Matt black paints for brush painting - recommendations?

[SRman]

Can I get a few recommendations for a good matt black paint with brush-painting in mind, please. I want one that has good coverage, dries to a hard finish and most importantly, dries matt.

I used to use Humbrol #33, but they changed the formula (probably more than once) and all of the recent tins I have seem to dry glossy. I do use Humbrol #65, coal black which is a satin finish, and I go through heaps of that, but I want a truly matt finish for some jobs.

Bear in mind that I may not be able to get all of the brands mentioned in any responses here in Australia, but also remember that lots of members from all over the world may also benefit from the replies, so all responses are welcome.

I do have a few model shops nearby with different paint ranges, so there is some choice available here.

Thanks in anticipation.

Jeff

[DCB]

I use poundland matt black car spray paint it's about £1,50 for 150ml  and I spray it in to the cap of the can let it start to dry and brush it on, It's nice and thin doesn't hide the detail and quite resilient.  

Sprayed it needs warm dry conditions to dry Matt but brushed with a quality brush it generally dries nice and Matt.

[GWR-fan]

I have found that a cheap matt black poster paint from the likes of K-mart or one of the $2.00 stores and then matt clear coated gives a good finish.  Usually around $2.00 -  4.00 for 500mls.

[brossard]

Well, I like Tamiya acrylics.  The paint flows nicely.  However, I only use it for detail work.  For coverage of a largish area, spray paint from your hardware store works very well. 

 

I have some Humbrol acrylic paint which is pretty good, no black though.

 

Hard to recommend something - you haven't said what you will use it for.  I assume wagon kits or similar.

 

There are no brick and mortar hobby shops in Montreal any more,  so I have resorted to an online store in Toronto.  Excellent service and two or even one day delivery.  Perhaps there are similar where you are.

 

John

Edited July 13, 2023 by brossard

[SRman]

1 hour ago, GWR-fan said:

I have found that a cheap matt black poster paint from the likes of K-mart or one of the $2.00 stores and then matt clear coated gives a good finish.  Usually around $2.00 -  4.00 for 500mls.

 

Thanks; that's very useful. We have a K-mart just down the road from here (the original one in Australia!).

[SRman]

1 hour ago, brossard said:

Well, I like Tamiya acrylics.  The paint flows nicely.  However, I only use it for detail work.  For coverage of a largish area, spray paint from your hardware store works very well. 

 

I have some Humbrol acrylic paint which is pretty good, no black though.

 

Hard to recommend something - you haven't said what you will use it for.  I assume wagon kits or similar.

 

There are no brick and mortar hobby shops in Montreal any more,  so I have resorted to an online store in Toronto.  Excellent service and two or even one day delivery.  Perhaps there are similar where you are.

 

John

 

I need it for detail work on railway and bus/road vehicle kits. The automotive spray paints are good as a starting point, but not so good where it is too awkward to mask off an area. A recent bus I have almost finished using the satin black below, but satin is not always quite the effect I need, and, as I said, the Humbrol paint just doesn't cut it any more (I used to go through gallons of it!!).

Also, for weathering work and flooding into door openings and seam lines, matt is more useful than gloss or satin. but not really ideal for spraying.



 

Edited July 13, 2023 by SRman

[ianLMS]

I use Phoenix matt black but i dont believe they ship overseas. You can add matting agents to satin or gloss but havent tried it. Or, if you can get Vellejo in Australia they do a brush on acrylic matt varnish. It works well to dull down satin and some gloss paints. 

 

Vallejo Model Color 500 ml Matt Acrylic Varnish https://amzn.eu/d/5fGoJb9

 

 

[Phil Parker]

Revell make three shades of black. The one I use most is No.9, Anthracite, which is a very slightly grey-black that looks better IMHO than pure black. It's very close to Railmatch Weathered Black, but I don't manage to stick the lid on the jar so easily.

 

Otherwise, Tamiya paints are excellent.

 

More here: https://philsworkbench.blogspot.com/2018/08/three-flavours-of-black.html

[cctransuk]

8 hours ago, SRman said:

Can I get a few recommendations for a good matt black paint with brush-painting in mind, please. I want one that has good coverage, dries to a hard finish and most importantly, dries matt.

I used to use Humbrol #33, but they changed the formula (probably more than once) and all of the recent tins I have seem to dry glossy. I do use Humbrol #65, coal black which is a satin finish, and I go through heaps of that, but I want a truly matt finish for some jobs.

Bear in mind that I may not be able to get all of the brands mentioned in any responses here in Australia, but also remember that lots of members from all over the world may also benefit from the replies, so all responses are welcome.

I do have a few model shops nearby with different paint ranges, so there is some choice available here.

Thanks in anticipation.

Jeff

 

Back in the day, I just added talcum powder to a gloss paint in order to produce a matt finish.

 

CJI.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Games Workshop Chaos Black for me.

 

Mike.

[St Enodoc]

From my Humbrol colour chart, Revell no 8 is the matt black enamel you need.

 

It also gives a RAL number 9011 if you want to roll your own, so to speak.

[TinTracks]

9 hours ago, SRman said:

Can I get a few recommendations for a good matt black paint with brush-painting in mind, please. I want one that has good coverage, dries to a hard finish and most importantly, dries matt.

Hi. I've recently had some good results using Vallejo 70950 black acrylic. Thins well with a drop or  two of water and seems to have good ''self levelling'' qualities.

 Regards, Rich

[St Enodoc]

Reading between the lines, I think that SRMan is looking for an enamel rather than acrylic. I understand that, because I find that acrylics dry too quickly for my liking.

Edited July 13, 2023 by St Enodoc
speling

[brossard]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

Reading between the lines, I think that SRMan is looking for an enamel rather than acrylic. I understand that, because I find that acrylics dry too quickly for my liking.

 

End use is an important consideration.  Using acrylics in an airbrush can be problematic because of paint drying in the nozzle.  This is solved by adding a few drops of paint retarder.  Tamiya and Vallejo have this.

 

Acrylics aren't much good for dry brushing either, again because they dry too quickly.  For this, enamel, especially Humbrol is a good choice.

 

John

[SRman]

Thank you to all who have responded so far. Some of the suggestions will be very useful for me, and I am sure other parts of the suggestions will be useful for other modellers in other areas of the world.

John (St Enodoc) was correct in suggesting that I prefer enamels for the work I have in mind, but I can and do use acrylics as well, usually not for external jobs, although even that isn't a hard and fast rule.

As I said in my original post, some of the brands are not obtainable here, although Tamiya is readily available, and there are local sources for Vallejo and (I think) Games Workshop. I would love to get hold of some Railmatch and Busmatch paints, but they absolutely refuse to post them here, even though the postal regulations do actually allow small quantities to be sent with correct packaging. Revell are available, and I use certain of their colours, but I find that I don't always like the way they dry either, even with a little thinning.

One of these days my airbrush will get its first use, and that may be a game changer for me too.