TIGER CUTAWAY

urumomo said:

I've never washed an injection molded kit .
I've heard these stories about oily parts in kits but have never come across anything of the sort , even dealing with very old kits .
The only explanation I can conjure , assuming these anecdotes are accurate , is that the " oil " is from the thermal / oxidation decomposition of the polystyrene . ( Benzaldehyde , acetophenone generation and subsequent softening of the resin into an oily consistency at the surface ) .

... or witches

Click to expand...

Marktastrophe said:

I've heard that some older (produced on the cheaper/smaller run side) do lift paint after sitting for years from the polystyrene decomposing.
The only time I've noticed any residue on a kit was a roughly 40 year old (at the time of breaking open the plastic bags the sprues are in) MPC X-Wing kit. It was also warped to the point of barely being buildable too though.

My best guess on new kits is:
People open them excitedly to inspect and appreciate the parts and details... without washing their hands or gloving up first.

For certain builders (I'm thinking of particular family members here) they may have just doused everything in multiple heavy coats of solvent based rattle-can paint without letting anything cure properly. <--- This is how I was taught to put my 1/24 autos together as a 8 or 9 year old boy, lol.

Witches are ALWAYS a possibility.

Click to expand...