Sticky Matt Varnish Help on bendy plastics!!!

[Constable Bertrand]

Hi All, any help would be appreciated.

I am having an issue with "Winsor Newton Artists Matt Varnish" for oil, and acrylic "Removable"

I removed mold lines on WotC bendy plastic SW figures, and matt varnish coated.
It was not humid, has not been humid and hasn't been too hot or cold.

The Varnish hasn't dried after a week, and is incredibly sticky! The varnish dried on the clear plastic cherry tomato punnet lid they were attached to long ago.

What do i do?!!!

The instructions say remove with white spirit - will this melt my bendy plastic??
I'm tempted to put one in dettol and try removing the stuff - but fear ill end up with a mushy mess as well. (Dettol wasn't favourable to the soft plastic boardgame skelly's I had lying around-softened them and lost features)

Think of my poor Gonk droid..

Cheers
Matt

[zizi666]

Maybe try acetone-free nail polish remover?
(combined with scrubbing the figs with an old toothbrush and not leaving them exposed too long to the fluid)

[Marauderman]

Constable Bertand, Try Simple Green all purpose Cleaning spray from Bunnings Hardware its non toxic, its what I use to strip acrylic GW paints from old plastic miniatures, it takes a few days  in a jar, but doesn't hurt your miniatures.
Make sure its the Green all purpose one as there is several types in their range and I have only used the Green all purpose one.
 

[dexter]

i had the same problem with the same varnish on plastic figures about two years ago. They did eventually lose their stickyness but it took about six months . The figures painted were the plastic ones from Last Night on Earth. There was plenty of speculation why these few figures were sticky and no others. But these were the only ones i've ever had with the sticky problem.

[Constable Bertrand]

Oh dear. Six months? From a few other threads it seems a few years is still not long enough for some! Perhaps my varnish was oil based and that's the problem? It said it was fine to coat acrylics! :/

I may try the simple green on a test figure, I've used dettol to great effect on GW plastics and metals in the past, just didn't want to ruin a figure accidently.

Tacky glue has been suggested elsewhere, would any reccomend that?

Cheers
Matt.

[eilif]

I never put oil based anything directly on top of PVC figures anymore.  Sometimes there is no problem, (I've dipped a few) but you're always rolling the dice.   Aways use Acrylic based products at least for the primer and paint. If you want to use an oil based varnish or dip after that you're probably ok, but there's still a chance of reaction.  I'd give simple green (shouldn't damage PVC paint) a try and start from scratch but it might be beyond hope….or it might be fine in 6 months.

Detol might be good, but it might mar the paint. I don't have any experience with it.

Sorry to be the bearer of possibly bad news.

[Constable Bertrand]

RESULT

To those who encounter oil based sprays affecting the bendy plastic plasticisers.

Simple Green Pre-Mixed Solution
Bathing in pre-mixed Simple Green general cleaner and scrubbing with a tooth brush for 3 weeks did not affect the tackiness much. There was a slight reduction. Washing the figure in soapy water after a 3 week simple green bath resulted in increased stickyness!!

The simple green had no affect on the plastic - and the figure did not show any signs of becoming soft.
The simple green and scrubbing did begin to remove the factory's "wash" over the base colours.

The least tacky figure was saved by this method.

Soapy water and a scrub to remove simple green, and a water rinse, I proceeded to...

Detol Floor grade antiseptic/wound cleaner
Worried by my previous DnD bendy plastic paint stripping efforts (I lost detail and there was a little melting) I bathed the sticky figures for roughly 3 hours. Followed by a toothbrush scrub, and let them dry overnight.
The following morning a hot soapy bath, "agitation" and a clean water rinse, the figures were left to air dry.

Once dry the stickiness has completely gone!

The short detol application has had no negative effects on the plastic. They are as firm as ever.
The combined efforts has removed the factory wash completely. The base colour remains.
The figures are flat and dull to the touch and appear to be a good basis for Vajello "Game Wash" - its not pooling.

Thanks for the help, and best of luck.

Cheers
Matt