Figurine Paint Anomaly

Several years ago I was working on a few plastic soldiers and bought a bottle of Testors gray enamel primer. It had a strange feel to it when it dried - smooth and kind of rubbery, something I had never experienced before. Most of the figures I painted had a glossy finish even though I used matte colors, and dulcote wouldn't even mute the shine, so I stopped using it pretty quickly.

Last week I happened to be re-arranging my cases and took some figures out. I was surprised to find that portions of one (which had been primed with Testors) were still tacky. These figures have always been stored inside and have never been exposed to high heat. Has anyone ever had this happen?

Yes. with paint that had been exposed to freezing or near freezing temp.
Usually NOT from improper storage by store chains, but usually during shipping in extreme weather from manufacturer to distributers/stores.

How do I know this?
back in the 90's I called Sherwin Williams [Parent of Krylon] after taking codes off paint, they notified me several days later ....truck carrying paint was 2 days in transport in freezing temps ...after inspecting other samples from the shipment, all of it had been compromised..
I was floored, actually a company that took the problem seriously & returned my call with explanation & sent a 50.00 card for my troubles with an apology!!!

There may be others causes, but this is what was mine..... for non total drying, or "stickiness " months later.

Wow! I didn't know about freezing affecting paint. I have seen warnings on white glues & perhaps on yellow/wood glues too (I don't recall)?

Any chance the figures are vinyl? Another known issue is that you cannot use enamel paint directly on vinyl models/figures/figurines. The chemicals are incompatible and the enamel will never dry. I imagine that this might be the case with enamel on rubber too. If so, you will have to wipe it off as best you can & sand it down. Acrylic paint is better suited for vinyl.

Were the plastic figures "fresh" at the time and still off-gassing?

grapetang said:

Wow! I didn't know about freezing affecting paint. I have seen warnings on white glues & perhaps on yellow/wood glues too (I don't recall)?

Any chance the figures are vinyl? Another known issue is that you cannot use enamel paint directly on vinyl models/figures/figurines. The chemicals are incompatible and the enamel will never dry. I imagine that this might be the case with enamel on rubber too. If so, you will have to wipe it off as best you can & sand it down. Acrylic paint is better suited for vinyl.

Were the plastic figures "fresh" at the time and still off-gassing?

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This makes a lot of sense to me and was the first thing I thought of. If they were those little soldiers you buy in a pack or bag then it's a good guess that this is the problem---speaking from experience---H

I just bought a three-pack of testers model paints at a flea market. They had a case full of the same three colors....florescent green, white and black.
No matter how I shake them up, there seems to be a lump inside the green bottle. I think I got taken...

Kirk G said:

I just bought a three-pack of testers model paints at a flea market. They had a case full of the same three colors....florescent green, white and black.
No matter how I shake them up, there seems to be a lump inside the green bottle. I think I got taken...

Click to expand...

No, Mr. Bond, hopefully not. Stir, don't shake. I used to stir the little Testors enamels in the bottles. Once they get lumpy, no amount of shaking will help but stirring does. I think this would work for their acrylics too. Flea market price is good; $1.89 a bottle or whatever MSRP is way too much. Good luck!

I need to find something non-toxic or set up a good ventilation system considering how many brain cells I've killed off in my youth.