Re-Glossing Faded Toy Soldiers (1 Viewer)

[Smendy]

Hi Everyone,

I have some Trophy figures that are no longer glossy although the original paint is in good condition. Is it possible to get them to shine again as they would have done some years ago? I wonder if anyone has a tried and tested method. I have searched on YouTube and nobody seems to address this problem.

Any advice would be welcomed.

Thank you

Smendy

 

[Dettingen]

What I would do if I was bringing back the sheen to something is use mineral oil. I have tried it with some figures that I was afraid were getting lead rot and it worked very well.

Put a few drops between your thumb and forefinger tips and then gently rub the figure. Not enough to get it greasy, just to give it some shine. If you use too much, the stuff will drain off onto your shelf, and it will also attract a lot of dust to the figure. Try to get your soldiers out and handle them every few months, that may help them to stay shiny since the oil on our skin coats them pretty well and helps to retain some shine.

In his book "Collecting Toy Soldiers in the 21st Century" James Opie recommends a mix of mineral oil and artist's turpentine to fight lead rot and bring back the shine, but I have not tried that combination.

Make sure that you dust the soldiers really well before you apply anything, especially if you wind up trying some sort of glossy lacquer coating (which personally I wouldn't recommend - I use it for wargame figures and it looks nothing like the original sheen on larger toy soldiers).

Of course, you could just consider the flatter look to be "patina" and leave it as us.

 

[Obee]

You always clean then, wash with soapy water, dry and then apply a new coat of varnish.

I have done that for figures that are painted in matte and I want glossy.

John

 

[mikemiller1955]

John is 100% spot on...
I have done this with great success...
I prefer spray on...instead of brush painting...
Krylon is my favorite...
you can buy this at Walmart for $5.00...
just gently wash the figure in a mild soapy water...
then rinse...
then make sure it dries...
and apply a coat...or two if necessary...
it will look like a brand new gloss figure from the factory when you finish...
bright and shiny...

the process can also be reversed from making a gloss figure to a matte figure...
by using Krylon clear matte spray on the gloss figure...

 

[Smendy]

Gentlemen,

Many thanks for the advice. I think I am going to give the mineral oil a try and see how they come out. I may try the krylon on some old Matt figures to see how they come out.

thanks for your responses.

Smendy

 

[theBaron]

If all you want to do is to re-gloss them, I wouldn't use mineral or any other oil. I'd use a clear liquid acrylic gloss. I use Future floor coating (today, it's Pledge with Future Shine). It's what I use to finish my gloss toy soldiers, after painting them with matte acrylics.

Prost!
Brad