Pre Britannia Model Fittings

[Thistle17]

My model of A J Fisher's Bluenose built in the 1980's showed signs of fitting deterioration many years back. I removed the model from the case and removed many of the fittings save the mast bands since all the running rigging would have had to be redone.

 

Recently I modified the case (a mahogany framed case with glass sides) by installing a hidden DC fan in the case bottom vented to the outside. It is on a programmable timer so the fan runs every 6 hours for 1 hour to evacuate the case. It seems to be working and I have no signs of further deterioration.

 

Now I am aware of the history of these early fittings as referenced on the NRG site. My question is the following: "I have kept the removed fittings in plastic cases all these years and they show no sign of degradation, does any one have any idea why"? I am tempted to re-install in the modified case. Is my experiment just a delay of the inevitable? Thanks