Re: Old Sathar (Star Frontiers) box sets

On Sun, 21 Dec 1997 23:41:11 -0500 (EST), Aaron P Teske
<Mithramuse+@CMU.EDU> wrote:

>Hrm... how much of a problem *is* lead rot? 

It depends on the ship. A couple of my UFP ships were so badly rotted
that I had to excise a turret and some surrounding metal. Not only was
part of the turret gone due to the rot, much of the surrounding metal
crumbled into a powder when I started cutting.

Lead rot is particularly bad in lead figures from the early eighties
and earlier. Later figures tended to have more tin than lead, which
makes them stronger, a little more brittle, and less susceptible to
rot. Pewter based figures should be even better off.

I think that once you paint the figure, you effectively halt the rot
at that point. It creates an air tight seal. I would suggest that
anyone picking up these TSR figures should check them for rot, cut out
the rotted bits, and prime the figures as soon as possible. Even if
you don't intend to paint them for a while, priming them should help
to protect them.
>Well, it's not likely to help much, but the Grenadier's Space Squadrons
>line I got a while back uses rounded sections a lot... but they have
>more the long, cylindrical feel of the UPF ships.

Well, if I ever find some I'll pick them up. It doesn't look likely,
though.

Allan Goodall			   agoodall@sympatico.ca

"Unlike serial killer profiling, writing is a lonely and
depressing profession." - Jose Chung, Millenium