Lead Rot

From Lost Minis Wiki

Contents 1 About 2 Examples 3 General Guidance 4 Reference Articles

About

Lead oxidisation or lead rot affects miniatures made from alloys of lead predominantly those miniatures cast before the 1990’s.

The topic of lead rot has been covered extensively elsewhere therefore the intention of this page is to collate articles that may be of use to collectors. There are various concepts on the cause of lead rot, storage recommendations and potential treatment of affected miniatures and therefore no guarantee of accuracy of these articles is given they are purely here for reference.

Examples

The Fighting Dinosaur Crew (painted 1986)

General Guidance

The following advice is supported by the majority of articles:

• It should be noted that miniatures can be affected by surface oxidisation or discolouration without suffering the destructive ‘’blooms’’ of lead rot.
• Store figures in cool dry conditions away from wood (particularly oak).
• Avoid sealing miniatures in with moisture (plastic bags).
• Painting miniatures may help protect them but lead rot may still occur.

Reference Articles

• Navy Sea Systems Command, ”Lead corrosion in exhibition ship models” (recommended)
• Board Game Geek, ”Lead Rot”
• TMP, ”Lead Rot - The Plague that will kill your miniatures!”
• Big Lees Miniature Adventures, ”Revisiting the Lead Rot”
• George RR Martin, ”Comments on Collecting”
• Minis Museum, ”Lead Rot Cleaning”