New Humbrol Luftwaffe enamels: any good?

[Black Knight]

Acrylic over enamel is fine, it's the other way round that is a big no-no. I use mostly enamels and almost exclusively spray them and have a selection of acrylics for detail painting.

Mark.

Rant mode on:

I use and have always used enamel over acrylic and acrylic over enamel and NEVER, ever, have had any problem.

I am fed up with people perpetuating this lie about not using such-a-such paint over t'other.

If you have a problem with your painting, check your thinners or your technique.

rant mode off.

Camo; enamel base coat, secondary coat of same colour acrylic, second camo colour enamel;

Base grey enamel, acrylic grey for dapple applied whilst enamel was still wet;

Both figures painted with a mix of acrylics and enamels over each other;

No problem with any of the paints reacting.

[Space Ranger]

You know, I've read about this in the past and can find a dozen threads of people saying both are a big no-no, and a dozen threads of people advocating that each one works. Are spray acrylics different? I once tried to use Humbrol Acrylic Varnish on an Enamel painted model... I'm lucky I spotted the cracking before I ruined the whole thing.

Enamels cure, while acrylics dry through evaporation. Acrylics over enamels are okay as long as the underlying enamel has had plenty of time to cure. I always allow at least a week for any sprayed enamel to cure. If I can still smell it, it hasn't completely cured. In fact, that's a good rule to follow for any kind of paint on your model: If you can still smell it, it ain't completely cured/dried yet!

Edited June 25, 2015 by Space Ranger

[Hook]

HI,

Anyone get ANY word back from Humbrol as to what is happening?

Anyone got their replacement tins yet?

ANY news?

Still no answer whatsoever after my query on 13-6....

Cheers,

Andre

[fightersweep]

Hi All;

Dragging up an old thread I know, but were there ever any further developments concerning the Humbrol Luftwaffe paints? Has the quality improved at all? I haven't bought any since myself as the promise of replacements for my paints hit the buffers. I never heard anything back from Humbrol!

Regards;

Steve

[Hook]

Hi All;

Dragging up an old thread I know, but were there ever any further developments concerning the Humbrol Luftwaffe paints? Has the quality improved at all? I haven't bought any since myself as the promise of replacements for my paints hit the buffers. I never heard anything back from Humbrol!

I haven't heard anything back either.

As I've found the quality of all other Humbrol paints declining rapidly, not just their new Luftwaffe range, I've decided to stop buying Humbrol alltogether until Hornby ups their game.

A shame, really - I've been a happy Humbol user for more than 35 years...

Cheers,

Andre

[cruiserguy]

Hi Everyone,

Time for nostalgia mode. When I was a lad, Humbrol paints were a revelation after using the horrible Airfix paints in glass bottles. Opening the tinlet with a coin, good stir with a matchstick, then ensuring there were no lumpy bits were like rites of passage for a young modeller. Humbrol enamels painted like a dream, and even liked the smell. Better still were Authenticolors, they were great. One of my friends introduced me to them, and I was sold. Fast forward forty years, and I wouldn't give Humbrol enamels or acrylics houseroom down to their inconsistent quality and Hornby's poor customer service. The company has known about this for years, just check the threads on this forum. Humbrol paints = waste of money, there are better enamels and acrylics on the market.

Nostalgia fest over.

Best Wishes,

A dewy-eyed Will

[Knight_Flyer]

Doesn't sound too good. I'm sure someone said Humbrol has bought production back to the UK to resolve the quality issues, perhaps I mis-read it.

I have bought the Luftwaffe enamels and while it did take a bit of work to mix the paint to a good consistency, it did brush paint okay.

[hacker]

Personal never had any problems with Humbrol paint or at least the older pre Hornby . The newer paint l cannot comment. I use a variety of paint to suit what project l am doing. So l find every company's paint has different handling and each has their issues

[MikeR]

Doesn't sound too good. I'm sure someone said Humbrol has bought production back to the UK to resolve the quality issues, perhaps I mis-read it.

I have bought the Luftwaffe enamels and while it did take a bit of work to mix the paint to a good consistency, it did brush paint okay.

I've had a not to dissimilar experience with the new RLM colours, too. The acrylics are fine as long as you've primed the surface first, but that's normal for that type of paint. What I have noticed with the enamel versions is that they also seem to react better if the surface is primed or already has a layer of paint on it first. Try them on bare plastic and it takes about 4-5 coats to get good consistency, particularly with the RLM 75. If the surface is primed it only takes 3.

That's been my experience, anyway!

Mike.

[pbhawkin]

My local hobby shop (in Australia) gave up on ordering Humbrol paint about 18-24 months ago.

Why bother? was the reply when so many better paints are available, too many customer complaints and returns.

A real shame, talk about how to shoot yourself in the foot (maybe head) Humbrol.

[Hook]

Indeed - as of yesterday, my LHS has begun stocking Gunze.

Nice.

Cheers,

Andre