Rotting undead lead
With my main source for graphic input to my blog still out of action, at least I can type text. Visited my parents back in Doncaster at the weekend. On Sunday I scurried up into the loft to collect a few minis (I still have a lot of older figures stored at my original 'home') to bring back to London with me. Namely a number of my old unprimed Citadel Miniatures Skeletons from the 80s. Sadly, it seems that five have developed what can only be that most feared disease for enthusiasts of our art - lead rot...
...The dullened grey metal, the unmistakable bubbling of details and that powdery stuff at the joints is there to see. I read an article on the problem once, about museums and their problems fighting this rot in ship models. Research by others into the occurrence has revealed that it is the lead rusting (an oxidizing action), as metals do, when exposed to moisture and a lack of air circulation.
The undead figures are not totally covered. Parts of a leg, a finger or the end of a weapon have contracted the rot. I have removed the affected figures from their healthy cousins and am about to duly scrub, clean and prime these guys for protection. Hopefully with some looking after I can nurse these guys back to some kind of health.
From now on, they'll be somewhere where they can breathe, and with as little atmospheric humidity as possible.
Oh, and because i'm going on about rotting lead - here's an undead horse i've been working on for years (started it in the 1990s), recently dug out from the crypt/loft. I like the way the horse hair appears all matted and like straw, suitably dishevelled. Still needs plenty of work doing to it. Might also finish the rider one day!
...The dullened grey metal, the unmistakable bubbling of details and that powdery stuff at the joints is there to see. I read an article on the problem once, about museums and their problems fighting this rot in ship models. Research by others into the occurrence has revealed that it is the lead rusting (an oxidizing action), as metals do, when exposed to moisture and a lack of air circulation.
The undead figures are not totally covered. Parts of a leg, a finger or the end of a weapon have contracted the rot. I have removed the affected figures from their healthy cousins and am about to duly scrub, clean and prime these guys for protection. Hopefully with some looking after I can nurse these guys back to some kind of health.
From now on, they'll be somewhere where they can breathe, and with as little atmospheric humidity as possible.Oh, and because i'm going on about rotting lead - here's an undead horse i've been working on for years (started it in the 1990s), recently dug out from the crypt/loft. I like the way the horse hair appears all matted and like straw, suitably dishevelled. Still needs plenty of work doing to it. Might also finish the rider one day!
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