Enamel paint questions

[Guest]

Hi!

I've only used acrylic paints and a few W&N oils for weathering since I started painting. I've been looking at trying out enamel paints but I'm a bit confused about when to use them.

Whats the difference between a humbrol enamel and a big pot of enamel paint used on vehicles and trains?

Are enamel effects just 'watered' down enamel paints with the correct thinner?

Am i better off applying with a brush or can I thin them for airbrushing?

Do all enamel paints dry with a gloss finish?

Thanks in advance!

[Guest]

Enamel is simply the paint type, they come in Matte, Satin and Gloss colours and Humbrol, in the UK, have been around since Noah built the ark, he most likely painted it with a large Humbrol brush and a big tin.
They can be thinned for airbrushing and give THE BEST BAR NONE, gloss finish to civilian vehicles, they last a long long time, I've got a couple of tins that are most likely older than me.
They do brush excellently when slightly thinned due to the long drying times allowing the paint to level out.
I started kit building when Humbrol enamels were the only game in town, you learned patience after your first couple of fighters were flown with fingerprints from handling too early.
The wash, I don't know, I make my own with oils and white spirit but i'd guess they're very thinned paints with enamel thinners.
The big tins, if Humbrol are simply, bigger tins of the same colour, the small ones go a long long way though.

[Guest]

Enamel refers to a hard, gloss finish (see vitreous enamel - basins and toilets, and enamel in jewellery, which is finely ground glass melted at high temperature). In its early incarnation, enamel paint was basically oil paint, mixed with gloss varnish, and was sold as a high-gloss finish. The enamels we know now are, in many cases, matt finish, but the basic principle / mixture is still similar.