Cheap place to buy Humbrol varnishes, thinners etc?

[Jimlad]

I get through a lot of their thinners so I buy them in the 125ml size, more expensive than champagne - anyone have  any tips on where to buy? Rustins tech support suggested just using white spirit however I wasn't convinced. I'm open to suggestions for different products...

 

Thanks.

[Coors54]

I've been using Humbrol for the last 55 years and only ever used white spirit to clean up and turpentine to thin, why use champagne?

 

Dave

[Jimlad]

Turps huh? Interesting. Would that be the common or garden diy shop stuff? I always thought that might leave a residue. Or would I be better off with distilled?

 

Thanks Dave.

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

52 minutes ago, Coors54 said:

I've been using Humbrol for the last 55 years and only ever used white spirit to clean up and turpentine to thin, why use champagne?

 

Dave

 

 

... because using enamel thinner gives much faster drying times and much less stink.

 

White spirits and turpentine substitutes are what got enamels a bad name.

[spitfire]

Yes I always use either Colourcoats or Xtracolor thinners, pretty much no smell at all, and to clean my airbrush I use Badgers airbrush cleaner, I used to get it in the neck from my better half when I was using white spirits and turps, plus they did not clean my airbrush very well, I was always getting a sticky air valve.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Coors54]

I can only speak as I find and ordinary turps substitute for general brush cleaning and artists distilled turpentine for thinning but then I'm a brush painter not an airbrushed so others mileage will vary.

 

Dave

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

I didn't say turpentine etc wouldn't work - only that enamel thinners (i.e. naptha base) works better.

 

One of the key strengths of enamel is that it thins successfully with almost anything hydrocarbon. You could use diesel if you really wanted to.

 

The behaviour of the resultant mixture does behave differently though, and turpentine is very slow drying with white spirit even slower. Both have fairly strong smells which combined are the main reasons why I get so frustrated hearing "Humbrol is still sticky after a week and my wife hates the smell, so I have to change to acrylic"

[lasermonkey]

Having only recently tried Colourcoats thinners, all I can say is that I wish I'd done it years ago. As Jamie says, there is very little smell, the drying time is incredibly fast (I've masked over it after just thirty minutes!) and if you have any thinned paint left over, you can decant it back into the tin with no risk of the paint going off.

 

Of course, use cheap thinners for cleaning purposes, but IMO, the Colourcoats thinners are well worth the money.

[Jimlad]

Thanks very much for the replies on this.

 

I'll probably try some of the colourcoats stuff.

 

Taking a quick look at the costs of the recommended products per litre.

 

Humbrol comes in at £45

Xtracolour at £36

Coloucoats at £30  

 

Then there's the courier cost as typically they can't be sent by royal mail...

 

I subscribe to a youtube channel called Scale Model Workshop, he has an interesting vid on primers and the sort of thinners he refers to there are of the more industrial variety. 

I wondered if there were equivalent uk alternatives.

 

Thanks again.

 

J

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Looks like I'm underselling myself by a big margin...