"PSMS (Permanently Sticky Miniatures Syndrome)..." Topic

…there's gotta be a cure!

This is the third time this has happened to me, and I know there must be some way to reverse the effect.

I painted a bunch of plastic minis (with acrylics) and then coated them (rather heavily, I admit) with polyurethane.

After 24 hours, the ceramic bases on which they were mounted were dry, but, after 60 hours, the figures themselves are still tacky.

Is there some kind of drying agent that will help here, or some other way to remove the stickiness? I am unwilling to throw away 164 minis (despite my own stupidity in not trying this on one first).

Any help would be appreciated.

Is it just the paint job that's sticky, or the plastic itself?

Sounds like something is reacting on the chemical level. I think your only option is to put them some place with low humidity and just wait it out. It might take awhile. You might try sticking one or two in the oven (on a low low heat) for awhile, that might help speed up the process.

Vinyl based plastics don't do well when in contact with enamels or anything polyurethane-based.

Strip 'em, and paint 'em again, and this time coat with spray acrylic clear-kote.

I noticed after base-coating and "dipping" my 130+ metal skeletons in Min-Wax (yes, I'm a hack) they were tacky after 4 days. I simply sprayed them with a clear-coat. They were no longer sticky, and still are not sticky after several games.

I had the exact same problem with 50 Uruk Hai using polurethane spray varnish from a hardware store. I cooked them for about 20 minutes in the oven with fan at 70 degrees C (about 160 F).
They are fine now.

VERY IMPORTANT WARNING
Do a few at first as a trial and check them every 5 minutes.
I also put them in a shallow cardboard box as a metal tray gets hot. I had to rebase 6 of them as the GW bases warped.

charger3604bbl

I think I'll try this, but please tell me what type of "clear-coat" you used. Obviously, another polyurethane based spray wouldn't help much. *smile*

Thanks