Humbrol enamels.

[Harry-661354]

Can someone throw some light on what is happening with Humbrol enamels please? I believe there is some issue about the quantities of a certain drying agent within the paint that exceeds EU guidelines, only discovered this the other day when visiting my local model shop. Are the existing lines going to be withdrawn and re-formulated to suit the EU? I notice that there are no Humbrol enamels on sale on the Airfix website and whilst Britain is no longer in the EU Humbrol must export enamels to Europe. Sorry if this is old news to some but as mentioned just heard myself, Harry.

[Ratch]

I asked Humbrol about it some time ago when the subject was first aired on other Forums. Humbrol were unaware of the EU dictat at the time and I've not heard anything since, other than UK outlets continue to sell their enamels, which have not been withdrawn from shops.

[peebeep]

Still plenty of Humbrol enamel on eBay, plus it's not the only game in town if you want to use enamel.

[Harry-661354]

It is odd that there are no enamels for sale from Humbrol and then I remember that my local Hobbycraft store has stopped selling Humbrol enamels for some months now when they used to do the full range, I may be putting two and two together and coming up with five but I don't know if this adds fuel to the fire and the stories are true. It would help if Humbrol could clarify this.

[peebeep]

I don’t use eBay, lack trust in buying items that way. I only buy from companies like Humbrol or Hannants.

 

 

I've never had any issue with eBay not resolving a dispute if a seller didn't deliver. I have a second line of defense by using PayPal for transferring funds. If you still feel it's not for you I'd recommend buying direct from Jadlam - https://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/. They have Humbrol enamels listed and in stock. I've bought direct and also off their eBay store, never had an issue with them, plus great deals.

[peebeep]

It is odd that there are no enamels for sale from Humbrol and then I remember that my local Hobbycraft store has stopped selling Humbrol enamels for some months now when they used to do the full range, I may be putting two and two together and coming up with five but I don't know if this adds fuel to the fire and the stories are true. It would help if Humbrol could clarify this.

 

 

Humbrol product availability from Hobbycraft is a separate issue, for whatever reason Hobbycraft ceased doing business with Hornby and Hornby related brands. The reason for Humbrol enamels not being generally available is non-compliance of the paint ingredients with regulations.

[Frederick Kullas]

Yes. I use enamel on top of acrylic and acrylic on top of enamel. I often use an enamel as a base coat then use the acrylic version on top of it.

As for the other topic on here; my LMS has full racks of Humbrol enamel and he says he still gets his orders [an order about one every two weeks]

[paul71]

If you use enamel paints for parts of a model can you use acrylic paint for other areas of the same model? Say top colour dark earth enamel then dark green in acrylic?

Hi rod,

I do rod not had any problems, just painted the nose cone on my lightning, acrylic No 56 first as that was the overall colour of the parts then enamel No78 on top of that as that was just the small portion of the squadron colour,

i have a big range of enamel colours some many years old out of a old collection i bought when starting up again, got plenty of the small pots of acrylic which come with the starter sets which i find great to use.

I use both but given the choice if i have the colour in both of them, i use acrylic first, i can thin them down with water if need be if painting a large area i can just dip my brush in water to clean it if the paint is starting to dry on the brush (wipe the excess water off on a tissue) and just carry on and it dries a lot quicker than enamel (especially when done as a thin coat) so can paint more coats in a shorter time.

You don't have the smell / fumes from the paint or thinners like with enamel paints.

If you make a small mistake when painting its easy to wipe it off straight away making it easier to paint over the correction with just a small thin covering of paint

As for cockpit glass you can paint over the frame onto the glass and once dried use a cocktail stick to gently scrape up against the frame to get a nice neat edge.

and best of all if you get acrylic on your hands ( mainly when stirring the paint in the pot) you just wash them under the tap no using thinners and a cloth to get it off like enamel.

Always acrylic first for me from now on

[David Frame1707819990]

Odd thing about this, if the enamel paints are not available due to some ingredient issue, why is it possible to still buy enamel thinners from Humbrol?

Surely if there is a problem with the paint solvent,which of course is what the thinners liquid is, then the bottles of thinners should have been withdrawn as well?

Odd how the "EU legislation" didn't have an effect when EU legislation actually applied?

Is this just another Brexit benefit?

[Ratch]

This was posted on my site on Mar 4

MEKO

Until this morning we didn't know what "MEKO" meant, but in this newsletter we are going to explain it to you. There is a chemical substance called "BUTANONE OXIME" (Methyl Ethyl Ketoxime, MEKO; CAS 96-29-7) which is known in the chemical world as "MEKO".

The classification on the danger of this product was "category 2 carcinogen H351 - Suspected of causing cancer" until now, but since Tuesday March 1st, according to the "18th ATP to CLP Regulation (EC No 1272/2008)", it has now been classified as "category 1B carcinogen H350 - May cause cancer" hence, following European regulations, products containing more than 0.1% of "MEKO" become very dangerous for health.

Unfortunately for us modellers, Humbrol's Enamel paints are affected by this regulation, and this implies that we are forced to stop selling them :(((

At SpotModel we are going to start removing their products from our shelves and proceed with their proper destruction. Goodbye to our beloved Humbrol Enamel paints.

[peebeep]

Surely if there is a problem with the paint solvent,which of course is what the thinners liquid is, then the bottles of thinners should have been withdrawn as well?

 

 

Apparently MEKO is a paint additive to inhibit skinning in the tinlet. It may not be a constituent of the thinners.

[Kenneth ONeill]

1 minute in Google later I have a company selling Methyl Ethyl Ketone -

Slater's Plastikard - Mek-Pak (slatersplastikard.com)

[Ratch]

This all sounds OTT to me. I worked in a Toy Factory where the odours of MEK and other solvents hung in the air (pre H&S). I'm sure you could get high just walking into the factory. But I don't know of anyone who was affected by the stuff, and the miniscule quantities in each tinlet of paint makes the risk equally miniscule in my book. True, I stopped using enamels a few years ago now - mostly because SWMBO didn't like the smell when I sprayed - not because I was concerned about health issues.

[Frederick Kullas]

As of a couple of weeks ago my LMS claims he was getting his regular orders of Humbrol enamel, as well as the acrylics. And he has heard nothing either officially nor unofficially about not selling Humbrol paints. As part of the EU still they do enforce their regulations here. His racks of paint were as full as normal last time I was in. I might be back there next Tuesday to get some paints so I'll see how his paint stock is

According to him, and he is often about 80% correct on info, this directive is aimed at car/automotive paints and not model paints

[Ratch]

Bump for Casper

[Casper1707821699]

Bump for Casper

 

 

Thanks... it's all food for thought ☺️