Editor in Chief Bill | 27 Jul 2021 12:06 p.m. PST |
Some of us do not have the luxury of temperature-related storage facilities, and live in places where it gets cold in the winter. Maybe you store things in an unheated garage or shed. How are wargaming materials – particularly painted figures – affected by the cold? Does the cold have any effect on dried paint or varnishes/coatings? I would note that care must be taken in transitioning materials from cold storage, as glues might become brittle or break as materials thaw at different rates. |
14Bore | 27 Jul 2021 12:45 p.m. PST |
I have in past brought the collection to the basement in winter, often because it's my best painting season, but last year only 1/2 made it. It probably just barely gets to freezing point in my outbuilding. |
Grelber | 27 Jul 2021 1:36 p.m. PST |
My old Airfix and Marx plastic figures are now quite brittle from exposure to very cold temperatures in the attic of other storage facility. Grelber |
lewis cannon | 27 Jul 2021 3:53 p.m. PST |
Items glued with Super Glue should be protected from freezing. The first step to disassemble anything glued with Super Glue is to freeze it. LC/PT |
Col Durnford | 27 Jul 2021 4:47 p.m. PST |
Old Airfix can become brittle even if stored in a climate controlled environment. Before I sold off my Airfix ACW a tube of super glue was just a needed as dice when gaming with them. |
Wackmole9 | 27 Jul 2021 5:39 p.m. PST |
Paper also get Yellow and Brittle from large shifts in temperature and Humidity. |
Frederick | 27 Jul 2021 6:19 p.m. PST |
My metal figs did just fine wintering in an unheated barn – they are in the house now that I have had a chance to unpack them |
Oberlindes Sol LIC | 27 Jul 2021 7:20 p.m. PST |
We don't really have extremes of heat and cold where I live. |
Zephyr1 | 27 Jul 2021 8:48 p.m. PST |
Unused acrylic paint will be dead if it freezes. Tin becomes brittle & can even crumble if it gets below 0F. But I live in FL, so I don't have to worry about such things… ;-) |
HansPeterB | 27 Jul 2021 10:40 p.m. PST |
I've stored minis in the unheated garage through quite a number of North Dakota winters where 20-30 below is fairly common. I've had no issues with painted metal or hard plastic at all. Most superglued spears and shields remain relatively firmly affixed although they are probably less durable than were they stored at more reasonable temperatures. As other folks have mentioned, though, paints and adhesives need to be moved inside when it turns cold. The worst thing is rummaging through all the plano boxes trying to find the units you need to play a game when it's ungodly cold… |
Editor in Chief Bill | 27 Jul 2021 10:40 p.m. PST |
But I live in FL, so I don't have to worry about such things… ;-) Flooding and hurricanes should be a future poll |
Griefbringer | 30 Jul 2021 10:40 a.m. PST |
I live in a somewhat northern corner of the world, where the temperatures can vary from rather warm (+30 C) to rather cold (-20 C). That said, I have never even thought of storing any gaming materials in un-heated facilities, and would not really even have an option at the moment (luckily, I have plenty of indoor storage space). However, since acrylic paints can be badly affected by freezing, I try to avoid purchasing paints during colder months, to be sure that they might not freeze during the transport from the shop to my home. In a pinch I could of course take some measures to protect them during the journey, but I am usually well enough stocked with the most important paints to easily run out of them during winter months. As for adhesives, I have not paid too much attention. Water-based glues, such as PVA, would likely be badly affected by freezing. Polystyrene cement would likely be less affected, since it mainly consists of organic solvent (possibly with low freezing point) and dissolved polymer, rather than dispersed solid particles. No idea about how epoxy glues or superglue would react, and not really planning to try. As for paper products, I would avoid storing them in widely varying conditions, since high humidity conditions at various times might be an issue. Furthermore, as a porous material paper can pick smell from the storage environment – I have lately obtained some old wargaming magazines with a bit odd smell, making me wonder if they have been stored in garage, garden shed or some other less than ideal environment. |