What the flock? - A warning to all and sundry.

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Primarch
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What the flock? - A warning to all and sundry.

Post by Primarch » Sat Jul 17, 2021 3:39 am

Way back in January of last year, I played a game of Bolt Action at the monthly event and I noticed some white powdery stuff on a couple of US infantry models' bases. At the time I put it down to them having shared a box with some Russians at some stage which have snow effects on their bases. Shortly after that, the pandemic really got going and I stopped playing games on a regular basis.

Fast forward to earlier this week when I was tidying up my hobby room and sorting some minis into the correct boxes.

That wasn't snow effect powder on those minis. :oops:

I have multiple minis across multiple boxes that have mildew growing on the flock I used on the bases. Not only that, but it seems that my cardboard army cases and the polyurethane foam trays I am using are also quite susceptible to the stuff too. Some digging around online shows that mildew needs only a couple of things to thrive. Darkness and humidity. Having minis sat in a case for a long time combined with Japan's naturally high summer humidity seems to have been more than enough to trigger this outbreak. So, I would encourage everyone who has minis stored away to dig them out and put them in the sunshine for a few hours if they get the chance.

As for myself, I have a couple of dozen figures that I need to clean up somehow. Best case scenario, I scrape off the affected bits of flock and rebase them. Worst case, I have to bin the figure. But that is not the main issue. I have used the same flock on literally thousands of figures. If it is all potentially going to get mouldy, then it ALL needs to go, or at least get sealed somehow. :cry: Plus my army cases are pretty much unusable and I have about 20 of those things. :shock:

I'm going to go and cry for a while. :cry: :cry:
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450

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Dekana
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Re: What the flock? - A warning to all and sundry.

Post by Dekana » Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:54 pm

Yikes, that sounds like a total disaster. I hope you can clear off the bases without writing off the models.
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Jye Nicolson
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Re: What the flock? - A warning to all and sundry.

Post by Jye Nicolson » Sat Jul 17, 2021 1:01 pm

That sucks, I really hope there's a sealant answer to the rest of the figures.

Humidity is the worst.

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Primarch
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Re: What the flock? - A warning to all and sundry.

Post by Primarch » Mon Jul 19, 2021 5:38 am

@Dekana & Jye - Thanks for the support.

As I had a day off today, the purge began in earnest. I put the first batch of minis outside in the sun, which seemed to dry up the mildew. I'll need to try scraping it off later today. I also started varnishing the bases on finished minis. Figuring that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, I started with minis that were completed recently and have clean bases. If I work through my minis in something like reverse order, I don't need to worry about newer ones going off as I work through the ones which are already mildewed. I also went to Daiso and bought a bunch of plastic boxes. I've so far trashed a dozen or so cardboard boxes and placed their contents (mainly sprues and half completed projects) into the new plastic boxes. As I was working in my hobby room, the digital clock on my wall said the humidity was 75%. :shock:

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about my mini cases. I've seen info online that cardboard can sometimes be cleaned, and I'm fairly certain that the foam inserts can be washed, so I guess I'll need to do some experimenting.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450

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Konrad
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Re: What the flock? - A warning to all and sundry.

Post by Konrad » Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:47 am

Oh...flock me..... Is there mold in other corners of the room, or the house for that matter? Damn, how could anyone see that coming. Soak the foam in bleach for a day and get new boxes? cleaning up all those toys..... Rather lose a couple toes that have to do all that.
...and now his Head was full of nothing but Inchantments, Quarrels, Battles, Challenges, Wounds, Complaints, Amours, and abundance of Stuff and Impossibilities.....
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Primarch
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Re: What the flock? - A warning to all and sundry.

Post by Primarch » Sun Jul 25, 2021 3:39 am

Konrad wrote:
Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:47 am
Oh...flock me..... Is there mold in other corners of the room, or the house for that matter?
Nope, it looks like the house is okay. Just the cardboard boxes I've been using and the flock.
Painted Minis in 2014: 510, in 2015: 300, in 2016 :369, in 2019: 417, in 2020: 450

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me_in_japan
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Re: What the flock? - A warning to all and sundry.

Post by me_in_japan » Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:58 am

zoinks. Thats sounds pretty disastrous. I'm afraid I have no wise words regaring cleanup - that one, I fear, can only be resolved by a whole shit ton of hard work and scrubbing. But, in terms of storage into the future, I keep wee packets of dehydrating crystals (like you sometimes find in food packets) with my magic cards (because jeebus screamy-screams, if those ever got mildew gawd only knows how I'd react). It might be worth considering throwing a bunch of those into your hobby storage solutions in future? After reading what happened to you, I'm certainly going to chuck a few into my mini storage cases, especially the cardboard ones I use from time to time.

Best of luck with the cleanup. We're rooting for ya.

like this? https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=silica+gel ... _sb_noss_1
The above is just a quick suggestion - until now I've just been reusing ones I find in other product packaging, but I'm probably going to pick up a bunch now. That story of yours gives me the heebie jeebies...

*edit* these seem cheap enough to be worth a shotty. I'll be sticking one in with each commander deck I have, plus a couple in each larger storage box for my cards. The boxes are plastic, mind you, and as such shouldnt allow for much environmental moisture exchange once the interior is dry.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Desiccant ... hpc&sr=1-1
current (2019) hobby interests
eh, y'know. Stuff, and things

Wow. And then Corona happened. Just....crickets, all the way through to 2023...

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