Humbrol Acrylics

[Stikpusher]

A local shop, Brookhurst Hobbies, recently started carrying the acrylic line of Humbrol paints. I have been a die hard fan of Humbrol enamels for some 30+ years now. But one has to keep their eyes open for new options. So I selected a couple colors that I needed and bought them in order to try them out.
Now they come in a small plastic screw top jar, with a plastic cap, slightly taller than the metal tins for the enamels. A big improvement in packaging right there.
A short while ago I tried the first one on some brush painting for a figure. I followed the side label directions and shook then stirred the paint before dipping in the brush. Let’s just say that my first impressions are very favorable. They hand brush beautifully! Far superior to Tamiya and Model Master in that respect. One coat coverage, with no brush marks. Due to the ease of stirring, they appear to dry and take on the flat sheen of this particular paint quick enough. Better than Vallejo on that point in my experience. I’ll let the paint dry overnite, then check it to see about adhesion and scratch resistance.
I’ll update this thread tomorrow on that point.

Has or does anybody here use these paints? And if so, any tips, ideas, or critiques on them regarding airbrushing? Or any other feedback on them?

[speedgraflex]

Hullo!! I suspect Stuart may write back upon this subject... I read a batch of reviews which confused me about this particular paint, but if you say this works, I am eager to know more, and will probably start looking for colors!

Have you seen???

[Stikpusher]

Yes, I am hoping to hear back on this from at least Stuart and Battlestar Yamato. I am fairly certain that those gentlemen both use this paint. Thanks for the video Bruce. Of course Humbrol would create a video to recommend their own thinner, that’s given. It was good to hear about the tap water suggestion in the video. I just hate having to purchase a separate thinner for each separate acrylic brand in my paints collection: Testors, Tamiya, Gunze, Mission Models, etc.

Anyways, first thing this morning I went a checked the initial results from drying overnight. A beautiful dead flat finish, just like with their enamels. Score 1 point for these paints. It did appear a tad bit grainy, but no worse than some old acrylic lines that I remember.

[Stuart]

Hi Stik,

Sorry for the late response - Yes I have a lot of these paints and do use them regularly. They're not bad but can be a bit of a mixed bag a lot of the time which is why I've been looking around for an alternative. I tend to avoid the gloss and semi and just stick to the matts and I do think they need to be used on some form of primer if possible as I've had some bad adhesion problems, especially if I've thinned them. That all being said I've had some cracking good finished with them.

I do use Humbrols own thinner but I think you'd be OK with water. I can't comment on airbrushing as I don't do it. What I have tried hasn't been a success but that was probably down to me and the equipment. I do think the pigment is quite grainy though so I'd be interested to see how you get on.

I have about 30-40 of them in my stash so what does that tell you

[Stikpusher]

Thanks for that feedback Stuart!

[Stikpusher]

First thing this morning I took a look at my test figure. The paint dried dead flat in typical Humbrol fashion. Perhaps a tad bit rough or grainy, but certainly one of the best one coat no brush marks finishes that I’ve gotten from an acrylic paint. This evening, giving the paint a good 24 hours or so to dry and cure, I checked on adhesion/scratch resistance using my fingernail. Pretty good adhesion and scratch resistance. This paint reminds me of some of the older acrylics that were on the market years ago for figure painting. So far I’m really liking these paints.

[Stikpusher]

So here is the results of the first test. The figure is from the Tamiya Leopard 1A4. (ignore the flesh color, that is a Badger paint that I picked up at a local Railroad Hobby Shop to try out) Anyways, as you can see, the paint dried dead flat.



I allowed it to dry overnite and then tried a scratch test (fingernail and light to moderate pressure) about 10 hours later. At that time, it scratched off, like most every other acrylic that I have ever used. Roughly 14 hours after that and 24 hours after first application I tried the same scratch test again and this time, it was highly scratch resistant. This evening, roughly 48 hours after application, I tried an adhesion test with burnished down masking tapes. First Tamiya tape, and no lifting, then I tried 3M Blue tape and got two tiny spots to lift one time in two attempts.



The scratch off area is on the right upper portion of the boot and the lift from the 3M Blue masking tape on the left. This is on a 1/35 figure, so the lifting is minimal.

[Stuart]

That looks great Stik - I'm glad you're having good results.

I should add to my comments that all of the issues I've had with this paint have in regards to painting larger surfaces. For small parts, figures and little areas it really is good paint and my first port of call.

[Stikpusher]

Yes, with Humbrols color line, I can easily see these paints becoming my go to for uniform base colors. Between the dead flat finish, the one coat coverage, their brushability, the plastic screw top pots for ease of mixing, and their color range, I’m really liking them so far. I suppose airbrushing will be the next area to experiment in. They sure beat the snot out of Model Master acrylics for performance so far, and are superior to Tamiya in most color selections (except Japanese specific colors) and hand brushability straight out of the pot/jar.

[Duke Maddog]

I'm following this closely. I don't know when I'll be able to get any more paints but this information is great to see. Hopefully though, I have enough to keep me going for awhile.

Looking forward to seeing how this works through an airbrush.