Has Humbrol enamel 11 Silver changed or have I got a duffer?

[Beardie]

Hi all, I recently used the last of a tin of Humbrol no.11 enamel which I have had for around 15 years and was probably old stock when I got it, anyway it was pretty good stuff, really bright and um silvery (almost like chrome) and I reserved it for things like the chromed parts of oleo legs etc. it was great stuff.

The other week I bought a replacement tin with the new style can so I am assuming it is a relatively recent batch. Opened and thoroughly stirred it up but this is clearly not the same paint, it is almost indistinguishable from Humbrol 56 Aluminium enamel.

So is this the norm for Humbrol 11 these days or have I got a can of 56 with an 11 lid?

Edited May 29, 2015 by Beardie

[Foghorn Leghorn]

Had the same situation when my old tin of 11 ran out. Bought a new tin of 11 last year and it hit the same problem. Either we both got a bad batch or it's time to lament Humbrol 11

[Sparzanza]

I find Humbrol 191 to be a good substitute.

[Black Knight]

To the O/p; yes, its now duller, about halfway between 56 aluminium and 191 chrome silver

[Beardie]

Hmmm why did they do it?!!!! It was about the best representation of chrome you could find OK it was a little delicate and the painted parts needed careful handling but it looked good. It looks like some of the original paint is in the mix as you get a bright silver floating on the surface of the tin when stirred but it looks totally rubbish when applied.

[Black Knight]

They've actually taken it back to the look of the original 1970s paint 'silver fox'.

[Graham Boak]

I don't think so. H11 hadn't changed when they stuck the name "Silver Fox" on it. Long before that, it was that rather thick coat that provided a bright shine for your oleos.

[phildagreek]

The stainless steel is very bright & "silvery", it's good for bright work.

[Beardie]

Stainless steel? Which number is that? I was thinking that I would have to change for the Metalcote Polished Aluminium as it is the closest I have to the way 11 used to look

[phildagreek]

Humbrol tin 27002, I have to confess that the "stainless steel" label on it is handwritten, so that could be my reference. Sorry 'bout that!

[spfparker]

The Humbrol chrome rattle can is a very bright silver

[Julien]

There seems to be a lot of bad humbrol out there. A shame as it used to be really great paint. I dont think it ever recovered from being farmed out to china.

[Knight_Flyer]

I have noticed a difference between my old Humbrol paint and newer tins. Recently bought Humbrol 33 and I had to add a lot of thinner before it could be brush painted. Old tin of 85, no problem the consistency was just right and didn't require as long to stir before it was useable.

[Beardie]

I have noticed a few tins of the newer paint are a little peculiar. Humbrol 30 wouldn't dry for over a week, 33 and 85 blacks took a while to dry and had a delicate surface and 29 took a good few days to dry properly. I have a lot of old tins from before I gave up modelling 15 years ago (including a few which are now discontinued) and despite being at least 15 years old, some I would guess are a lot older as I bought them out of the discount buckets in model shops way back when (white lids with paper stick-on labels) they are still in great useable condition. Hopefully the newer stuff will get back to this standard as I am a dyed in the wool Humbrol enamel user. I can't even bring myself to touch a few Revell enamels I bought a while ago

When I was modelling around 1998-2000 I bought a lot of Revell enamels and I do recall discovering at that time that some of them had these similar problems so I wonder if it is down to the fickle nature of the pigments and mediums.

I do find myself looking for old tins to buy whenever I come across Humbrol on sale in shops where you wouldn't normally expect to find it.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Beardie

[Norman]

Humbrol paints really went downhill when production shifted overseas years ago , it became watery and some colors like dark sea grey were almost translucent, ! thank goodness it is now being made in Europe again, when i buy new stocks for myself i make sure the tin has a Union Jack on it and 'Made in England' also

I had a lot of fun trying to paint a 1/48 Canberra overall PRU Blue with the 'asian mix' and i just kept adding extra coats and buying more tins thinking i had got a bad one, until i was losing so much detail i had to take action ,so off it came with the oven cleaner, and luckily a friend found an old tin in his stash which i was given and i only used half a tin , the difference was amazing

Cheers and good luck !

[mctrl87]

This may just be the nostalgia talking but in my opinion Humbrol Enamels aren't 'Super' enough these days! I am sure there are many that would say they aren't 'Authentic' enough either.

[The original Kit Builder]

While it is true that Humbrol went down hill when production was moved overseas, bringing it back to the UK unfortunately doesn't seem to have resolved anything.

I have used Humbrol enamels almost exclusively for decades, but am now using more and more Revell.

I have increasingly found that Humbrol paints carry so little solvent that they come from the tin with a consistency like cold custard. It is quite a chore to thin it enough to airbrush it and often refuses to mix evenly. Sadly, it isn't that good for brushing either, as it's so thick brush marks take on the scale of ploughed furrows

The company really needs to get its act together, paint wise.

[John]

Good old 1970s Humbrol 11:

I don't have a contemporary pot of either 11 or 191 to compare it with but it definitely was a bright chrome silver historically.

John

[old thumper]

Yes it has changed. When I first started painting my models back in the seventies the shop on the local parade only sold Airfix paints, the Airfix silver back then was literally like an old dull unpolished silver spoon. When I started buying paints from the model shop in town I discovered to my delight that the Humbrol silver was bright and shiny just as I wanted it and that their other paints were generally far superior to Airfix's.

Humbrol paints have almost become like the Airfix paints of old. New Humbrol 27002 has the same problem as number 11, while the new number 56 is really more grey than metallic.

Some of the Humbrol paint that I have bought recently has been good to be fair, and because it is easy to get hold of most of my paints are still Humbrol, but to honest I prefer Testors Model Master.

[glatisant]

Humbrols' are very hit and miss these days.I have had some good(H85),and some bad(H56) and some that I can't decide (H29).The older stuff far,far superior.

[Spud]

I had a 1980s vintage tin that the lid barely sealed after many years of misuse.... never really had to stir it, went on a treat and was as robust as a robust thing! I hope it survives a few years of storage and will serve me well long into the future... it must have been around 30 years old when I moved overseas! Alas, my tin of Airfix gloss red (tin No. 1??) didn't display quite such longevity!

Edited April 7, 2016 by Spud

[Skyhunter66]

I've had similar issues with Humbrol and have found Revell enamels to be far far better.

Chris

[Timbo343]

Instead of using Humbrol 11 i use Humbrol 27002 which gives a better representation of silver or use the Revel Silver colour which i *think* is 90. I bought both the Humbrol Lemon Yellow and the Revell Lemon Yellow (12) and i must say, the Humbrol one isn't lemon yellow where as the Revell one is. I do prefer the humbrol paints but some of the Revell paints do have the better colour representation/match. I have started hand painting with Tamiya X-2 as the whiteness is brighter than the Humbrol white which seems to be more of a cream colour - Ive not tried the Revell white.

I am looking at Vallejo paints too as i have some tamiya and Belkit models to make and want the colours to be right with them. At the moment im build most of the Revell F1 cars which steads me in good practice for the Tamiya and Belkit models.

I'm contemplating on getting an airbrush for the bigger areas as i do like to brush paint, budget is about £50 but unsure what to get and what paints to use. Im thinking i could use standard white spirit to thin the paints.

[ndicki]

I'm giving up on Humbrol altogether after 40-odd years of modelling. All the recently-mafufactured tins (with Made in the UK on, so not Chinese) are very nearly unuseable, and the metallics are utter sludge. I had a tin of 191 that lasted me years, and it was beautifully easy to apply, good covering power and bright, shiny chrome. Just imagine my horror when the replacement tin turned out to be thick grey sludge... And the matt colours are as bad. That's it - I've had my lot. I'm no longer buying any recent production Humbrol paints and I'm moving over to Revell. Admittedly their metallics are not much good either, but their matt colours are still very good. So slowly, as my Humbrol stocks are used up, I'm replacing them with the nearest Revell equivalent.

As I use Gunze Mr Hobby in my airbrush for nearly everything except detail work, I'll survive. But if everybody else takes the same decision, will Humbrol?

[Black Knight]

I started a brand new tin of no.11 last night.

Its back to its glorious very bright shiny silver.