Upon delving to the near deepest recesses of the lead mountain for the first time in a few years, not something I recommend that often! I stumbled across a small box of early Citadel stuff from the period where the description ‘cast in white metal’ was almost holey inaccurate due to some of the miniatures invariably being very dark grey to almost black, I suspect due to impurities in the alloys. Anyway to my horror albeit without surprise I found they were exhibiting the first signs of Lead Rot. Some may say I should have let them rot, but rightly or wrongly I have decided to intervene in what could have been a grizzly end for the poor C 13’s and others. Anyway after a day or two soaking in bleach and then a good wire wool clean (whilst wet to ensure no breathing of nasty dusts etc.) they are now primed in Tamiya metal primer and hopefully safe from any further harm! I might even paint a few now.
The good thing about all this is that the night goblins gave me some inspiration for sculpting a companion piece for my recently finished Dwarf Jester both of which I should be ready to unleash upon an unsuspecting world in about a week ;-) !!...........until then au revoir
I must admit, I've never seen these miniatures before. They must be from the era when Citadel had drawn sketches in their catalogues? So thank you for sharing these! Can't wait to see them painted!
ReplyDeleteHi izeColt, yes you are right, from an era when the simple line drawing was all there was to wet the appetite, probably about 1982/83 I think sculpted by the Perry twins before the arrival of Kev Adams. Always liked the rather sad character of these.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.solegends.com/citc/c13nightgoblins.htm
Steve
I recall some of these boys. I have a few myself. Tell me though, what is lead rot? What does it do to the little fellas? I've been collecting minis for 25 years, and I've not come across the term till this year.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand it is acids ( often found in many types of treated wood) attacking the lead, which results in a white powdery bloom of disintegrating lead oxide. It was often seen in old ship models with small lead fixings that were displayed in sealed glass/wood cabinets with very little air movement. I have only seen it with very old figures that 'perhaps' have a dubious lead/alloy quality!
ReplyDeleteMy advice is to not store them in an environment with little air circulation and lots of wood( the loft!)
May all your minis be healthy
Steve
Great, thanks for the info. I keep my old minis in plastic containers, and I've never seen what you're describing, thank the powers. I'll be vigilant from now on though...
ReplyDelete