WTF is this?? Figure doctor needed.

[Ferris]

Guys,

Something odd and highly worrying is happening to one of my painted figures.
Some white flaky stuff is developing all over the figure. Have a look at the pictures.
To me, it seems to be a mold of some kind, but I have never seen it before.
Fortunately, it is brushed off easily with a soft brush, but having to do that every ywo months or so will slowly polish the figure, not good.

The figure is 1/16 resin from Alpine.
Paint is acrylic.
I live in Singapore where it is hot and humid.

I'm looking for help trying to understand what this is.
Does this look familiar to anyone?

Thanks!
Adrian

 

[Helm]

No idea what it is, looks like a mildew of some sort to me. Try using a very mild disinfectant solution on it? I would try it on a test bit of the figure first though
Steve

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

If it was a metal figure it would be a chemical reaction with the paint on unprimed metal ,but on resin seems a bit strange , could be a reaction between two different paints
IE non acrylic primer to acrylic paint ,I know that in decorating you should never use an oil based primer if you are going to paint with an acrylic top coat or vice versa.

Ron

 

[kagemusha]

Hi Adrian, if it is a fungus, then it is fed by the humidity. You could clean it off with a soft brush, then seal the figure to prevent the airborne moisture re-feeding it.
I notice in the pics, you have used 'snow' on the base, instinct tells me this is the possible root cause. Many years ago, when this stuff first appeared on the market, a friend had a similar reaction on a mounted figure.
Strangely, it only affected the horse, which he put down to being closer to the 'snow'. Once sealed, the problem seemd to be resolved.

Cheers

Ron

 

[blaster]

Mould, mildew. High humidity in the tropics. You need to ventilate and keep the storage area dry. I live in Spore too (bad pun)

Rgds Victor

 

[Sturm Grenadier]

What are you mixing with your paint to thin it Adrian??? Regards, SG

 

[Ferris]

What are you mixing with your paint to thin it Adrian??? Regards, SG

I'm mixing with tap water SG.

Hi Adrian, if it is a fungus, then it is fed by the humidity. You could clean it off with a soft brush, then seal the figure to prevent the airborne moisture re-feeding it.
I notice in the pics, you have used 'snow' on the base, instinct tells me this is the possible root cause. Many years ago, when this stuff first appeared on the market, a friend had a similar reaction on a mounted figure.
Strangely, it only affected the horse, which he put down to being closer to the 'snow'. Once sealed, the problem seemd to be resolved.

Cheers

Ron

Hi Ron, thanks for the info.
Brushing off went fine, but it is the second time in a few months I have to do this. I'm not sure sealing will help. The gun was already shielded with varnish and it too gets it.
Interesting thought about the snow, although I wouldn't know how this triggers things? The snow I used is a mixture of white san and microballoons. Maybe that troggers another thought?

If it was a metal figure it would be a chemical reaction with the paint on unprimed metal ,but on resin seems a bit strange , could be a reaction between two different paints
IE non acrylic primer to acrylic paint ,I know that in decorating you should never use an oil based primer if you are going to paint with an acrylic top coat or vice versa.

Ron

Thanks Ron for your thoughts. I used acrylics on a Tamiya spray-painted base coat. I think that is acrylics-based too.
Looking at some of the stuff I'm becoming more convinced that it is mould, not chemical. Probably the darn humidity here...

No idea what it is, looks like a mildew of some sort to me. Try using a very mild disinfectant solution on it? I would try it on a test bit of the figure first though
Steve

Thanks Steve for your suggestion. i'm thinking about mixing some vinegar into my paint the next time. Not sure if that helps, or works though....

Adrian

 

[housecarl]

This might help.

 

[Sturm Grenadier]

Hello Adrian, Try using distilled water with your mixes and thinning. Regular tap water has to many chemicals and impurities, that may effect your paint. Regards, SG

 

[Mark S]

Adrian, there is another possibility and one which occurred to me when I saw the pics, and that is insect eggs. Specifically lacewings which lay their eggs on stalks and occasionally in circles as it appears on the back of the figures leg.
I'm not sure of course without a good close up look, but it is another possibilty.

 

[polyphemus]

Another damn bughunt.

Geoff

 

[Mark S]

I should add if it is lacewing eggs ,they're not a destructive type of insect, just using the figure as a convenient place to lay eggs.

 

[Joe55]

Damn, and on your BAR man too! So from what I gather only this figure is affected? I could only speculate whats going on here. What ever the culprit is and how you take care of it, I would like to know and certainly everyone else would too. Good luck to you on this.

Joe

 

[Alex]

i would suggest to brush all that stuff off and look at it under microscope magnification
then put that figure into some close space with some silica gel packet and try to control the humidiity level
it is not a reaction of the resin with the paint ot primer or whatever since the paint layer is intact. there is something growing or getting deposited on the figure.
cheers
alex

 

[Ferris]

This might help.

Great stuff Carl, thanks a lot!

Hello Adrian, Try using distilled water with your mixes and thinning. Regular tap water has to many chemicals and impurities, that may effect your paint.

Thanks SG, will try that. The water may actually have brought in the mold spores (if it is mold).

I should add if it is lacewing eggs ,they're not a destructive type of insect, just using the figure as a convenient place to lay eggs.

Thanks Mark for that suggestion. I did some googling about this and now think that the stuff on my figure is something else, although it does indeed look similar. The eggs and stilts on which the lacewing eggs stand are quite a bit larger, and look more regular than the grainy stuff on the figure. I'm not sure if there maybe exist smaller versions of this insect though. Thanks for thinking about this!

Damn, and on your BAR man too! So from what I gather only this figure is affected? I could only speculate whats going on here. What ever the culprit is and how you take care of it, I would like to know and certainly everyone else would too. Good luck to you on this.

Thanks Joe. Yup, the BAR gunner, crap. It's indeed only this figure (well, so far at least).
I'm glad the stuff brushes off easily, without damage. Next time I'll try blowing them off with compressed air.
Will let you know whatever I learn about this.

i would suggest to brush all that stuff off and look at it under microscope magnification
then put that figure into some close space with some silica gel packet and try to control the humidiity level
it is not a reaction of the resin with the paint ot primer or whatever since the paint layer is intact. there is something growing or getting deposited on the figure.

Thanks for that suggestion Alex. It's gone now, but next time I'll take a more scientific approach and study the stuff according to the website Carl posted. It includes your suggestions as well. In the meantime I'll try the silica gel drying stuff. Thanks.

Adrian

 

[DEL]

I reckon it's a sexually transmitted disease Adrian!
Brian

The voice of experience.

 

[DEL]

Adrian
It looks rather like salt crystals beginning to form.
I'm inclined to go with Ron's supposition that it's a chemical reaction, not a great leap of imagination when you think of the 'cocktail' of materials used.
Resin, release agent, soap, primer paint, undercoat, top coat and adhesives.
Particularly if there is a warm humid atmosphere creating perfect crystal growing conditions.
Derek

 

[montythefirst]

Hi Adrian,

If you have one to hand I would use an airbrush, just the pressurised air blowing through will clean that off and then you don't have to touch model surface I do this to dust my figures good luck

simon

 

[Ferris]

I reckon it's a sexually transmitted disease Adrian!
Brian

Well, it's mainly on his 'helmet', 'gun' and upper leg area of the pants, so you may have a point there...

The voice of experience.

:-D

Adrian
It looks rather like salt crystals beginning to form.
I'm inclined to go with Ron's supposition that it's a chemical reaction, not a great leap of imagination when you think of the 'cocktail' of materials used.
Resin, release agent, soap, primer paint, undercoat, top coat and adhesives.
Particularly if there is a warm humid atmosphere creating perfect crystal growing conditions.
Derek

Interesting thought Derek. Maybe I have been sweating into the paint mixes.....?
The little stalks visible on the helmet rim do not look like crystal growth however, in my opinion.
I'll try and check the next time the stuff comes back.

Hi Adrian,

If you have one to hand I would use an airbrush, just the pressurised air blowing through will clean that off and then you don't have to touch model surface I do this to dust my figures good luck

simon

Thanks for that Simon.
Will try that next time round!

Thanks for your thoughts guys!

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[Martin64]

It might be an allergic reaction of the resin because it`s not a(nother ) German.
Hope you get it sorted out.
All the best!
Martin