Working with enamels

[BattleshipBob]

Quess what a ???

Going to give enamels a bash, but no bugger all about them, hence the ??

Sovereigh hobbies have some useful vids on youtube, am i right in saying?

Seems very similar to using laquers, thin at 50/50, but stir like crazy. To clean the airbrush can i use liquid reamer??

Do i need to thin for brushing, if so what ratio please? How to clean a hairy stick?

Can some kind chap advise.

[Tim Marlow]

Yes to thinning and yes to cleaning with liquid reamer. However, thin with Precision air drying thinners if you can still get it. It doesn’t smell as bad as enamel thinners. The paint will also flow better and will go on more evenly.

For brushing, I used to just thin to taste….I always used humbrol thinners for thinning humbrols or precision paints. I never used to stir the paint for thinning though. I found it best to take the undiluted pigment out of the tin and dilute it on a palette. That way the enamels last forever and don’t thicken in the tin.

For cleaning a hairy stick I’ve always used white spirit to solvate the paint, then undiluted washing up liquid to emulsify the solvated paint. I always rinse under running cold water, sometimes using washing up liquid again to get the brush really clean. Don’t use brush soap, it doesn’t work well with the enamel solvent.

However, there are a couple of caveat to be aware of…..
Enamels are very hard on brushes so don’t use your best ones unless you have nothing else. The paint readily migrated to the ferrule, so quickly destroying the point of all brush types.
The bristles of non synthetic brushes quickly become brittle and lose their snap. Eventually they break.
They take at least overnight to dry and harden properly, and even then can be reactivated (accidentally or otherwise) by a brush damp with thinners.
They are toxic so spraying them necessitates proper PPE and good ventilation.
They are very pungent, so are not family friendly.

The only thing they do better than acrylics is that they are better for dry brushing. The longer drying time means they don’t dry on the brush like acrylics.

To be absolutely honest Bob, I think they are a past technology and wouldn’t go back to them myself. I still have a lot of tinlet’s, but haven’t opened one for years.

[BattleshipBob]

Many thanks Tim:thumb2:

I love mr color or MRP but like tamiya horrible to brush paint, tried a few things like using mr colour mild retarder but still does not look good! Almost impossible to spray the smaller decks, bridges etc without ruining the walls etc so have to brush paint

Will have a go and see how i get on, do not want to return to Vallejo etc.

Sorry Forgot to ask ( nag ) about varnish etc, can i use mr color varnish?

[Tim Marlow]

Don’t see why not Bob, but let the enamels dry properly first. Possibly use a gloss acry varnish then a matt varnish on top…..
What’s the issue with Vallejo, by the way? I think they’re generally the best hairy stick paint currently on the market…..

[BattleshipBob]

Thanks yet again Tim

Just could not get on with it, found getting the thinning right a headache for some reason

Was going to look at using vallejo just for the brush work and mr color for the major spray work, not sure if it would work, especially with varnish, weathering etc??

[Tim Marlow]

That’s pretty much what I do Bob. Tamiya/Mr colour for spraying, Vallejo for detail…..with a couple of specialist paints like Alclad II for certain situations. The varnish evens everything out afterwards.….

[stillp]

I saw some posts on another forum by the chap who runs Colourcoats. He reckons that with their own thinners the paint dries as quickly as acrylic.
Pete

[Tim Marlow]

Not used colourcoat paint Peter, so I could be wrong, modern formulations might behave differently. However, I’ve used Airfix, Humbrol (old and new formulations), Revell, Phoenix, Precision, and Cherry enamel paints and they all act like I have described…..they all behave slightly differently when painting, and Cherry had a much longer drying time, but all were similar when they’re dry.

[BattleshipBob]

That’s pretty much what I do Bob. Tamiya/Mr colour for spraying, Vallejo for detail…..with a couple of specialist paints like Alclad II for certain situations. The varnish evens everything out afterwards.….

One thing to deffo try, many thanks Tim

I saw some posts on another forum by the chap who runs Colourcoats. He reckons that with their own thinners the paint dries as quickly as acrylic.
Pete

I did some looking at the paint and most agreed use there thinners as it dries much quicker

[BattleshipBob]

When i use it, i ll do one of my infamous reviews lol

[JR]

Good luck with having a go Bob, sure there will be a learning curve, but you may end up loving them.

Personally the fumes would be the no no for me, the only thing I can thing of is they will burn well ! :nerd::nerd::nerd:

[adt70hk]

Good luck with having a go Bob, sure there will be a learning curve, but you may end up loving them.

Personally the fumes would be the no no for me, the only thing I can thing of is they will burn well ! :nerd::nerd::nerd:

I'd better not show you one of cupboards in my utility room...... Your idea of heaven.....a fireman's idea of a disaster waiting to happen...

[JR]

Andrew .
When I had the workshop I had to have one of those fire proof storage containers to store all the flammable materials in .When I retired I burnt the things I would never use again, that was some fire I can tell you.
Sorry Bob, but you know how things are !

[adt70hk]

Andrew .
When I had the workshop I had to have one of those fire proof storage containers to store all the flammable materials in .When I retired I burnt the things I would never use again, that was some fire I can tell you.
Sorry Bob, but you know how things are !

It's funny you be say that I have thought more than once I'd I should at least keep it in a metal container for that reason.....

Sorry Bob..... Promise no more talk about fires!

Hope the experiment goes well. Well be interested to find out how you get on.

ATB.

Andrew

[Tim Marlow]

Andrew .
When I had the workshop I had to have one of those fire proof storage containers to store all the flammable materials in .When I retired I burnt the things I would never use again, that was some fire I can tell you.
Sorry Bob, but you know how things are !

You would love the thinners for Bob’s new clear coat enamels John, it’s basically lighter fluid…..