Humbrol Acrylic Spray (150ml)

[Paul A H]

Humbrol Acrylic Spray (150ml)

Humbrol seem to have been quite industrious of late, as scarcely a month goes by without a box of their products arriving at the review wing of BMHQ. We recently received a sample of their revamped range of acrylic sprays (or 'rattle cans' if you prefer). The paints are sold in 150 ml tins and are available in a wide range of colours, including no fewer than 46 standard colours, 2 metalcote shades, 5 fluorescent colours, 5 multi-effect metallic colours, 7 varnishes and 4 glass etch craft sprays. We received the following eclectic range of colours to try:
Lime Green (38)
Purple (68)
Ocean Grey (106)
German Red Brown (160)
Dark Sea Grey (160)

Humbrol advise that, whilst the paints can be used on plastic model kits, they can also be used on wood, glass, ceramic, metal, cardboard, plaster and pretty much anything else. I tried the Gloss Lime Green on a scrap kit and was very impressed with the results. I'm not used to using aerosols as I am a dedicated airbrush user, so at first I sprayed too much paint on. After a bit of practice though, I tried building up thin coats and ended up with a very satisfying finish. The paint dries quite quickly, is nice and opaque and is nice and glossy when dry.

Conclusion

Whilst not suitable for every job, for some applications, such as model cars, airliners or particularly large models, Humbrol's acrylic sprays make perfect sense. They are quick and easy to use, give good results and are available in a good range of colours. Recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

HI Paul - just a note to say I've been using these for a while. Humbrol's acrylic sprays are pretty good , and I'm used to rattle cans, but like all aerosols they do work better when warmed.

Basically shake the can to mix, then place in a bowl of hot (as hot as your fingers can stand hot) water for a few minutes. Take out, re-shake, and spray away. Coverage and smoothness is far better this way.

Their primer is also pretty good from the rattle can too.

My only gripe is the cans dont have a lot of paint in them. ie I used Midnight blue on my recent 1/48th Vampire ( not a large model) and 1 can was just about done with that model.

Perhaps Humbrol should think about a 300 ml or even 500 ml option?

Cheers

Joners

[Mike]

Those pics don't do the green justice... it really is limey

[richellis]

Wow, I need that green!

Just what I need for my custom veedub bug!

[rmcclure]

I'm generally quite a fan of these paints and have used a few with success. However, I've recently had complete disasters using their gloss black - two separate cans - and I think a few of our other BM members have suffered the same. I know that my pre-paint prep (degreasing, priming, etc.) was fine and I've been able to discount other potential causes of the rough/scaly finish so I've had to conclude that the paint was at the root of things. I'll happily carry on using their other colours but not gloss black again.

[Chaotic Mike]

I used their white primer recently... total disaster. The primer took to the plastic fine, but the finishing coats of Tamiya acrylics didn't adhere at all well. For the first time ever, I had Tamiya tape pull the finishing coat off during masking. And it wasn't down to not letting the acrylic cure - because I'm not the world's fastest builder there was typically 24 hours between painting sessions!

I'll be back to Halfords primer in future - never had it fail yet!

[Mike]

But Mike - what's this got to do with their paints?

[Chaotic Mike]

Err.. Because it was Humbrol, I'd class it as paint, it came from a rattle-can, and it didn't *appear* to do what it said on the tin...

OTOH, I can't complain about its ability to provide a dense and irremovable layer on the plastic. I'm just a wee bit surprised that paint doesn't adhere well to it. Maybe Humbrol acrylics stick better?