98K tobacco tin repaint...should I????

[armorrich]

Hi everyone...I recently purchased a 98K cleaning kit. The tin is in good condition with a great WaAmt & mfg. mark but the outside shows signs of much use and has lost a good 70-80 percent of its origional finish. There's a lot of bare spots where shiny metal is exposed. The paint thats left is a flat blue gray color. My question is, should i leave this old soldier as is or clean it up and give it a new coat of the correct color paint??? Will cleaning it up destroy or lower its value?? I can't help picturing how good it'd look cleaned up with a new coat of paint but I'm resisting the temptation till I get some expert opinions.......Thanks for any replys.....best, rich

MODS...if this isn't the correct place for this please move to the proper forum....

[Paul R.]

Of course it is your item to do with as you see fit with, but why try to change history to make an item pretty???

[armorrich]

Thanks Paul for taking the time to reply........i'll probably leave it alone. You make a good point about changing history. I just have a tendency to want to clean things up...i blame it on my mother....best, rich

[Napalm]

I'd always advise leaving a historical atrifact alone unless its necessary to save the item. Why not get a repro and paint that in a similar scheme instead?

[stahlhelm47]

Leave that old soldier alone. Get another one in better shape if you want to but don't destroy this one's history(it's been there) and its collectable value just to make it pretty.
buts its just my humble opinion.
Pete

[armorrich]

Thanks everyone for the replys.....i'm going to leave it as is. When you look at it as an individual item, its an ugly duckling but when placed in context it has a story to tell and deserves to be left unaltered. Thanks for helping me see the light.........best, rich

[Jean-Loup]

Thats the way it was in 1945, and thats the way the soldier used it. Why try to ater it, you would just destroy the piece.

JL

[armorrich]

I get the point.....I said twice that i was going to leave it as it was and yet people keep asking my why i'd want to alter it...ok...here's why....for the same reason that people restore AFV's they drag out of swamps. why don't they leave them alone???? thats the way they were in 1945 right????? geez....some guy restores a Stug. and its a work of art....i want to repaint a tin can and i'm some sort of criminal....lighten up and extend your reasoning a little......cheers....rich