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Humbrol tins


RidgeRunner

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I just thought I would add a couple of things I have always done (and never done), and something a friend of mine has learned.

 

1) I never shake paint, only stir.

 

2) I decant paint to be used to a  bottle top, etc, and thin/use from that, cleaning the tin and resealing after decanting.

 

3) A friend of mine attempted to take all the paint from a new UK tin and put it in an emptied and cleaned tamiya enamel bottle. It dried out very quickly. Paint he left in the tins were fine. Also, adding thinner to the new Humbrol tins destroyed the paint quite quickly, not adding anything, and his new paints have been fine.. well, as fine as they get...

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On ‎17‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 2:02 PM, sapperastro said:

I decant paint to be used to a  bottle top, etc, and thin/use from that, cleaning the tin and resealing after decanting.

 

Yes, I use milk bottle lids. They are a perfect size.

 

I have to say that after all the great guidance I'm sticking with tins and trying to be tidier!!!

 

Thanks again to all.

 

Martin

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Martin,

 

As a follow-up to the F-100F thread, thought I'd mention that I finished up the Hun with a 20 - 30 year old tin of Humbrol, shown below:

 

Humbrol-vi.jpg

 

An even older modeler than me told me, decades ago, that the secret to preserving Humbrol in the tins was to carefully wipe all the paint off the lid and around the tin opening, before reinstalling the lid. I use a small tack hammer to insure that the tin lid is properly seated. As you can see, the results speak for themselves. In addition, when I open the tin, I stir everything with a small flat screwdriver, just to break up the chunks, drop in a couple of little stainless steel ball bearings (BB's will work, but the copper will corrode and they'll rust over time if you leave them in), reseal the lid, and then give the whole shebang about three minutes ob my Robart Hobby Paint Shaker.

 

I use ONLY Model Master paint thinner to thin the Humbrol,  and if a tin has thickened up a bit, I add a little at a time and keep shaking. I have recovered some pretty far gone tins that way. Any tins that have every dried out on me were strictly due to my not having properly cleaned the tinlet lids and openings, before sealing.  I suspect that other good "hot" thinners would work, but I have had more than one tin go "rubbery" after using other thinners.

 

Just my personal experience.

 

Ed

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That's basically my procedure as well. I thin my Humbrol with lacquer thinner, but not in the tin; after stirring and shaking it thoroughly, I decant some into my airbrush cup or bottle and thin that. I've also used mineral spirits with good results, but lacquer thinner seems to "cut" the paint better.

 

I reseal my tins, after cleaning the lid and any paint left on the rim, by standing on them. Not jumping up and down on them mind you, just briefly transferring my weight to the tin, which is placed on a thick carpet.

 

I have some 55-year old Humbrol as fresh as the day it left the Humber Oil Company factory. It still has the sweet, oily smell savored by Humbrol connoisseurs!

 

Nice-looking F-100, by the way.

Edited by Space Ranger
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The only issue I've found with some recent tins is that they seem to be a bit over-filled, and the lack of a sufficient air gap between the paint and the inside of the lid can cause the lid to pop back off. I've nearly been caught by this a couple of times.

 

John

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I thicker variety I can get to paint great when thinned separately, but the tins that are full of thin carrier have been a disaster, drying glossy every time - until I let everything settle out again and got rid of the thin carrier at the top.

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My penny's worth...

 

Firstly, I never shake the tins, but use a Trumpeter paint stirrer instead. Best gadget I ever bought! Secondly, I never brush straight out of the tin. I dip the brush in, and into a plastic lid (I use old Nutella lids as the kids consume metric tons of the stuff) and mix in the thinner there. Works for me and means that the tins and lids don't get gunked up with paint.

 

HTH

 

Best regards;

Steve

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I had a wonderfully nostalgic experience this evening repainting my grandson's scooter with Humbrol gloss 3, 15 & 20 from 1960s-era checked pattern tins. 

The paints still work perfectly, which tends to suggest that whatever their other shortcomings, the tins serve their primary purpose of storing the paint efficiently very well indeed. 

Who doesn't love the smell of vintage gloss Humbrol paint? 

 

John 

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20 minutes ago, SeaVenom said:

Like many I've always had this problem.    I've tried wiping the paint away but after a while that doesn't seem to work as even a small amount of paint seems to build up so the lid can't be fully closed properly.

Soaking the lid in lacquer (cellulose) thinner solves that problem!

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