Humbrol Matt Enamel, is it me?

[thirdline]

I've bought a tin of Humbrol Matt Enamel Rail Colour and it's as thin as water, two coats and it still hasn't covered. I used to use Humbrol paint when I was a kid and it was great, but this tin I've got at the moment is awful, is there anything other than Bisto I can used to thicken it?

[Rog RJ]

Have you stirred it thoroughly?  Just shaking the can doesn't work.  You will probably find it is still quite thin but a god stirring really helps.

 

And ,no, it's not just you that's having problems with it.

[Chrissaf]

I find that after sitting on stock shelves for months on end, the pigment splits from the emulsifier and settles to the bottom of the tin in the form of very thick sediment that shaking just doesn't budge. Are you sure that your tin doesn't just need an extremely vigorous stir.

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I use one of these battery powered "Badger Paint Mixers" for this task.

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[Jeff Mennell]

Chris, I use a modified battery operated hand whisk which costs £1.43 from ebay and looks just like this:-

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/U0YAAOSwGYVW-7E2/s-l225.jpg

Those Badger mixers are getting on for £20 and are exactly the same thing!!

[mjb1961]

My wife uses cornflour to thicken up the Humbrol for our Sunday roast ,,, 😀 😀 😀

[LCDR]

 I find that I need to stir tins of Humbrol enamel that have been standing for a week or more for at least 2 minutes (I count slowly to 120 as I do it!) . I always stir any tin for a short time even if I have used it the day before. Any that have not been used for a few months I find I need to 'stab' the sediment before stiring.

 

To do this I collect lolly sticks for the larger tins and those wooden coffee stirrers you get on the train for the small ones. These I find are adequate for my purposes.

 

After use as soon as I have pushed the lid back hard and checked that it is fuilly home, I shake the tin before I put it away so that there is a film of paint in the underside of the lid and a seal. This is a precaution against drying out.

 

I still have a tin of Humbrol Rail Colour enamel Rail Blue that I bought in 1979 which was still usable  last time I used it last year. (I don't paint that much in rail blue). Note that this is the oil based enamel rail colour long discontinued and not the acrylics that have replaced them.

 

I much prefer Humbrol enamelsto other makes, so when they discontinued the rail colours in that formula I was very disappointed.

[thirdline]

I forgot to note that I stirred it well, I remembered that when I used Humbrol Matt years ago there was always a layer of thin stuff at the top and some thick sludge at the bottom, so I used to stir it until it was an even consistency, but I didn't get that with this tin.

Nevertheless I'll give it another bash after a damn good stir.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Mick.

[Chrissaf]

I used the Badger in my post as an example. My own is a Chinese Badger clone copy at a fraction of the price of a Badger original.

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[Jeff Mennell]

Chris, any electric paint mixer is an invaluable tool with today's standard of Humbrol. Maybe they should be provided for free?!

😆

[Jimbo1707820979]

As with other paints, a couple of taps on the lid with a small hammer, or similar, should ensure the lid is 100% tightly closed. Probably better than pressing by hand.   Just a thought.  😀

[2e0dtoeric]

But then you have to get it off again at a later date, without stabbing yourself with the screwdriver you use as a lever, because nothing else will fit!

[Bulleidboy]

The problem with the electric(?) mixer is that after use, the time it takes to clean it. A cocktail stick works just as well.

[Chrissaf]

I have an egg cup with Enamel thinners in it. Dip the head of the electric mixer in it, give it a 2 second spin and the head is clean.

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I find a cooks match is better than a cocktail stick. Being round and pointed the cocktail stick doesn't provide the same agitation of the paint they way a square profile match does.

[Rog RJ]

I have an egg cup with Enamel thinners in it. Dip the head of the electric mixer in it, give it a 2 second spin and the head is clean.

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I find a cooks match is better than a cocktail stick. Being round and pointed the cocktail stick doesn't provide the same agitation of the paint they way a square profile match does.

I like the cook's match too.  A bit stronger than the cocktail sticks. I also use them for applying flux when i need to.

[RDS]

 ... so that there is a film of paint in the underside of the lid and a seal. This is a precaution against drying out ...

 

I do that as well with any solvent based paint (just turn it upside down for a few seconds in my case) and a skin on the paint the next time you come to use it, is a thing of the past.

[The son of Triangman]

I've had a lot of trouble with Humbrol paint in the past when Hornby switched production of the paint to China, but very recently bought a can from a brand new delivery, gave it a good old 2 minute stir, thinned as per normal for the airbrush and it was fine.

[thirdline]

I defy any man to stir a tin of paint more than I have, I set the stopwatch on my phone and stirred it for a full 5 minutes!!!

i stirred it clockwise, I stirred it anti-clockwise, I stirred it with the tin flat on the table and I stirred it with tin slightly tilted, all to no avail. As it was as runny as water I blobbed it on like a water colour, when it dried it has the desired effect but I derived no satisfaction from doing it.  Once I used it all I opened another tin, guess what, it was different again, still a bit runny but more like the Humbrol of old.

it seems I may have had a dodgy tin!

[Pete172]

No amount of stirring will help if there is no substance to the paint in the first place !

I too agree with your experiance with Humbrol paint, as do some serious modellers on other forums. I even phoned Humbrol about 3 or 4 years ago to question why my new tin of paint had little covering power, was not matt, took ages to dry and ended up being sticky for many days afterwards. They suggested I send them the tin in question, which I did not as I didn't want to double the cost of my little tin, but  I did however give them the code number from the tin which should allow them to test their retained batch sample (assuming they keep one in their lab ?). I have purchased several tins since then, the latest was matt 186 , which again is so thin it needs 3 coats to cover the sides of rails for rust effect.

I really don't want to be negative about this British company, but how often have we seen sorry end results over the years concerning companies that ignore fundamental quality issues, which they really should be aware of and on top of...

P.