The Evolution of Humbrol Paint

[John]

In the beginning, Humbrol Art Oil Enamels:

6 Gloss Pale Cream and 28 Matt Sky.

Grey check pattern Gloss - 1 Eau-de-Nil

Blue check pattern Matt - 30 Matt Dark Green

Green check pattern Scenic - Black (unnumbered but later HR145)

Red check pattern Railway - 133 Deltic Blue

Light blue band matt and light grey band gloss:

23 Matt Duck Egg Blue and 13 Gloss Sky Blue.

John

[Pete in Lincs]

I do remember the tins with the

crosshatch pattern. 1960 something.

Most hardware shops had them.

[Space Ranger]

I've never seen the "Art Oil" labeling, but I have some of the grey- and blue-checked tins, new old stock bought on ebay, and they are as fresh as the day they left the factory. I love the smell of old Humbrol enamel in the morning!

[John]

Authentics:

Camouflage banding: HU3 Neutral Grey

Blue/brown blocks all way round base of tin: HP3 German Camouflaged Medium Green

Blue/brown blocks only at front of tin: HS216 Rust

Black/Gold : HB3 Ocean Grey

There may be other variations but these are all I have.

International Racing Colours:

R308 Ferrari Red

R301 French Racing Blue

John

[depressed lemur]

I just loved the Authentic Colour range as a teenager. It made me think I was getting the right colour every time. Back then I had little or no access to references so looked on the range as a kind of ark of the covenant. Looking back, they were pretty accurate and I wish they would reinstate the range in both acrylic and enamel.

[Space Ranger]

I have two "authentic colour" tins with blue-brown banding (I think; the blue is faded to almost nothing). One is labeled R206, the other R215. Any idea what colors these are?

[John]

The 200-series colours were the Scenics, and were usually prefixed HS. HS206 is Grass Green and HS215 is Track Colour.

Colours prefixed with an R were the International Racing colours, numbered in the 300s - R306 is Porsche Silver but there isn't an R315.

John

[Space Ranger]

These are clearly prefixed "R."

[John]

Having had a rake through the box of delights, I can find one tin that fits the description:

It seems to be HR104 GWR/BR Loco Green. Railway colours only went up to the 150s, so the best guess about yours is that they may be slightly mislabeled Scenics? If they're bright green and dark brown, that would seem to be what they are.

John

[John]

The post-1978 standard range tins:

The grey-band tins were in use when the standard range was expanded in the late 1970s.

The dark blue bands came in around the mid-1980s.

The Super Enamel branding came along in the second half of the 1990s.

The 2 tins in the third row are the last incarnation of Humbrol (left) and the first incarnation of Hornby (right). As far as I can tell the only differences are the address details.

The top pot is the current Hornby style.

There are probably other minor variations.

John

[Space Ranger]

Having had a rake through the box of delights, I can find one tin that fits the description:

It seems to be HR104 GWR/BR Loco Green. Railway colours only went up to the 150s, so the best guess about yours is that they may be slightly mislabeled Scenics? If they're bright green and dark brown, that would seem to be what they are.

John

That's exactly the style of labeling on my two tins. And they are indeed bright green and dark brown.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Space Ranger

[Space Ranger]

Here's a style of Humbrol labeling I've never seen before; it appears to be a stick-on label:

[JosephLalor]

Grey check pattern Gloss - 1 Eau-de-Nil

Blue check pattern Matt - 30 Matt Dark Green

Green check pattern Scenic - Black (unnumbered but later HR145)

Red check pattern Railway - 133 Deltic Blue

John

Interesting to see No 30 as a yellow-olive, at least on the lid, whatever about the contents. All the 30s I've ever bought have been slightly bluish. It seems to me that both HB1 and HX1 went the same way.

Edited August 24, 2016 by JosephLalor

[John]

It's been commented on hereabouts in the past, but when it was introduced Humbrol 30 seems to have been a distinctly yellow green shade. This is a  2 fl oz pot of the same vintage as the one in the photo above:

 

 

I've never seen a light blue-banded pot of 30 but all the grey-band ones I've ever come across were markedly more blue. That's where Airfix paints scored over Humbrol  in the 1970s, they had 4 matt greens.

 

Brushed out, it's actually a bit more olive than the RAFM chip for Dark Green:

 

 

but comes in visually very close to BS381c:220 Olive Green:

 

John