Reply to "Best way to clean up a prewar Blue Comet"

stevin posted:

Do you think waxing them will take awaY value?

I’ll try the cold water and damp cloth

Two things an old timer taught me.

1. Always start with "least aggressive methods" and slowly/cautiously go from there.

2.  If it looks like someone has been messing with it, it will almost certainly hurt value to some point.

Also, nothing worse than a nice piece with dried wax caked into all the books and crannies.

So you want to clean it up a bit, but retain that age, originality, and slight patina.  If you wanted new paint..., well, that's why there's reproductions.