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Amalric · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:38 pm Post subject: Lead Content of Minis

Gents

Are miniatures produced with lead anymore? Anywhere?
Most of the minis I'm working on recently were produced within the past 5 years and are from the US, UK or Spain.

This came to mind as I have 2 small children and I sat carving and filing on some minis.

Thanks All
Tom
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scruton · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 11:38 pm Post subject:

Tom:

Unless things have changed radically since the mid-1990s, the short answer is 'yes,' figures likely still contain 1-10% lead and, depending on the quality, a few percent bismuth and/or antimony. There may be a few producers doing miniature casting wholly in britannia (i.e., lead-free pewter) but, speaking from my experience as production manager at GHQ, it's a challenging metal to work with -- stiff, easily shattered, and notoriously hard on molds (both because of the stiffness of the resulting parts and the higher temperatures necessary to get high-tin alloys to flow adequately). We used it primarily for small, finicky, detail parts. For larger pieces, we generally used more common (i.e., higher lead-content) alloys -- in my early days with the company (1988-90 or thereabouts), my recollection of the mix is that is was somewhere in the 60% lead/40% tin range; after the New York health commission scare (they were contemplating banning all products that contained lead at all, whether they were aimed at children or not), we went briefly to an all-Britannia mix (which practically wiped the company out -- casting 24+ 6-inch USS Nimitz castings for a distributor restock would likely have been an all-day proposition, with a 50-75% discard rate). Once the threat of a New York ban had receded, my recollection is that we settled back to a mix somewhere in the territory of 70-80% tin/20-30% lead. I can't speak to what GHQ does now (or since 1995 for that matter), or for anyone else in the industry, so I'd be interested to hear what others use.

Depending on the skill of the caster and the purity of the metal used, one clue to the relative tin levels in castings that struck me during that period when we transitioned from high-lead to high-tin alloys is the distinctive 'tink' or 'click' they made when separating sprues from mold centers (or when straightening rifles or other bent parts); in extreme cases, it was an audible sound but, even when you couldn't hear it, you could feel it in your finger tips -- as if the part initially resisted straightening, then suddenly gave way. High lead parts, on the other hand, tend to bend freely and don't resist straightening or other manipulation (but they're also more easily deformed) . . . if you've have old 1970s Minifigs or similar in your collection (or any of the figures cast by basement manufacturers who used tire weights or similar), you'll no doubt have noticed this tendency. High-lead alloys also tend to have a dull, blue-ish cast while tinnier mixes are shinier and more silvery.

In my opinion, you're probably better safe than sorry (of course if, like me, you live in a house that's more than 50 years old, I'd be more worried about the radiators, windowsills/frames, etc. that were likely painted with lead-based paint . . . in seven years, my son has never shown much interest in my toy soldiers, but there was a time when some of those window sills were just right for gnawing).

Good luck!

Chris

Amalric · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:23 am Post subject:

Chris

Thank you for your excellent reply. We're fortunate that in our present house we don't have to worry about lead based paint. I also keep the girls away from the room where I do my modeling to minimized exposure.
They are more facinated with watching me paint.

Tom
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sayeed · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:35 am Post subject:

handling wagames figures is a relative safe excercise ... the lead content is small and daily handling exposes only a very very tiny risk of heavy metal poisoning ..

for a gamer/painter/collector the most dangerous thing may be filing down figures and exposure to fine metal dust - buying a good dust mask and disposing of the filings securely will immediately solve any probs in this area ..

the real issues would be for anyone sucking or eating wargames figures on a regular basis or those who spend all day with their head over a melting pot making casting wargames figures .... Rolling Eyes

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Michi · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:21 pm Post subject:

elhiem · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:29 pm Post subject:

You have to consume a lot of white metal to get poisoned. I cast up tons of the stuff and had a blood test the other day and came back with the all clear.
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Amalric · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the comments gents. I try hard not to suck or eat any of the miniatures. Michi, I to prefer to carve on minis instead of filing, but sometimes I need to file and clean up afterwards.

Tom
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scruton · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:26 pm Post subject:

Amalric · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:47 pm Post subject:

jklm307 · Traveller Joined: 07 Jan 2009 Posts: 5

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