Reducing the flexibility of Bones figures

[Grumpy Cave Bear]

1 hour ago, Pezler the Polychromatic said:

Pine oil leaves slight discolouration, otherwise no change in colour for the others.

 

Exactly.  Use pine oil for stripping paint off minis, not this.  Though after a half evening of smelling that mini on the shelf across from my desk, I'm thinking of switching to stripping paint with Purple Power or Simple Green.

 

(7)

[Doug Sundseth]

Pinesol is a pretty good stripper, but it does have a ... distinctive ... odor.

 

Piney Fresh!

 

Better than isopropyl, though.

 

[Cranky Dog]

On 6/7/2017 at 8:12 PM, Grumpy Cave Bear said:

So, I saw the ghast sitting in the ipa at my desk and suddenly remembered this experiment.  It was almost foiled when I realized I had moved my control figures and couldn't find them!

 

Day 29 results:  

 

Figure soaked in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) 70% is now nearly as hard as the figure soaked in denatured alcohol (EToH).  Despite early promising results, it did not, contrary to my expectations, get firmer than the EToH-soaked one.  This could possibly be due to the differing concentrations of the two alcohols.

 

Figure soaked in pine oil cleaner (normally used for stripping paint):  Test failure.  No change in firmness.  Instead, the figure is just stained yellow and smells like a pine scented ornament.

 

Now to let the two new test subjects sit and outgas for a few days.  My theory is that as the solvents leached out the plasticiser, they've displaced it, and the figures may harden further as the solvents evaporate.

 

(9)

Here's another test someone can try.

 

Since summer time is on our doorstep (for the Northern hemisphere). What would happen to a mini left on a car's dashboard on a sunny day? Several days even.

 

Hypothesis: Initially super droopy because of the heat itself, but that same heat can force some of the plasticizers to evaporate.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Cranky Dog

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

1 hour ago, Cranky Dog said:

Here's another test someone can try.

 

Since summer time is on our doorstep (for the Northern hemisphere). What would happen to a mini left on a car's dashboard on a sunny day? Several days even.

 

Hypothesis: Initially super droopy because of the heat itself, but that same heat can force some of the plasticizers to evaporate.

Droopy, and then harden up?

[Doug Sundseth]

3 hours ago, Cranky Dog said:

Here's another test someone can try.

 

Since summer time is on our doorstep (for the Northern hemisphere). What would happen to a mini left on a car's dashboard on a sunny day? Several days even.

 

Hypothesis: Initially super droopy because of the heat itself, but that same heat can force some of the plasticizers to evaporate.

 

I suspect the vapor pressure of the plasticizer is quite low. I don't think you would get much outgassing at all. But you would probably have a squashed mini, so there's that.

 

[Cranky Dog]

12 hours ago, Doug Sundseth said:

 

I suspect the vapor pressure of the plasticizer is quite low. I don't think you would get much outgassing at all. But you would probably have a squashed mini, so there's that.

 

The brief research I've done say evaporation can start at 70C (or higher like 95C). The lower end is within range of a car under the summer sun.

 

Also makes me wonder about the boil and ice water dunk treatment we sometimes do. How effective would a longer hot bath be at removing excess plasticizer?

 

Let's do all of them at the same time! Dunk a mini in boiling alcohol inside your car on a sunny day. Now we're in true Mythbusters levels of experimentation.

[pinkymadigan]

18 minutes ago, Cranky Dog said:

The brief research I've done say evaporation can start at 70C (or higher like 95C). The lower end is within range of a car under the summer sun.

 

Also makes me wonder about the boil and ice water dunk treatment we sometimes do. How effective would a longer hot bath be at removing excess plasticizer?

 

Let's do all of them at the same time! Dunk a mini in boiling alcohol inside your car on a sunny day. Now we're in true Mythbusters levels of experimentation.

Pretty sure Good Samaritan laws allow me to break windows to rescue minis from this dangerous situation.

[Unabatedtuna]

Done it already. I've had a bones dragon taped to my dash for 3 years. Survived 100+ degree heat and below zero cold. Bones are indestructible. It still a bit flexible, but far more rigid than new.

[psyberwolfe1]

Has a consensus been reached as to best or which alcohol to use, concentration, and time in bath required for best results?

[Doug Sundseth]

Don't know about a consensus, but my best results have been obtained by using new* 91% isopropyl alcohol, immersing the figure completely, and leaving it for 8-24 hours.

 

* After I have used a batch of alcohol once, it seems not to leach plasticizer quite as well. I suspect that this might be because there is already some plasticizer in the mix, which would reduce the net transfer of the chemical out of the figure.

[psyberwolfe1]

Thanks Doug.

[Club]

Put a goblin warchanter in a ziplock bag with 99% isopropol for a couple of weeks, pulled it out, then boiled it to get its ankle in the right spot. Definitely helped, no apparent damage, no loss of re-posability.

Edited October 11, 2017 by Club

[Gadgetman!]

I had a mini that had ended up 'extra floppy' after being left in cheap, acetone-free nailpolish for too long, and have now given it an extended stay in IPA, and can confirm that it has firmed up at least to what it was before I was careless with it.