"Acid/Alkeline/Rust and tin-lead soldiers" Topic

I had a flood some time ago which submerged figures. Some of the figures which got wet were from Front Rank. Their packets include poles made from copper (perhaps an alloy). When I checked these packets rust had come off the poles and adhered to figures.

To get the rust off I first washed the figures, brushing rust off with running water. Then I left them in vinegar for 24 hours and used a tooth brush to get the rust off. After that I put them into a bucket of water, mixed with soda, to neutralise the acid.

Do I need to worry about anything now, like having (perhaps) used too much soda? I am not sure what lead rot, or other pests, may be catalyzed by residue I left on the figures?

Not sure what the effects of the enhanced cleaning you have done might be.

Generally, the best way to protect metal figures from corrosion is to paint them.

Some of the very old flats I acquired a few years back had pock marks of corrosion. Just a few and only the unpainted ones. I cleaned the powdery material away and painted them. Where there was noticeable loss, after cleaning up, I sealed the surface then filled it with Milliput. There has been no sign of any further deterioration.

Reassuringly, painting the figures does seem to be good for them …

Phil

Thats why they paint guns black!

I would rinse well with rubbing alcohol and dry thoroughly. After that, you shouldn't have any further trouble. As Phil says, though, the best thing to do is get them panted (at least primed) as soon as possible.

I would suggest avoiding vinegar in the future, as the acetate ion is part of the "lead rot" problem.
See: TMP link

That said, your figures are most likely zero lead content.

You have gone to great effort, and I am sure it is more than enough to stop any likely further corrosion of the figures.

Make sure you dry them well (even baking them at low temp).

Store them away form wood and wood products, even better is there is some air flow (A pain in most cases).

But a good base coat of paint is your most practical step, and helps you move towards painting as well.

"I would suggest avoiding vinegar in the future"

I need that to take the rust off. But I will use a final wash in rubbing alcohol before I paint the undercoat. So my process will be:

Leave in white vinegar 24 hours
Wash off with water
Leave in water + soda for a few minutes to neutralise vinegar
Wash off with water
Just before painting swish around in isopropol alcohol
Let it dry for a few minutes
Undercoat etc.

Thanks all.

A better, easy to get, item to remove rust is diet cola.
It contains phosphoric acid (as well as the carbonic acid).
This is also the active ingredient in rust treatment products.

Vinegar, while easy to come by, contains acetic acid. This will leave acetate ion around, and that is part of the chain reaction that results in lead rot.

My best suggestion would be to use hydrochloric acid (at 10% or less con). This has several good effects, but some care is needed in handling HCl.

See these links for more info:
TMP link
link
link

The good news is, that your figures almost certainly were not corroding themselves but simply got corrosion on them for the corroding spears.