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Author Topic: Very Old Minis problem  (Read 2791 times)

Offline Midaski

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Very Old Minis problem
« on: May 01, 2010, 05:26:22 PM »
Just thought I'd throw this out as I am not sure what to do.

I have some very old - early 80's - pre-slotta metal minis that I have collected from a number of ebay auctions.
Some I have stripped, some came bare metal.
Now some are silvery and clean, some are a very grubby grey colour and are shiny underneath if I scrape gently - it looks like some sort of oxidisation ?

I am a bit wary of spray undercoating in this grey condition - anyone had any experience of this, or got any suggestions for cleaning off the grey surface ..........

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Offline Gneisenau

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Re: Very Old Minis problem
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2010, 05:30:50 PM »
I don't know exactly how this grubby stuff looks. There's something similar on my GW metal models sometimes. I've once read in the blog of a professional painter that he polished his miniatures as good as possible, to get the "shining" look, before painting them.

Perhaps you could use those nail polishing tools women have...?

Offline Aldaris

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Re: Very Old Minis problem
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2010, 05:32:30 PM »
Or some really agressive stripping agent, like Acetone?

Offline Henerius

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Re: Very Old Minis problem
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2010, 05:50:59 PM »
tin when just cast shines like silver, when it oxidise Tin turns grey.  Nothing wrong with that.  I simply do black coating over grey and shiny tin models.  I did't had problems so far.

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Offline Syn Ace

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Re: Very Old Minis problem
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2010, 06:37:35 PM »
GW used to cast most of their minis in lead until the mid 90s (lot cheaper) until one state in the U.S. passed legislation against lead minis (supposedly some kid got lead poisoning) and they decided to switch to pewter. Pre-slotta are gonna be lead which can stain, but I'd be careful scraping the minis because then you're contaminating the work area and probably your hands, which you should wash thoroughly with soap and water.  I can't believe I used to work on lead minis in the kitchen when i was young.

I've sprayed over stained lead minis and didn't have any issues that I recall.
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Offline Badwolf

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Re: Very Old Minis problem
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2010, 07:00:15 PM »
Yep, lead/tin alloy on the older stuff so it's just a bit of oxidation. I've never had any trouble painting over it but if it bothers you, you could try some silver cleaner or something similar which should lift off the tarnished layer chemically without resorting to abrasives.

Offline steveb

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Re: Very Old Minis problem
« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2010, 07:01:29 PM »
That indeed used to be a problem when minis were mostly lead, some people kept their bought and painted minis in a refrigerator because it slowed the oxidation process, I am not sure if that was correct or not but they swore by it, you could spray prime over it usually with no problem, but in some cases after several years you could have some flaking off of the paint since the paint was adhere to the oxidation (gray dust) and not the metal, I used to use Krylon it bonded well with the rust/oxidation.  When that wasn't available I either washed my figures with easy green like substance, scrubbing them with a worn soft toothbrush, or at least warm soapy water it usually did the trick. I still have all led figures from back in the early seventies that are holding their paint quite well. 
I sometimes miss the old lead figs, being lead they were easy to convert, a dremel circular saw blade or a good razor saw would cut through in a flash, and drilling for pinning was almost as easy as drilling and pinning plastic, in some cases you could bend the figures into the position you wanted with padded pliers. head and weapon swaps were a snap, of course spears and weapons sometimes drooped, but rarely broke. Oh well there are trade offs on everything, but I sure do miss the often less than 25 cents a figure prices.    :icon_rolleyes: steveb

Offline Syn Ace

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Re: Very Old Minis problem
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2010, 07:05:59 PM »
Yes, lead was a lot easier to work with -- i remember the first time i tried to manipulate a pewter figure by bending it and the metal creaked as it started to fracture.
Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounding yourself with assholes.

— Popularly but incorrectly attributed to William Gibson

Offline Midaski

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Re: Very Old Minis problem
« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2010, 08:21:17 PM »
Thanks - I thought Saturday night would be a bit quiet ..........

I think I was worried the paint would not stick/stay and flake off with the oxidised layer.

I have tried some aggressive brushing with a toothbrush to no effect. However I might try the silver polish idea as I think I have a tin of that stuff you can soak jewelry in overnight.
Quote from: Gneisenau
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Metal to Finecast - It is mostly a swap of medium. 

You mean they will be using Ouija boards instead of Tarot cards for their business plans from now on?

Offline Guildenstern

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Re: Very Old Minis problem
« Reply #9 on: May 05, 2010, 10:19:22 PM »
I'm surprised that someone is worried of this. I got many old eBay Stuff, too. I primed and started to paint only a few of them. I still prefer white primer so I would not say that you have to take black one  :happy:
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