Ye Olde Citadel Matt Varnish Spray Can - Is it safe?

[Fortis]

Hi All,

I have an extremely old spray can of Citadel Matt Varnish ("extremely" old as far as cans of spray varnish go, mind!), much akin to the one shown below. I think mine might be even older (approx. 20 years old!), as it has a slightly different label.

I would like to know the frater's opinions on whether it is safe for a) me; b) any minis i use it on; c) the environment (it might actually pre-date any bans on CFCs in aerosol products! ). The last thing I want is for it to melt my plastic CSM squad before subsequently blowing up, taking my hand and a large chunk of the ozone layer above south east England along with it!

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

Cheers

http://miniset.net/files/set/gw-13209999028.jpg

[Lucien Eilam]

Well, it's not likely to explode, at least. And if it contains CFCs, it should be mentioned somewhere on the label.

 

Spray it on an old CD jewel case, see what it looks like.

[Gurth]

I would like to know the frater's opinions on whether it is safe for a) me

Not significantly more or less so than other spray paints.

any minis i use it on

Should be — it didn’t harm them Way Back When™ so it’s unlikely to harm them now. If you want to make sure, spray some on a test model, painted with (some of) the paints you intend to use the varnish on.

c) the environment

Probably less so than the contents of a new can, but you have to ask yourself if the amount of CFCs released from one can will make much of a difference on a global scale.

[abadizzle]

Received a similarly old can of 'boltgun metal spray' from someone some time back. Used it on a thunderfire cannon recently- worked a charm. Clear sprays are of course to be used more cautiously. I'd just go buy some krylon clear flat spray if I was you. Not worth the risk.

[Fortis]

Cool. Thanks people. I didnt think there would be any problem using it (my fears where a little tongue in cheek, in case you didnt realise! ), except perhaps the clarity of the varnish would have deteriorated over time. Ill give it a blast and see how it goes.

Just in case you were interested, I found a date stamp on the label: 1993! I wonder if it is older than even some of the contributors to B&C!?

[Gurth]

A conversation with fellow members of my game club earlier this year made me realise how young many of them are. I mentioned remembering stuff like Smells Like Teen Spirit being in the charts, and one said, “You were there for all of that, weren’t you?” Well yeah, that was only in the early ’90s … oh wait, they’re in their early 20s … Or the other time when I mentioned how long ago I started building models, and someone remarked he was about minus whatever years old at the time. Or it turning out that I own wargames and RPG books that I purchased new myself before most of the people I play them with at the club were even born.

So yes, I don’t have any doubt that there’s people visiting this site who are far younger than that can