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So, I've decided that a new Codex makes a damn fine reason to refurbish my Tau army. Unfortunately, since I picked them up used, I find that none of them have had the flash trimmed from them, so I've been doing that almost nonstop. In any event, recently I've noticed blisters all over my hands. This isn't entirely unheard of, since I've been suffering occasional breakouts of small blisters on my hands for nearly thirty years now. My wife theorizes that the plastic shavings may have something to do with my blisters, and points out that the last blister breakout I had coincides nicely with the last time I had a big modelling push.

Has anyone else had this happen? Blisters on your hands while (or from) modelling? It seems reasonable that plastic shavings could cause this reaction, although a bit unlikely.

You really should consult an allergist. It is not apparent to me why plastic shavings would cause an allergic reaction if just handling the same intact plastic does not.

The other possible agent that may be causing the reaction, if it is indeed due to the models, is the mold release agent that is used when manufacturing the sprues. After you have handled the models a few times you probably have gotten most of it off which would explain the timing of the outbreak as when you are dealing with new product.

Another possibility would be that you have some sensitivity to the glue you are using. Even if you are not getting glue on your hands, there will be exposure to fumes.

So without examining your environment there are at least three possible factors, plastic, mold release agent and glue. It may have NOTHING to do with the models. It is impossible for anyone that is not an allergist to give you good advice, except go to the doctor and stop doing whatever you think may be the cause.

Again I urge you to consult with an allergist before doing anymore modeling.

The blisters are an obvious external symptom of a significant allergy. More importantly your health could suffer in other ways not apparent to you due to this allergy. I dont mean to alarm you, but any time a patient is given a medication that causes a rash or skin reaction, they are immediately taken off the medicine, not because the rash is inconveinent but because other health problems could occur.

Does the package say it can cause blisters? otherwise sue GW for the mental anguish and harm caused by the flash trimming!

Do you use green stuff or other epoxy putties?

The resins used in the putties are toxic, and accumulate over time.

The Auld Grump

also if you stripped the paint off them what you used could effect it, like I used the cleaner simple green and I get a rash sometimes

I do not get blisters myself, but I do get scars from removing all those superglue from my hands.

They're called blister packs for a reason.

Badum-tss.

 TheAuldGrump wrote:
Do you use green stuff or other epoxy putties?

The resins used in the putties are toxic, and accumulate over time.

The Auld Grump

This is a good point. I try to use liquid green stuff as much as possible simply because I seem to be allergic to the stuff. Any time I use normal green stuff that I have to knead I have itchy hands for about 6 hours afterwards. Liquid green stuff lets me fill gaps and such using a paint brush and a quick sand down with an emery board later.

What sort of blisters are we talking about, tons of them all over your hands, or just a couple where the tools/models press against them?

I have very girly hands, they toughen up when I work in a workshop or on my car repeatedly for a few weeks, but for the most part they are quite soft and feminine.

As such, sometimes after a lot of modeling I'll get a couple of mild blisters here and there where the tools and models press against my hands. They're not terribly bad though, just annoying. If I do it long enough they'll go away and start toughening up instead.

To people saying reaction to putties or allergic reaction, wouldn't you expect rashes rather than blisters?

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
To people saying reaction to putties or allergic reaction, wouldn't you expect rashes rather than blisters?

No, skin allergies, dpending on how severe, can result in blisters as well as a rash.

To provide some clarity, I haven't been using any glue, greenstuff, resins, or putty. Just plastic models and a hobby knife. The blisters aren't painful, (although a little itchy every now and then) just disturbing. They are pretty widespread though, across my palms, wrists, and up the sides of my fingers. There's no rash accompanying them. While a few of the models already have some paint on them, there isn't much, and I haven't been painting at all.

Also, to further clarify, I'm not seeking medical advice I'm just curious if anyone else has had similar experiences (or heard of them). I'm going to use hydrocortisone and antihistamines until it clears up. (Always worked before.) Thanks to the people who were concerned for my health, though! I appreciate the thought.

Specifically...no. in theory though, people can be allergic to nearly anything. I dont ever recall a specific allergy to polystyrene though. The styrene monomer itself can be very problematic though.

I would guess it is a residue on the plastic though. Maybe some hydraulic fluid from the machines or something like that that you are sensitive to. If not that, then probably something like the polybutadiene that is mixed with the polystyrene to give it flexibility and durability. Lots of people have allergies to those compounds.

Might be something to think of moving forward, but they make a lotion type thing that is sometimes referred to as liquid gloves. It provides a temporary barrier against chemicals and solvents...a lot of artists I know use them to protect their hands against oil paint solvents.

Try using some gloves and washing the spruces with hot water and dawn dish soap and see if that helps. If its the residue that's bothering u.

I've never had a problem like your describing, jimsolo.

As wowsmash says, it might be residual mold-release to which you've developed allergies. Maybe?

More than likely its a reaction to either the plastic or the release agents they use to help with demolding. The mold release can be several differant materials ranging from stuff like a liquid vaseline base to non stick silicones or other polymers.

If you've had simular outbreaks in the past I would suspect it may be tied to a polymer allergy. Have you had issues with reaction due to using rubber or latex gloves? Or alternately reactions to aerosols? (as the release is applied via spraying)

As they were picked up used it could be anything they've been in contact with due to the original owner, cigarette smoke, animal dander who knows.


If not maybe it's a divinely sent warning to stay away from 40k models

Play with Tau and you risk biblical plague....

Everyone has already said it, but it sounds like an allergic reaction.

I have not experienced it personally, though it would be interesting to see how prevalent such a reaction is among the hobby community. I suspect that it is the sort of thing that most people would not mention, especially if it is a minor issue.

I do not need allergies to have adverse reactions to hobby time. I have had my fair share of embarrassing accidents, some more embarrassing than others .

I do not react well to blood, and have nicked myself plenty of times with the ol' hobby knife. One involved an embarrassing incident in which I passed out on my pregnant wife.

I also live in perpetual fear of dropping that thing blade down on my thigh. Irrational? Oh no. I have dropped my hobby knife a few times and have had some near misses.

My saving grace was the Micromark seam scraper. Thank Heavens for that beautiful device! It cleans mold lines like a champ and will not slice into your finger if you slip.

I did have an annoying reaction to steel wool when I started using it to clean metal miniatures. I love the stuff, so now I use latex gloves when i work with it.

I'm going to advocate for the red guy downstairs and say that there is a possibility that it is not an allergy.

What are your tools like in terms of 'grip comfort', if they are cheap bare plastic/metal affairs maybe you are getting friction blisters, especially if you are doing long stints with the tools, bad grips on tools + sweat = blisters. When I moved into my current abode, I got blisters on my hands from spending 4 consecutive hours assembling flat-pack furniture, not so much because of the use of my hands, but because my screwdrivers are cheap'n'nasty and have terrible grips.

Just a thought, try wrapping some bandages around the handles of your tools, see if it makes a difference...

 Leigen_Zero wrote:
I'm going to advocate for the red guy downstairs and say that there is a possibility that it is not an allergy.

What are your tools like in terms of 'grip comfort', if they are cheap bare plastic/metal affairs maybe you are getting friction blisters, especially if you are doing long stints with the tools, bad grips on tools + sweat = blisters. When I moved into my current abode, I got blisters on my hands from spending 4 consecutive hours assembling flat-pack furniture, not so much because of the use of my hands, but because my screwdrivers are cheap'n'nasty and have terrible grips.

Just a thought, try wrapping some bandages around the handles of your tools, see if it makes a difference...

He said he had blisters on his wrists as well though, not sure if the tools would cause that in addition to what is on his fingers. Usually blisters from tools are in specific areas on your hands, not in the mass amount he is describing.

Although the original poster has said he did not want medical advice I would still suggest talking to someone in the medical field about this. Chemical exposure today could mean problems tomorrow so to speak and it'd probably be a good idea to identify allergies sooner rather than later.

Additionally, gloves would probably help.

Have you ever heard of Delayed Pressure Uticaria Jimsolo? Its a rare type of hives that are induced by long periods of pressure on centralized locations. They can often be very red, raised, itchy and spread out from areas you are describing. Its easy to mistake them for blisters. It sounds like you may be having a reaction related to that. Here is a link to a forum about it. See if you have any of the other symptoms. Also, random, but I assure you related, are you Gluten intolerant? Or perhaps have food intolerance's related to wheat or Rye? I know you werent asking for medical advice lol But I feel for you with this situation.

http://www.steadyhealth.com/Delayed_Pressure_Urticaria_t77793.html?page=2

Regards,

B3AN

Thanks for everyone who has been so helpful! I appreciate all the offered assistance. Still working on the army, but the blisters are already fading, so I'm chalking it up to seasonal allergies (which is what I always assumed it was before) and shrugging it off. Thanks again!

 heartserenade wrote:
They're called blister packs for a reason.

Badum-tss.

QFT.Love it.

Huh, I was curious about the toxicity of Green Stuff as I'd never heard anything about that before, so I did some research. Apparently a competitor spread rumors a while back about it being carcinogenic, but that turned out to be false. I did, however, find the MSDS for it:
http://resource.invensys.com/instrumentation/msds/pdf/msds_097_c.pdf
I find it interesting that it recommends wearing gloves when handling it. I think I'll probably pick up some latex gloves for use with it from now on. If nothing else, it seems like a good idea to keep it fingerprint-free. It also sounds like filing/sanding it might need precautions similar to resin.

Bludbaff wrote:
Huh, I was curious about the toxicity of Green Stuff as I'd never heard anything about that before, so I did some research. Apparently a competitor spread rumors a while back about it being carcinogenic, but that turned out to be false. I did, however, find the MSDS for it:
http://resource.invensys.com/instrumentation/msds/pdf/msds_097_c.pdf
I find it interesting that it recommends wearing gloves when handling it. I think I'll probably pick up some latex gloves for use with it from now on. If nothing else, it seems like a good idea to keep it fingerprint-free. It also sounds like filing/sanding it might need precautions similar to resin.

MSDS's tend to be on the side of extreme caution, I always take them with a grain of salt. It also recommends wearing safety glasses while using it, but I'm pretty sure no one does that.

As a side note for anyone interested, finally got to the bottom of this. It's a condition called dyshidrosis. While not caused by any inherent toxicity in or allergic reaction from the materials I use in my modeling and painting, it can be aggravated by the work itself, since oil and sweat cause the condition to flare up.

At least now I know.

And knowing is half the battle...

glad to hear you've got a solid diagnosis

(now on to a decent treatment)

Lol, unfortunately the treatment seems to be a heaping spoonful of 'Suck it up, buttercup.'

Sounds like a weird allergic reaction to me, I only ever occasionally cut the gak out of myself and get super glue stuck to myself.