Friday, June 10, 2016

Ruminating on Humbrol paint


Sage advice for model painters is to buy fresh tinlets when performing important work. This is what I did, but the results weren't what I expected. 

I'm a "man of the people" style modeller. No fancy pants paints for me if I can help it. Humbrol is readily available in many high streets and I like to think that my model-making brothers and sisters will feel confident when looking at my projects if they can buy the same materials easily. 

That and I rarely remember to buy the fancy stuff but there is a Humbrol rack in my local shopping arcade and I raided this for new tins fo all the main colours I planned to use.

The first colour to be sprayed was 103 Cream. Taking the top off, it was a tar-like consistency. With loads of thinning (white spirit) I managed to get it through the Iwatta airbrush but I'll admit it was a shock. I like my paints on the thick side, one reason I've never been keen on Revell as it is thinner, but pale bunker oil? No thanks. 

The 118 Brown was fine, although I wouldn't want it any thicker. Blue and red were perfect, as was the green, which I'd bought years earlier and half used. 

A spray can of satin varnish lasted 3 squirts before gumming up. What I got out did seem very thick. 

Come on Humbrol, I want to love your paint, but you do make it hard sometimes!

4 comments:

cparkstone said...

I know what you mean about Humbrol paints Phill. I always find the white's are always very thick.
I bought one of those battery operated cocktail stirrers from Wilkinson for £1.99. I had to squeeze the end in slightly so it would fit in the tinlets but certainly stirs things up.

Phil Parker said...

I use a pucka Badger stirrer, a rather more useful bit of kit than I expected, and even this struggles with some of the sludge. Don't get me wrong, I like plenty of pigment but this is too much!

Vivian Hughes said...

I was at a Gauge O Guild event a couple of years ago (not my scale but attended with a mate) and had a very interesting chat with the expert model painter Ian Rathbone. I told him I'd had problems with Humbrol tinlets (particularly yellow). His advice was to pour away the clear stuff that sometimes settles on the top then replace with thinners and mix. Have been doing this ever since and not had any problems. Vivian Hughes

Phil Parker said...

Very interesting. Wouldn't have helped with the cream as that was pure pigment, but I'll be trying this at some point in the future.

Thanks