Christina Krumrine
Abstract
A large wood and plastic architectural model of Rockefeller Center (ca. 1935) had been displayed at the Visitor’s Center at Rockefeller Center in an unsealed case for a decade. Fluctuations in temperature and RH and excessive UV light exposure caused the plastic walls of windows to shrink, warp and pull away from the wooden structures and caused wood veneer adhered to the plastic walls to buckle. FTIR identified the plastic as cellulose acetate with residual plasticizers. After consulting with plastics conservator Yvonne Shashoua, and inspired by a presentation at the 2017 Gels in Conservation Conference in London, the conservator borrowed a technique introduced in 2010 at the AIC Painting Conservation Specialty Group that utilized thermal blankets to reduce distortions in easel paintings. While there was no conservation literature on the use of heat and weights to reform plastic museum objects, the use of mild, controlled heat seemed like the only possible way to address the severe deformation of the plastic. Archival research revealed that the model had also been heavily restored in 1982. Color transparencies documented the alteration and, in many instances, replacement of the model maker’s original materials during this restoration campaign. Determining how to preserve the object’s original integrity despite a heavy restoration that replaced original material with unstable materials utilizing questionable techniques posed difficult questions for the conservator.