Your paint might be ALIVE

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**Archim3des**

So I recently bought a pot of Devlan Mud wash in addition to some models.
Well, actually a tyranid army's worth of models, but that's not the point.

Anyway, I'd smelled a communal pot of the mud at the local GW, and it was bad.
This stuff was... Very potent.
I do material analysis for a job, so naturally I've got microscope. No need to tint the sample, as it is already tinted.

Oh holy hell the stuff is crawling with bacteria. I'm not sure what kind, that's for the lab I sent slides off to to determine.
What I AM sure of is that if I drop a few hundred dollars on models, I'd really like to get just pigment in my washes.
Maybe I'm overreacting, but if the labwork comes back as being anything but benign, I'm going to cause a huge stink.
A bigger stink than the wash, if possible.

**SilverMK2**

Good to see some investigation taking place - keep us up to date with what the lab finds...

**whalemusic360**

Yes, please do. Always wanted to know why it stank so much.

**Mattlov**

Devlan Mud always has smelled far worse than the other washes. I was curious, but lacked the tools to investigate.

I agree, keep up posted.

**SagesStone**

Pigment squigs, they have a whole farm of them at HQ.

**Imperial Renegade**

Yes Please do!

**kenshin620**

Is it normal for paint to have microorganism on it?

**protomane0**

uhhhh.... thats very worrying.... i injest quite a lot of the stuff due to licking my brushes to keep a nice tip =S

**Skylifter**

That is indeed interesting. Looking forward to hearing about the lab results.

**TheHarleqwin**

It's the basis of the Tyranid bioform. Your models will soon live, and then we'll have a much, much cooler looking version of Toy Soldiers.

**darefsky (Flight Medic Paints)**

If its the communal pot it dosnt really surprise me. Think about it, how many people put the brush in there mouth to form the tip? Add that to nasty people and viola you get a nasty bacteria filled pot of paint.

**Archim3des**

I will post it here for sure.
Protoman, I do the exact same. I went and consumed half a bottle of listerine after seeing that slide.

It's a long running joke that certain GW paints smell, and if this is indeed the reason, I'm ordering another batch, having it certified mailed, then when it comes, having it remailed, unopened, to the same lab. Videotaping the getting the package from a federal employee, attaching the ready made certified mail sticker, and handing it back to the mailman.
Unassailable legally, and inexcusable morally if GW is sending out bacteria from a tainted batch.
Actually screw it I just ordered five more pots. Expediting this process.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Darefsky, this was a brand new pot, mailed from GW. Never used by anyone but me, never had a chance for in shelf tampering.

**FifteenHours**

Please keep us informed. This is fascinating.

Do you have any theories to what the bacteria could be (other than Tyranid spores) and why they would be in the paint?

**Capitansolstice**

Very interesting... Cant wait for more.

**Yodhrin**

Archim3des wrote:I will post it here for sure.
Protoman, I do the exact same. I went and consumed half a bottle of listerine after seeing that slide.

It's a long running joke that certain GW paints smell, and if this is indeed the reason, I'm ordering another batch, having it certified mailed, then when it comes, having it remailed, unopened, to the same lab. Videotaping the getting the package from a federal employee, attaching the ready made certified mail sticker, and handing it back to the mailman.
Unassailable legally, and inexcusable morally if GW is sending out bacteria from a tainted batch.
Actually screw it I just ordered five more pots. Expediting this process.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Darefsky, this was a brand new pot, mailed from GW. Never used by anyone but me, never had a chance for in shelf tampering.

Hold on though, if you yourself are brush-licking then it doesn't matter whether anyone else has used it, you could still be the source of the microorganisms. That's not meant as an insult, even with an appropriate regimen of oral hygiene everyone has bacteria living in their mouths, it could simply be that one of the ingredients in Devlan Mud stimulates rapid mitosis in one of those strains. I think it's fine to have it tested, but posting as if it's almost a foregone conclusion that GW are shipping virulent paint pots is a bit off.

**darefsky (Flight Medic Paints)**

Archim3des wrote:I will post it here for sure.
Protoman, I do the exact same. I went and consumed half a bottle of listerine after seeing that slide.

It's a long running joke that certain GW paints smell, and if this is indeed the reason, I'm ordering another batch, having it certified mailed, then when it comes, having it remailed, unopened, to the same lab. Videotaping the getting the package from a federal employee, attaching the ready made certified mail sticker, and handing it back to the mailman.
Unassailable legally, and inexcusable morally if GW is sending out bacteria from a tainted batch.
Actually screw it I just ordered five more pots. Expediting this process.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Darefsky, this was a brand new pot, mailed from GW. Never used by anyone but me, never had a chance for in shelf tampering.[/quote

Sorry I read the OP wrong

**Archim3des**

Yodhrin wrote:
Hold on though, if you yourself are brush-licking then it doesn't matter whether anyone else has used it, you could still be the source of the microorganisms. That's not meant as an insult, even with an appropriate regimen of oral hygiene everyone has bacteria living in their mouths, it could simply be that one of the ingredients in Devlan Mud stimulates rapid mitosis in one of those strains. I think it's fine to have it tested, but posting as if it's almost a foregone conclusion that GW are shipping virulent paint pots is a bit off.

Perhaps I should add that the pot was opened, smelled, and put on a screen. Virginal pot of wash, untouched by brush or finger or anything else.
Your post is why I'll be videotaping the package coming from the mailman and my sending it back out unopened.
Unless there is mail tampering by a federal employee, or by the lab, it will be unassailable that the source of the bacteria is GW.

Edit: Well, I guess it got touched by the eyedropper, but I sterilized that in rubbing alcohol.

**Shenloanne**

It's warptouched......got promethium?

**ifStatement**

I've never really understood the whole brush in mouth thing. It's not something I've ever needed to do.

...but it's still better than using spit as a green stuff lubricant.

**heartserenade**

As part of your experiment, why don't you test other paints as well, with different brands and not just GW? I have a feeling that some would have at least bacteria on it. i'm pretty sure mold and mildew grows in some of the old housepaints (or old, unopened stocks) I use for terrain.

**Dez**

Hmm, Devlan Mud does smell pretty bad. So does Gretchin Green...

**LooT**

Warp-taint is spreading...... Purification and / or analysis pending by Ordo Malleus. Will have remains exhumed to magos Biologis for further research.

The Emperor protects.

Couldn't help my self

**Hologram**

Dateline: Games Workshop Headquarters.
After a long and arduous investigation involving federal officials from several countries, it was discovered today that the highly popular gaming company was harvesting alien micro-organisms to use as pigment in their painting line. No comment from GW officials as of yet.

Nice investigative work, OP. Good on ya mate.

**CaptainRavenclaw**

I'm interested to see how this turns out, having just used some devlan mud this morning....but my pot didn't smell too bad. Maybe some of the more recent batches of production got contaminated??

**AG.**

I wonder how much bacteria is on a paintbrush at any given point.

**InyokaMadoda**

Hmmm. Very interesting. Looking forward to seeing the results. I could do with some time off work, so a handy case of harmful bacteria (or even the threat of them) could get me some much-needed painting time!

**Archim3des**

Lots of people wrote: Hmmm... Interesting....

I'd have to agree, replacing interesting with "shiz be nasty".
I'd run the test on other paint lines as well, but I mainly use GW, and its on my dollar, so I'll stick with this one off study.

**Deathshead420**

There was a thread about a week ago about paints smelling and there were quite a few people that worked in the paint industry that said that indeed the paint had microorganisms in it. They didn't say what kind and if it was harmful, but I do believe it had something to do with how long the paint sat on the shelf. Ill look and see if I can find the thread.http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/432947.page#3976848

**Archim3des**

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/432947.page

There it is!
I read it too, even posted in it. Its what prompted me to make a slide and look at it.

**nomsheep**

protomane0 wrote:uhhhh.... thats very worrying.... i injest quite a lot of the stuff due to licking my brushes to keep a nice tip =S

This :/

Let us know how the lab tests turn out.

Nom