Further Humbrol paint discontinuation

[Truro Model Builder]

Looking at the new Humbrol 2017 trade order form, I note that the following colours have been dropped from the enamel range:

 

No.132 Satin Red

No.226 Matt Interior Green

No.1321 Clear Red

No.1322 Clear Orange

 

[Beardie]

As discussed elsewhere, judging by the quality of recent Humbrol paints that members have been finding, including myself, they might as well drop all their enamels as they are driving so many people away from what was once the best paint for modelling.

[Space Ranger]

Craziness. No 226 is called out for the interior of Airfix's new 1/48 P-40! But as it turns out, that color is wrong anyway, at least for the USAAC option.

[sapperastro]

Yes, thats the way to do it, drop colours instead of fixing problems....

[Scimitar F1]

I have to say this leaves me scratching my head in that they just do not seem to be able to get it right compared with their own product from 20 years ago and Colourcoats etc.

 

I found a massive tin of gloss orange (18) that dates from 1979 and decided to do a comparison to the new tin from Hannants I had unnecessarily bought. I was expecting the old tin to be better. I have to say that there was no difference at all - if anything the new tin was better.

 

I think the lead must have been taken out earlier.

 

We just bought a new car and I was amazed to find out that car paint is water based for environmental reasons. I am sure that we will benefit from some trickle down - there was an Italian company at Telford selling water based paint that looked amazing so this may be happening already. 

[Ventura11]

Hello Scimitar,

         do you remember the name of that company?

I mainly use enamels but I am slowly shifting to acrylics and it would be interesting to try something of new and for me easily available.

I am doing some attempts with some Italeri paints and Humbrol acrylics and I bought a small bottle  of acrylic named Puravest.

Not being an expert I think that now there are many companies involved in modellig paints that are focused in their market niche

investing more time and money.

I realize that my english is so and so and I apologize for this.

Paolo     

 

 

        

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Hi Paolo.

 

It was K-Color that Scimitar F1 will be referring to. They were just along from my club's display table.

[gavingav1]

Humbrols acrylic are not great paints either i find it impossible to put the stuff through an airbrush no matter how you prepare it, a genuine shame for humbrol i still remember humbrol enamels from my youth that covered in one coat, self levelled, did not rub off and the paint would be good long after the tin had gone rusty - i am sure the humbrol paint range is only being kept alive for appearances sake .

[Col.]

Yes I'm with @gavingav in being old enough to remember Humbrol's Authentic range and its brush-ability and great covering power. Also the new stuff isn't anywere near so good; variable quality, prone to streaking, also more fragile when handlling and too easy to rub off. To me the whole point of dealing with the smell and slower drying times of enamels was to get a tougher finish. Lately I've been using Colourcoats and find them superior to both Humbrol and Revell's current paints.

[Ventura11]

Many Thanks Sovereign Hobbies

3 hours ago, SovereignHobbies said:

Hi Paolo.

 

It was K-Color that Scimitar F1 will be referring to. They were just along from my club's display table.

Many Thanks Sovereign Hobbies.

2 hours ago, gavingav said:

Humbrols acrylic are not great paints either i find it impossible to put the stuff through an airbrush no matter how you prepare it, a genuine shame for humbrol i still remember humbrol enamels from my youth that covered in one coat, self levelled, did not rub off and the paint would be good long after the tin had gone rusty - i am sure the humbrol paint range is only being kept alive for appearances sake .

 

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Yes I'm with @gavingav in being old enough to remember Humbrol's Authentic range and its brush-ability and great covering power. Also the new stuff isn't anywere near so good; variable quality, prone to streaking, also more fragile when handlling and too easy to rub off. To me the whole point of dealing with the smell and slower drying times of enamels was to get a tougher finish. Lately I've been using Colourcoats and find them superior to both Humbrol and Revell's current paints.

  

Hi Gavingav, Hi Col.

    I still have some tins of Authentics I bought when my LMS closed more than 20 years ago. Sometime I think that they are like good wines that as time goes by do not lose their qualities.Today well thinned, shaken and stirred are really good paints.

About acrylics this is my experience:

Using brushes Italeri paints are easy to use, I thin them with purified tap water and only a coat of primer. I prefer two or three thinned coats.

Humbrol acrylics are more difficult to use but another topic of this site has been useful with many information and  tips. .

I stir and shake colours with energy, thin them with Humbrol thinner in a proportion of 1 part of thinner for 4 or 5 of paint and some drops of flow improver.

The results are not bad, there are not brush strokes with Humbrol 90, 29, and 163, not so good are the results with greys 164.

At the end probably I will remain a fan of enamels but these attemps are fun.

Going on with Humbrol enamels?

I agree with Col., Colourcoats are great paints.

  

 

 

[fightersweep]

1 hour ago, Col. said:

Yes I'm with @gavingav in being old enough to remember Humbrol's Authentic range and its brush-ability and great covering power. Also the new stuff isn't anywere near so good; variable quality, prone to streaking, also more fragile when handlling and too easy to rub off. To me the whole point of dealing with the smell and slower drying times of enamels was to get a tougher finish. Lately I've been using Colourcoats and find them superior to both Humbrol and Revell's current paints.

 

Same here! Just old enough to remember the 70's incarnations of Humbrol Authentics. Superb paints especially if using a hairy stick. Just the reason why that I trawl the likes of eBay picking up as many old paints that I can, mostly un-used ex shop stock. Now have a huge collection of Humbrol Authentics, Airfix, Compucolour and Gloy paints that I use regularly. I really like Gloy too. Cover very nicely and smell gorgeous! Never ceases to amaze me how well some of these paints perform considering that most I have are around 40 years old!

 

Best regards;
Steve

[gavingav1]

49 minutes ago, fightersweep said:

 

Same here! Just old enough to remember the 70's incarnations of Humbrol Authentics. Superb paints especially if using a hairy stick. Just the reason why that I trawl the likes of eBay picking up as many old paints that I can, mostly un-used ex shop stock. Now have a huge collection of Humbrol Authentics, Airfix, Compucolour and Gloy paints that I use regularly. I really like Gloy too. Cover very nicely and smell gorgeous! Never ceases to amaze me how well some of these paints perform considering that most I have are around 40 years old!

 

Best regards;
Steve

Gloy !!! , compucolour!!! such memories, i remember precision paints and dbi colour that used to come in a glass bottle, i bit the bullet years ago and switched to tamiya acrylic when i realised that quality enamel paints were a past thing , it's a shame because black is still 33 to me not xf-1  and light grey will be forever 64 .

Edited January 5, 2017 by gavingav1

[fightersweep]

If you feel the urge, those old paints are still out there to be had, and 99% of all the tins I have bought have been unused. There is nothing like cracking open an old tin for the first time in 40+ years and catching a whiff of that old, familiar smell. It's like a time machine that whisks you back to the days of Britfix Liquid Poly 70, PAM News and Alan Hall conversions.

 

I've never been able to make the switch to acrylics. I'm too much of a dinosaur that's stuck in the past and I'm just glad that I have a big enough stash of old enamels to last a lifetime. But my thing is what I would call retro-modelling. Old kits, old paints and anything I slapped together in my childhood.

 

Best regards;
~Steve

Edited January 5, 2017 by fightersweep

[jenko]

Just for the record. I regularly spray Humbrol  enamel with my H&S Infinity and have no problems what so ever.

 

Here is my Samba Bus all paint is modern day Humbrol.

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235011989-well-pimp-my-samba-bus/

 

Just needs a good stir and thin accordingly.

 

Dick

 

            

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2017 by jenko

[Space Ranger]

I have some 50-plus-year-old Humbrol paint in the plaid tins, mail-ordered from Arthur Mullet Ltd. when I was in high school, included some discontinued colors such as Eau-de-Nil and Gloss Yellow # 8, and it's still as good as it was when it left the factory. There's nothing like the smell of vintage Humbrol paint in the morning!

 

I also have a few tins of Compucolour, but no Gloy. The nearest thing to vintage Humbrol these days seems to be Colourcoats, which are now available in the US, but Xtracolor enamels still are impossible to obtain.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Space Ranger
Add'l. comment

[rayprit]

check out similiar discussion and thread started 24 hours earlier

 

 

[Beardie]

I have to say that I have been totally unable to take to acrylic paints, it has always been enamels for me as I find acrylics simply aren't as durable, tough and long lasting as enamels although I must admit that I am a dinosaur and I am about to embark on an experiment in using my artists high quality oil paints to see how they brush on. I might even try thinning and spraying them. I know they take at least five days for a coat to dry thoroughly but I love the smell of linseed oil and they should give a tough long lasting finish. Leonardo DaVinci's oil colour paintings have survived hundreds of years so these should last a wee while too.

[gavingav1]

I am 42 and a bit years old now, i started modelling matchbox kits as a toddler and started on paints not much longer, i used humbrol exclusively uptil 2007 when airfix went belly up and we had the great humbrol shortage, acrylic is a steep learning curve at first and for 6-12 months after converting to acrylics i didnt produce a model i was happy with but eventually i got the hang and i would never change back to enamels now, acrylic offers so much more flexibility than enamels, yes acrylic can be fragile until fully cured but i find modern humbrol just wipes off plastic even when allegedly set, i have now started producing the best models i have personally built and i put it all down to acrylics but each to their own 

 

All done with tamiya acrylics

 

 

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

35 minutes ago, gavingav said:

I am 42 and a bit years old now, i started modelling matchbox kits as a toddler and started on paints not much longer, i used humbrol exclusively uptil 2007 when airfix went belly up and we had the great humbrol shortage, acrylic is a steep learning curve at first and for 6-12 months after converting to acrylics i didnt produce a model i was happy with but eventually i got the hang and i would never change back to enamels now, acrylic offers so much more flexibility than enamels, yes acrylic can be fragile until fully cured but i find modern humbrol just wipes off plastic even when allegedly set, i have now started producing the best models i have personally built and i put it all down to acrylics but each to their own 

 

All done with tamiya acrylics

 

 

 

I don't mean to be argumentative, but by your own admission your enamel experience is limited to one brand which happens to have a bad reputation. I think it's a little unfair to state acrylics>enamel on the basis of one brand with a lot of complaints about it. I've used some utterly dreadful acrylic products, but I would rightly be shouted down if I made a blanket statement on the potential of acrylic binders based on negative experiences of a single brand

 

 

[gavingav1]

i have tried xtracolour, revell, and compucolour in the past  but i have only ever had 1 or 2 tins of these to try but i have had experience with other brands i just didnt own the full range and never really finished a model with those brands so when i said i used humbrol exclusively i meant to finish kits  but yes i understand the point you are making and quite correct 

Edited January 6, 2017 by gavingav1

[Beardie]

I can appreciate the advantages of acrylics and how many people have come to love them but for me they are just too finicky, liable to clog your airbrush frequently if not handled very carefully, dry too quickly and, even once thoroughly cured are susceptible to solvents. Enamels (Alkyd resin modified oil paints) and oils in general have been around for centuries and I am guessing will be around for centuries to come.

 

I have to admit that I am biased as, in my other hobby of painting on canvas, I have likewise never come to grips with acrylic, I like paint that takes time to cure giving room for adjustment or even clean removal if, after stepping back, you decide it just hasn't gone right and there is a 'clarity' and warmth to oil based colours that I just don't see in acrylics.

[Beardie]

As an aside, does anyone know of a source of empty metal tinlets? I have tried various containers for mixes (Wood/varnish, leather etc.) and have never found anything as suitable where paint can be stored for a length of time without drying out or requiring mole grips to free the lid (screw on types). My last try was those little plastic pots with the clip lid they sell in craft stores and the paint still skinned pretty quickly. The tinlet seems to be the best option for the job.

[cruiserguy]

Hi Ventura11

 

Another range of paint worth trying is Lifecolor Acrylics. They are made in Italy, so should be readily available, and I use them along with Vallejo. Lifecolor is a good make and worth considering;  check some of the reviews of them in this forum.

 

Sincerely,

 

Will.

[rayprit]

44 minutes ago, Beardie said:

As an aside, does anyone know of a source of empty metal tinlets? I have tried various containers for mixes (Wood/varnish, leather etc.) and have never found anything as suitable where paint can be stored for a length of time without drying out or requiring mole grips to free the lid (screw on types). My last try was those little plastic pots with the clip lid they sell in craft stores and the paint still skinned pretty quickly. The tinlet seems to be the best option for the job.

 

No need for molegrips with screw thread caps.............run the cap under the hot water tap for a few moments.............it softens up the set paint inside the threads and you should be able to undo the cap by hand..........in 40-50 years, never had a problem with any screw caps, hot water did the trick every time

[gavingav1]

48 minutes ago, Beardie said:

As an aside, does anyone know of a source of empty metal tinlets? I have tried various containers for mixes (Wood/varnish, leather etc.) and have never found anything as suitable where paint can be stored for a length of time without drying out or requiring mole grips to free the lid (screw on types). My last try was those little plastic pots with the clip lid they sell in craft stores and the paint still skinned pretty quickly. The tinlet seems to be the best option for the job.

here pack of 5 - http://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/product/14ml-empty-tinlet-pack-5/

 or singles - http://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/product/14ml-empty-tinlet/

 or even big 50ml tinlets- http://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/product/50ml-empty-tin-pack-5/