I soaked the batch of figures in vinegar overnight, and then flushed them with distilled water, scrubbed with a toothbrush, and then flushed them again.
Initially, it looked like it was fairly successful, as the lead looked cleaner. But as the figures dried, it was clear that while some of the rot had been killed, most was still there.
A few pix:
The Grenadier Standing Cleric cleaned up better, with the white dust gone from the sides of his hair, but some rot in the helmet and above his lip is now apparent. As it dried, those became more pronounced.
The Grenadier Kneeling Cleric looked better around his shoulders, but there is still rot behind his left foot.
The Archive dude looked better – here, while still a bit wet. Later he looked less gooder. Oddly enough, though, it has become clear that he was painted at one time before, so some of the white may be the remains of old primer.
Some of the white dust was off of Laine’s feet, but the base still shows the telltale white as well as some corroded grooves.
And this guy, who I did not photograph yesterday, shows no improvement at all.
So the overnight soak in vinegar did a little bit, but did not kill all of the rot. According to most research, I should repeat the process several times, and it should work.
But…
I posted this to the Lead Adventure Forum, and got some nice feedback. It was pointed out that there is a better formula, provided on George RR Martin’s blog. Evidently he is a collector of lead knight figures (which I take for granted to be much larger than 25mm). He says he uses a 50/50 mix of turpentine and highly refine mineral oil, and that after that treatment the rot is completely stopped.
So rather than do another 2 or 5 vinegar treatments, I am going to try that. Turpentine is easy to get, but the mineral oil is a bit more difficult. there are two kinds, one which is a lubricant and is available at Home Depot. The other is the highly refined stuff, evidently also known as white mineral oil, and it is actually safe for human consumption. It seems to be commonly used on kitchen cutting boards, as a protectant/lubricant. There is a large variety available on Amazon.
So, rest easy, Planet Earth, there will be a part 3 to this series. Next week, I hope to have the ingredients and then attack the lead rot once again.
Edit: So Martin’s recipe calls for pure gum turpentine, and highly refined mineral oil. The commonly available turpentine is not 100% pure gum, which is evidently pine gum. White mineral oil seems to be the same thing as highly refined. I found both on Amazon, and have ordered some. Should get here latter part of next week.