What's on The Workbench (1 Viewer)

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Cheers Terry and Paul!

Handover took place, and both recipients LOVED them, so I'm really pleased. Do hope to get alot better though (practice, practice, practice!)
 
Only one thing better than practice, and that's more practice. (Always worries me when Doctors are described as 'practicing'. I don't want someone practicing on me - I want a bl**dy expert!!).
I've got the next stage of the 'bare metal' finish done on the F-84, but I am not happy!
The first problem has been bl**dy Humbrol paint - again! A new tin of Humbrol No. 11 Silver, thoroughly stirred, had to be thinned to around 90% thinner, just to get it to spray!
Of course, that was far too thin to adhere, so - start again - after cleaning the model!
So, strip the airbrush, clean it, test it, test again with a different colour paint, clean again, and try to spray the silver with a more realistic thinner ratio. The only way I could get it to work was to manually hold back the needle (i.e. by disconnecting the trigger and pulling the rear of the needle!), and even then the paint was only just spraying, and drying a horrible, grainy, dull matt.
Even after polishing with the SNJ powder, the surface has only just got a sheen, and the pigment granules are visble as darker spots.
I haven't yet decide whether to start all over again, or just live with it - I'll sleep on it and decide tomorrow!
Second problem was the joint on the rear cockpit glazing. I thought I'd blended it in smoothly, but the silver shows it as a ridge in certain lighting conditions, even though it feels smooth to the touch. OK, some of the effect may be due to the poor paint finish, and that area will be covered by a decal anyway, but it's not up to standard, so that bit I will be working on again.
Oh, and the satin black on the spine dried like partially polished tar - thank you very ****ing much whoever makes the paint under the Humbrol name these days!!
Once the best modelling paint in the World, and now made in some back-street shed, by person or persons unknown, by the look of it!
Anyway, now that I've finished grumbling (the curses were muffled to avoid being arrested!), here's what it looks like so far. I'll post more once I've decided on the next course of action.
 

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Looks like time to switch paints. Model Master has a pretty good line of metalics.
 
I agree Paul. After 50+ years of using Humbrol, they are now just not acceptable. The problem is, the only way I can get any other brand, is by on-line / mail order.
And there's still problems with Royal Mail not accepting solvent-based fluids, although Hannant's have announced they can now ship as normal. But that still means getting an order together for a number of tins. No major problem, apart from initial outlay, which will be around £35 just to stock up on frequently used basic colours, but a royal pain when just one or two colours are needed in a hurry.
But, I think I'll just have to take the plunge - in the long run, the initial expense is better than potentially ruining a model, and the frustration of all the time spent on the build(s) before paint gets anywhere near the plastic if the paint does ruin things.
Apart from being bl**dy annoying, it's also very sad to see a 'household name' going down the drain, even though Humbrol, as a company, ceased to exist some years back. Personally, I think it's verging on criminal using the name, for an inferior product made who knows where.
 
Cheers Karl, and echo yours and Wojtek's comments re Terry's build!

Looks good from here, but like we said in the Pms, know exactly what you're talking about with the new 'Humbrol' (translation from Chinese: 'shite') paints. Tis indeed criminal to use the name of what was the world's best paint range on these crappy products. Sad thing is I have no other options here either, posties destroy packages containing fluids (thankyou bloody 9/11...)
 
It's a shame Terry. From here it looks fine, but you are the one holding it close, and if it's not to your liking, it just a bl00dy shame for the time and effort. Hoping you can resolve this to your satisfaction.

Now can you give us some idea how to identify the new shyte paint containers? Or is there a way? I've only got a couple of tins of Humbrol. Now does this hold true of their glue in the yellow bottle????? It's what I have been using, or do you have any idea?
 
Terry said the tins are labelled, as opposed to printed Bill. Trouble here in Hungary is they are all printed still - suffice to know that anything in the shops now is the new cr@p...
 
Thanks for the encouragement and compliments chaps. I've decided to re-spray the poor areas, and have now masked the model, and blended-in that joint, and primed the area. With a fresh tin of paint, if it sprays when testing, I'll re-spray - if not, I'll have to wait for an order of Xtracolour paint to arrive.
So much for a 'quick, out of the box' build to get me back into the swing of things!
Regarding Humbrol - you can be virtually certain that any Humbrol product purchased now is the 'new' stuff, unless a shop, or supplier, is lucky enough to have the remains of stocks of the original products, be it glue, paint, filler, liquid mask etc etc.
The Humbrol factory in Hull closed down after the take-over, more than five years ago, and has since lain derelict, partly burnt out, and may even have been demolished now.
I have no idea where the paint is made now - presumably some small, 'overseas' production site, with terrible standards and minimal quality control.
If you want to be certain that the paint, or whatever, is the 'new' stuff, then apart from printed, wrap-around labels on the tins, rather than the tins themselves being printed, the address, in small letters around the base of the tin (was in a 'block' when Hornby first took over), will read "Hornby Hobbies, Westgate, Margate, Kent CT9 4JX, UK.
The original, Humbrol-produced paint, had the Humbrol, Hull address.
Please feel free to write to them, explaining just how absolute sh*te their product actually is - I will be writing later this week, as I find that e-mails are either not received, or don't get any attention. The more they are made aware of this, from all over the World, the better - otherwise I think the loss of market share, which is sure to happen, will result in the brand being no more.
 
Thanks Bill.
Well, I tried the new tin of paint, bought yesterday. It sprayed this time - eventually - but only just. However, on opening the tin, the first thing I noticed was that it wasn't silver!
It was more of a metallic light grey, rather like weathered aluminium - great if you want a dirty, weathered aluminium finish, but not what I bought!
But, I decided to try it, and stirred thoroughly for about ten minutes (yes - TEN minutes!!), when it eventually showed a hint of silver. Having come this far, I went ahead and sprayed the 'affected' area, and the leading edges of the wings. It's now a dull, grainy-looking greyish silver, but I'll leave it for around 18 hours, and then try polishing it. If that doesn't work, then I'm waiting until my Xtracolour paints arrive!
Just to illustrate what this sh*te is really like, here's a photo I took an hour or so ago, with examples of paint from both tins, brush painted onto a piece of gloss card.
On the right, showing at least a bit of shine, although still grainy, is the first tin used, bought a month ago. It loses the shine when sprayed (if it can be eventually sprayed!)
On the left is the new tin, bought yesterday (Tuesday), brushed on the same way. When sprayed, it is even more grainy!
The photo shows the card just slightly larger than actual size. For comparison, here's that Sabre again, built about 5 years ago, using the original Humbrol Silver No.11. OK. it's been polished, but so had the rest of the F-84!
I rest my case!!!
 

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This is really a shame they can't keep the nice quality of Humbrol enamels. I think it is a problem with the metalic base for the colour and the thinner.

Terry, have you checked on a few other no.11 cans?
 
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