"matt dried gloss?" Topic

I just painted a raft of 28mm Shermans with a humbrol matt green, but it has dried gloss…any thoughts? Can I paint over it with vallejo acrylic?

Is the Humbrol acrylic or enamel? And are you brushing or spraying? The best solution depends on those answers…

Matt enamel, brushed on.

Thought so. Been having a lot of trouble with Hu matt enamels myself.

Make sure the Humbrol is thoroughly cured before you do anything – no tackiness whatsoever. This can take as long as a few days…

You can go over them with a brush using any true acrylic (not Tamiya) that won't 'cut' into the enamel, including clear matts. You could also just finish painting them then hit the whole lot with a spray like Dullcote rattle can.

Can't get spray delivered to Shetland in time so I was thinking about Vallejo satin varnish and then acrylic on top of that.

Anything you put on top of the Humbrol that doesn't contain solvents will be fine as long as the Humbrol has thoroughly cured. I mention that because with some recent batches of Humbrol matt enamels you have to stir them until your arm nearly falls off, and then stir more after just about every brush load. It is failure to do this that usually results in a glossy finish and that in turn can take ages to completely dry. If it's at all sticky then going over it with anything is going to risk leaving brush marks.

Arrrggghhh lockfile error….

Much obliged HS. I had n't used enamel or built a plastic kit since forever, but when I was a kid I used thinned-down enamel and it dried really quickly and really matt, so I was surprised by this. The tanks don't feel tacky to touch anymore, but I think I'll leave them for another 12 hours and see how they seem then.

Yes, using Humbrol matt enamels used to be easy and stress-free and they dried in no time – don't get me started!

If you're at all unsure it's ready just do a test with whatever you're planning to use on an unobtrusive area, preferably the underside if you painted it… :o)

If a matt humbrol enamel is not fully shake/stirred when new it will sometimes go on gloss. Attempt again and if it goes on gloss then it becomes a gloss paint (which means garbage for me).

Seem to have got away with painting over the enamel with Vallejo and a lot of darktone wash with some brown and a tiny drop of detergent. Much obliged for your help.

Why have Humbrol changed their paint? It's a real pain.

I got some of their new Luftwaffe colours and they're awful. Even stirring for a week you go to put the paint on and it's like there's nothing on the brush – it just doesn't cover at all.

'If it ain't bust don't fix it' – and they fixed it!

Yup; won't get it again and what I've got is going in the bin.

I use Humbrol enamels,and they do dry with different levels of shineyness, both between colours, and as they age in the tin!
I always varnish with Xtracolor matt XDFF and it dries a good solid matt, evening out the variations and oddly bringing out detail!
Must be a brew made by a magician, methinks!

Art supply shops will have a matt brush on varnish. Just make sure the varnish is well mixed. The matting agent settles to the bottle of the paint tin

I just painted a raft of 28mm Shermans with a humbrol matt green, but it has dried gloss…any thoughts?

I have had this happen. It's almost invariably due to not having stirred the paint enough.

Why have Humbrol changed their paint? It's a real pain.

Usually because some idiot got their underwear in a knot about one ingredient or another that might be toxic if you drank a couple gallons of it.

I have Humbrol enamels that are well over 20 years old and they are still perfect in every way. The past 4-5 years or so I've had nothing but trouble with them.

The latest matt enamels I've bought are incredibly thick and I've found that decanting some of the paint out and thinning it with Humbrol thinners just about ruins any chance of a good matt finish. Slightly better results if the thinner is added directly to the tin but who wants to do that? I've also had a few turn to 'jelly' after a couple of openings even though they were very carefully resealed after thoroughly cleaning around the lids etc. I won't even bore you with complaints about Humbrol's various clear products.

Long and the short of it – I've begun switching to acrylics or for jobs where I feel I really need enamels I'm using Revell. Unfortunately there are quite a few Humbrol colours for which there is no decent Revell match but the Revell enamels are a joy to use – just like Humbrol used to be in fact.

I have not used enamel paint for over 20years but when I did, I preferred testers above all others.
I changed from enamel because it used to bring on sinus and hayfever