night. Garage is not heated and soda pop left on the floor is cold enough to drink without being refrigerated.
I haven't left one out in the snow yet, I can't figure out which one I dislike the most
Update on our snow. I still have 14 inches of snow and ice in my front and back yard from last Sunday/Monday Snow event.

As far as XD goes my son has “crashed” his blackhawk in the pool many times. 9' down to set up rescue missions. Sometimes it stays down for days. No problems yet. I just tell him to give everything a fresh water wash down when he is done.
As far as the 1/6 scale stuff goes, they have been out for at least 6 years. They will fade!
The Stewart tank is a nice shade of gray. Through rain sleet and snow. I did put a lite coat of grease on all the metal (axles and what not) so they still roll. Just have to evict the critters now and then.