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Humbrol Enamel Paints


Norton961
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I recently went to my local Hobbycraft to buy some Humbrol paint to find that they no longer stock it and now they stock Revell. The reason apparently was that Hobbycraft were having difficulties with deliveries from Humbrol. Now in some senses Revell in my  book is a better paint, but I have got used to certain Humbrol colours for combining for weathering. Has any one else experienced difficulties buying Humbrol?

 

David

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Yes, almost everywhere including model shops. My local one carries the full range but the 'full' range in the new acrylic squeezy things seem a bit sparse - they all have 163 RAF Dark Green but there aren't even spaces in the rack for dark sea grey, medium sea grey, light aircraft grey or camouflage grey. Painting RAF anythings from the 1960s onwards is getting challenging. Other non-model shop stockists have dribs and drabs. 

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I've found Revell to be a good substitute for most colours but Humbrol "Leather" 62 is a go-to for weathering and I've not really found an alternative. I think 85 may work but some one on here will know I'm sure. Fortunately I have a few tins of Humbrol in the stash. I use the enamel colours mainly.

 

Chris Hopper

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For enamel paints I find Revell to be far superior to the current Humbrol product, so no great loss there. For more specialist (military) needs there is Sovereign Hobbies Colourcoats .

In the more modern Acrylic world there are many alternatives available.

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I agree about Revell being a better paint so I will use it ( when I can get No 9 Anthracite) but Leather 62 is my go to colour for my weathering colours.

As I have been using enamels for the last 30 years I am not keen to change to Acrylics.

 

David

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1 minute ago, Norton961 said:

I agree about Revell being a better paint so I will use it ( when I can get No 9 Anthracite) but Leather 62 is my go to colour for my weathering colours.

As I have been using enamels for the last 30 years I am not keen to change to Acrylics.

 

David

Yes I agree - enamels give you much more flexibility...

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12 minutes ago, Nile said:

I don't have any to hand for a direct comparison, but Revell 85 brown looks the closest to Humbrol 62.

I've now seen it in at least one comparison chart.

Chris

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Modern Humbrol's - since they decided to manufacture in the UK - are a poor quality as far as I'm concerned.
I have tins 20 - 30 years old that just require stirring and they are ready to go, I seem to have to only open a new tin and the goo inside starts to set - yes I do now let it down with some white spirits, but also their control of Matt / Gloss seems random.
However if you wish to buy Humbrol, then a search on Ebay (or similar sites) will find plenty of suppliers, that's where I've got mine from.
Agree with Humbrol 62 - Leather, very useful colour.

Edited by Penlan
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On 06/11/2021 at 18:03, Norton961 said:

As I have been using enamels for the last 30 years I am not keen to change to Acrylics.

After a similar length of time using enamels, perfectly happily, I tried some Valejo acrylics for the first time a couple of weeks ago as I didn't want to stink out where I'm staying. I actually prefer them so wont bother to switch back now.

 

Edited by Hal Nail
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On 07/11/2021 at 13:20, Penlan said:

However if you wish to buy Humbrol, then a search on Ebay (or similar sites) will find plenty of suppliers, that's where I've got mine from.

Have to agree here, Ebay's the place: not for auctions in this case, but for fixed price Buy It Now listings where shops and other businesses use Ebay as a marketplace, a bit like Amazon. Also, you can order the search by 'Lowest Price + Postage' so you can quickly see the cheapest deal: Jadlam Racing almost always seem to offer the best price and they always arrive very quickly (no connection, just a happy customer!).

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Having now got a mixed stock of Humbrol and Revell I mixed up one of my usual weathering mixes (usually Humbrol Matt Black N33 and Red Leather No 62) but this time using Revel Matt black and Humbrol Red Leather ( 62) the result was not a brown/black colour as expected but a very distinct Green/ Brown, not what I was expecting!

So it is clear that mixing a Revell equivalent with a Humbrol colour will not necessarily give the colour you are expecting, so some experimentation will be required.

 

David

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Humbrol has been pretty awful, particularly the so called matt paints that even if you stir them vigorously for ages will dry gloss every time or occasionally some strange mixture of the two.

 

Tried acrylics, not impressed, to wishy washy, not enough coverage out of the tin/pot.

 

Now, Tamiya rattle cans, that is a different matter, much better.  Unfortunately like Humbrol, availability is patchy and trying to work out their descriptions can be a bit of a challenge!!

 

 

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On 08/11/2021 at 21:48, Chas Levin said:

Jadlam Racing almost always seem to offer the best price and they always arrive very quickly (no connection, just a happy customer!).


I’d second Jadlam as being a good, reliable supplier, also eModels who are another go-to when my supplies run low!

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My friend Tony Wilkins recently bought me some Humbrol paints ( No 62 Red Leather and No33 Matt black) from a shop in Newark but what was surprising that every tin had different branding! I also think that 2 of the Red Leather tins were the original mix so a bonus. What we need to remember is that lots of compounds used in paints are now banned so the composition and therefore the colour is subtly different to the original. My other interest is motorcycles made in the early 1990s and it is now impossible to match some of the colours due to some of the original compounds being banned.

The story of Humbrol is interesting, originally made in Hull, production was moved to China, but the quality was appalling so was moved back to the U.K. and quality improved but there are some inconsistencies. Satin Black is now very variable sometimes being more like gloss.

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Yes, quality can be variable. I think the quality issues with satins and matts are due to the matting agents used, so my way around that with Humbrol is to use gloss where possible and alter the degree of reflectivity afterwards with varnish or similar - it seems to work well in most cases. Otherwise I use Phoenix Precision where possible...

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On 05/11/2021 at 21:23, Norton961 said:

I recently went to my local Hobbycraft to buy some Humbrol paint to find that they no longer stock it and now they stock Revell. The reason apparently was that Hobbycraft were having difficulties with deliveries from Humbrol. Now in some senses Revell in my  book is a better paint, but I have got used to certain Humbrol colours for combining for weathering. Has any one else experienced difficulties buying Humbrol?

 

David

Humbrol have a great range but some of the paint is like Toothpastle so I switch to revell now when I can.

 

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Games Workshop Citadel paints have their uses for metals, leather, flayed flesh, gore etc rather than liveries. Entertaining names too!

 

Dava

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  • 1 month later...
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18 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

...mention of EU rules looks a bit suspect as we aren't part of the EU anymore.

The EU Chemical Labelling and Packaging Regulation been retained in UK law as the  'GB CLP Regulation', details on the HSE website for anyone bored enough to wade through them. 

 

No idea on whether or how that affects Humbrol paint. 

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14 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

Anything from the horse's mouth?

 

Scrub that!

 

 

Seems stocks have disappeared. I only bought some a few weeks ago direct from Airfix.

 

 

Jason

 

Yet - some sellers still have some stock showing.

 

Just a quick example:

Some on order, but still a few available.

https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/siteresults?searchfield=humbrol enamel

 

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