Any advice to remove smoke-stained yellowing off of models?

[LAN子]

Before I moved my folks smoked a lot and I think it may have yellowed some of my models, particularly the NG ones in the Widget livery. Does anyone know if wiping baking soda solutions mixed with vinegar would mess up the paint or not? Thanks.

What they look like: (Maybe they're supposed to look like this?)

 

[4438559]

I wouldn't risk it. Vinegar is acidic and caustic and will likely tarnish the finish or smear the paint. On a few occasions I've accidentally removed some paint simply by peeling off tape I had applied (paint chip touchup gone horrobly wrong lol). You could experiment with a broken or damaged model, but that NG Delta Widget 757 is rare AF and it would be a tragedy if anything happened to it.

P.s. it could be uv rays too. Some of my older models have turned color over the years through direct sunlight exposure.

 

[4438559]

I wouldn't risk it. Vinegar is acidic and caustic and will likely tarnish the finish or smear the paint. On a few occasions I've accidentally removed some paint simply by peeling off tape I had applied (paint chip touchup gone horrobly wrong lol). You could experiment with a broken or damaged model, but that NG Delta Widget 757 is rare AF and it would be a tragedy if anything happened to it.

P.s. it could be uv rays too. Some of my older models have turned color over the years through direct sunlight exposure.

Or you could sell it on eBay, I'd buy

 

[SIGWX]

Or you could sell it on eBay, I'd buy

Same here Been eyeing 673 for a while now.

 

[Jazajia]

I'm no expert, nor particularly smart. But, I don't know that nicotine can affect white paint. I've heard of sunlight doing that, but not nicotine. What nicotine can do is stain stuff. Have you tried wiping them off with a moist cloth (moist with water)? There is a clear coat layer on top of the white paint, and that's where I would assume the nicotine is likely "resting." I would think the paint remains white underneath.

I have a rather good example with these two Herpa 742s:

The Iberia 747 stunk as if it had been trapped in a room with 1000 cigarettes lit up continuously for 10 years (came from a seller in Spain). The Alitalia didn't have any signs of coming from a home where anyone smoked (came from a seller in the U.S.).

Alitalia's plastic tail is yellowed. Iberia is crisp white... (Iberia is all metal).

 

[SIGWX]

One of my models has been yellowed more than others as well, a Hawaiian A330 made by NG in 2020. Here it is compared to N411DX, which was released this year.

Spent too much time under the Hawaiian sun maybe? Hope this ain't with the material/process that NG used. On its own the yellowing is subtle enough to not be a bother.