Humbrol Paints - Your views? (1 Viewer)

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Just used some Humrol again for the first time in a while and found it dried splotchy - with some areas gloss and others flat - and with a much darker color than indicated on the lid. It was so bad I had to paint over it with another brand.

Sorry guys, I just don't think it's very good paint.
 
Thanks Ed, that's exactly one of the results I've experienced sinc e the change. Interesting also about the Revell paints - I always considered them a poor alternative to Humbrol, but now it's the other way around.
If you look at this, it means the Humbrol product has really dropped in quality.
1.) Humbrol originally excellent, and Revell of poorer quality.
2.) Humbrol quality drops markedly.
3.) Revell paints now perceived as better quality than Humbrol.
4.) Humbrol paints must therefore be of an even lower quality, to now rank below Revell!!!
 
The few Revell's i've used have been pretty bad if I'm honest and getting those is fairly difficult out in Oz so either way its not an option.
 
I got back into modeling recently after 30 years, and Humbrol paints were recommended to me by my local Hobby Shop. I am used to using Testors paints and only work in enamels. I've used two of the Humbrol tins of paints that I purchased and so-far both have had thick wads of paint in the bottom of them that I've had to dig out with a scraper! I've successfully re-thinned them in a glass one ounce paint jar, but it's been a pain in the behind. No such issue with my Testor paints. I just bought a bottle of Tamiya and we'll see how that goes soon. I'm feeling like I'm sticking with Testors unless this changes.

P.S. And yes, I've shaken both tins very very well before attempting to use. It's like thick MUD in there still however. More like CLAY really. I'm giving Humbrol one more tin, but after three strikes, they're OUT! The other three tins that I purchased will get tossed out if that occurs.

Errata: Wurger, you mentioned proper preparation. With my Testors I just pour it in the glass spray-gun bottle in a 1:1 ratio and it's good to go! With the Humbrol's so far, it's been a lot more work--at a 1 part paint/2 parts thinner ratio--and I still don't think it's spraying quite as well. In the end, I'm going to go with the paint that is the least hassle to use. I still have to try Tamyia however. I'm not sure why some say Testors isn't that good. I've never had an issue with them in 40 years of using them. (Well, in the 80's, a one-off model in the 90's, and now again)
 
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All Humbrols enamels get the "mudy" deposit at the bottom of cans especially if storaged for a long time. That's the paint pigment and talc powder for matt effect that separated from the oily base. Shaking of cans isn't enough to get the colours of the correct consistency. I use for that a piece of metal twig stirring an enamel as long as the mud is dissolved Then I get some of the colour with a syringe and pour into a separate container where it is mixed with a thinner in order to get the proper consistency for painting. A thinner should be never added to the can with the paint. It causes the faster curing of the colour and it isn't possible to use it again because the enamel becomes caked. This can be noticed especially for older Humbrols I mean , bought quite long time ago. I have many Humbrols bought years ago and still of the good quality for painting. Just I have to stir them properly.
 
Rodger that Wurger. So it seems Humbrols' were always more difficult to use than Testors. That makes my decision for me now. Why put up with that when you can just use Testors that work right out of the bottle after a little shaking. Testors also seem to be far more hardy than Humbrol to me, but that may be do to the totally unacceptable level of separation Humbrols' seem to be prone to. It's just a flat-out inferior product. I don't know why my shop steared me that way. I'll have a talk with them next time I'm there. This hobby is complex enough already without voluntarily making it more difficult than it needs to be by using crap paint. If a company can't compete with 1960's Testors level of excellence, it needs to go away.

I've had Testors, screw-top, glass bottles of paint that have sat for years and still been just fine after 45 seconds of shaking. No primer; just right on, and they stay put! I will still try the Tamiya but if it is one iota less easy to use I'm staying Testors for the rest of my life (And Tamiya is way more expensive so it better be WAY better or it can hit the road too). I can't believe the level of bullsh*t Humbrol Paints expects the user to put up with when there are other old brands of paint that run circles around it, and are cheaper! This really makes me mad. Testors kicks the crap out of Humbrol. It's not even a contest!

Half an hour of BS just to use a paint! Humbrol! GET THA' F*** OUTTA' HERE! If your product doesn't work right out of the jar, and make my life easier, you are of no use to me as a company! DIE!

P.S. Humbrol also doesn't label their tins with the color name. They make you look up a number! Total incompetence! I'm amazed this company didn't go bankrupt 50 years ago. Totally stupid!
 
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I would say that using of the Humbrol or Testors enamels is a personal matter. I have a couple of the Testors colours and these aren't better than the Humbrol ones. What is more , these are too dark and need to be lightened for a scale effect IMHO. As far as the stirring of Humbrol colours is concerned.. all paints require stirring before using. No matter that's the Humbrol, Testors or other ones. No wonder that there is a lot of guys coming here asking for help because of painting failures for example. That's the effect of not following rules for preparing and applying paints that had been set up long time before many assemblers started the hobby. Regarding the labelling of colours with numbers or names... thanks to Lord, Mr.Hobby and Gunze use the English with their native writting together . who otherwise would be able to find out what a paint this is.. anyway ,the Humbrol has labeled colours too.

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Respectfully, I disagree Wurger. You just shake a glass, screw-top bottle of Testors for about 45 seconds and it's fully mixed and ready to go. You don't have to do anything else for it to be perfect. The shaking mixes it all up. You do not have to stir it ever; it will never separate like Humbrol does.

As to shade, that is a personal issue, but it's easier to add a drop or two of white than it is to deal with the thick Clay of Humbrol. I don't think the two can be said to be equal paints at all. Testors works. Humbrol simply does not. Having to go through all those extra steps to get Humbrol to be useable is beyond unacceptable.

P.S. Testors has the shade code and the actual name printed on the bottle. The easy-use glass, screw-top bottle. Humbrol has a code, that you have to know or look up. What kind of idiot company can't print the name of the paint on their product? It's pure insanity. That is intentionally making it more difficult for no reason what-so-ever.
 
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As I said.. that's the personal matter if you use the Humbrol or Testors colours. Just question ... how long do you have the Testors enamels, in other words how old are they?

Regarding the Humbrol shades.. that's the problem, Airframes said as well. It appeared with the new owner of the brand. In the past all was fine with that.
 
I've only had these current Testors paints for a couple of months but who knows how long they were on the shelf. In the past I could keep Testors paints for a couple of years and they were still fine. It is surely anyones right to buy an inferior product, but the quality standards between the two lines are intrinsic and factually defined. Testors is good paint that does what it claims it will do, and is easy to use and affordable. Humbrol is bad paint that does not meet expectations, is a colossal pain in the a*s to use, and is more expensive too-boot.
 
Many of my Humbrol enamels got more than 20 years old and still I can use them without any trouble. A couple of Testors enamels I had previously I had to bin after about 5 years because these couldn't be used any longer.. Also there is no problem if I have to stir or shake a paint for 40s or 60s. Modelliing isn't a race.

Also you have mentioned the Humbrols there were expensive. No wonder if these have to be imported from the Europe. The shipping and other charges for letting them get in the USA make the cost undoubtedly. The same is with the Testors/Model Master enamels here. The Humbrols in Poland are 7-8PLN for a can while the bottle of the Testors/MM are for 10PLN. So the difference is 2-3PLN. If you buy ten cans of Humbrol you can save 20-30PLN what is a bottle of Model Master Thinner of 50ml capacity only. Having the saved 20-30PLN I can purchase two or three bottles ( 2x200ml+75ml=475ml or 200ml+75ml =275ml) of the Wamod thinner that works great with the Humbrol, Revell, Agama and Model Master colours. So please,don't tell about the cost until you may compare the prices with these in other countries.
BTW.. modeling isn't a cheap hobby at all. But I'm sure you know about that.
 
Agree with Wojtek. I posted my thoughts in the other thread. Superfire may change his mind a year from now when he finds that all that shaking of his MM bottle has caused the paper seal to stick to the glass rim and tear up when he twists the cap. After that, the paint dies due to the solvent evaporating. I've thrown out more MM paint than I used because of this. That's when I switched to Tamiya.
 
Why do you hate our freedom, and SUPERIOR American Testors paint? This is just like when you bombed Pearl Harbor! :)


LOOK at this Humbrol Green! Look at what it did to my Shpeet-Fiyah! The horror! The horror!

Testors doesn't do this, EVER! Never again! Humbrol is the great satan!
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I had to take thinner on a Q-tip and light sand paper to it. Sheen is all messed up now; gonna take a lot of work to repair the damage.
 
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Looks great Wurger! You didn't have any trouble, because you went through nine kinds of pain-in-the-backside to make that paint work I'm assuming. Kudo's my-man, but I don't roll that way. I demand a product work right out of the bottle or at the very least pay me money to put up with it. Also, mine is going to be a weathered "Burma" Spit left out in the sun and incredible humidity for two months. Thank God for really bad Humbrol green. It would have taken forever to weather good paint down that fast. ;)
 
Of course that's your choice Bud. If you prefer the Testors/Model Master enamels to the Humbrol ones that's your way. Nobody here tries to deny or changing your decision. You bought a couple of Humbrol paints only and you got disappointed. That's true. However your experience at them is quite , let's say a short-time one, isn't it. Airframes and I have been using Humbrols for years ( me for 35 or so and Airframes even longer because he is older than me ) and please believe me these aren't too bad. They may require some of patiency and more of working but it is a matter of training only. By the way , the Spitfire above was painted with a brush and the Tempest with an airbrush. And THX for kinds words toward the models. :)

PS... here my cardboard scratchbuilt Cromwell tank painted with Humbrols ( still working on ). As you may notice, the Humbrols look fine also on the paper.

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That tank looks awesome Wurger. My point with this is that you should not have to "train" to use a paint when something else just works right out of the bottle. As you have demonstrated you can make a silk purse out of a sows ear, but why do that when you can just buy a silk purse. Obviously sometimes it's fun to do that, but I think for most modelers, they would rather spend their time crafting a model the way they envision it and not be bogged down by having to deal with making up for a paint companies short-comings.

You can buy a 1960's Warbird model and sand off the raised panel lines and put rivets and added detail in it, and some might find that fun. But for most people I think the sales figures show that they would rather just buy a high quality modern version with all that stuff already there. Humbrol works about as well as anything you spend a lot of time making work, but Testors don't suffer from that added layer of headache. Why do it hard, when you can do it easy; et. al.

P.S. it is working great for a faded beat-up paint job for me, and in that regard I like it, but it's accidental and only because the Testors version would have gone on properly and the weathering would have taken a lot more effort. I can make my own paint if need be. I buy paint because I want the paint company to do my work for me!
 
This is not good news. I just bought $50.00 worth of Humbrol tins! I always liked Humbrol paint, I loved their satin finish colors and I thought they sprayed very nicely and the pigments were ground very fine. I have some tins that are 40 years old that can still be used. I probably have Humbrol in tins with four different markings and graphics on them, even the Monogram ones from the 80s. I suspect the issue is that the new stuff is made in China although recently 2/3 of their production has been brought back to the UK. I have some personal experience with manufacturing in China, initially the quality of the product is very good, then they'll start to cut corners and hope you don't notice. Another pervasive factor in model paint production is the detrimental effects of environmental regulation- this is what has essentially eliminated lacquer paints like Floquil which, in my opinion, were the best paints for models ever made.
 

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