Humbrol Enamel Wash/Thinners removing Acrylic paint

[Lish]

Hi All,

 

I purchased every colour of enamel wash from Humbrol. But when using their enamel thinner for cleanup it totally removes the acrylic base paint

 

Anyone else have experience, what other thinner do you suggest to use with Humbrol Washes.

 

Thanks

 

[johnd]

Is it Humbrol acrylic base paint?

 

John.

[Graham Boak]

The old rule: using thinners for enamel paints over acrylics just isn't going to work because the thinner is "hotter".  This is part of a hierarchy, where cellulose thinners will lift enamel paint.  Life used to be simpler when there was less choice of paints and thinners, so the old simple rules don't always work; but I think you've hit a case where they do.

 

Short of buying a whole load of fresh paint thinners, try covering the acrylic with a coat of varnish and leaving it time to harden before attempting a wash.  This perhaps just moves the problem one step up...

 

Hopefully someone else will know a "magic" combination.

[Kingsman]

Like many people, I've used enamel-based weathering products of several brands over acrylic paints of several brands with combinations of varnish, hair spray and chipping fluids without any problems.  And I'm not religious about cleaning models before painting either: my mistake. 

 

Although I have Humbrol washes, I've never actually used them "live" as they always seem to be too darkly pigmented for me, which will lead to clean-up.  Other brands are less densely pigmented and need less (or no) clean-up.

 

I understand the hierarchy of solvents, which used to be an unbreakable rule.  But by that token, bearing in mind the almost total demise of enamel paints in favour of acrylics, there are whole ranges of weathering products which shouldn't be on the market.  Your average family car is now painted with a water-based acrylic, which is clearly impervious to many things encountered in motoring.  Acrylic paint once dried should be impervious to enamel thinner.  Should.........  Metallics might be troublesome because of the nature of the pigments.

 

One problem I did encounter recently, for the first time, was metallic paint pulling off some Meng indy link tracks made of an ABS-like plastic after washing with enamel wash when I went to drybrush highlights.

 

Did you prime the bare plastic surface first?  This certainly aids paint adhesion, which is its purpose.  I hadn't primed my troublesome ABS tracks: my mistake again.

 

If you sprayed the base coat, did you thin with water or acrylic thinner?  While water will work it does weaken the paint matrix compared to proper thinner.