"Downsides to using Enamael paints?" Topic

Like Humbrol etc? Do they yellow or shift or flake or get filmy?

1. You have to use paint thinners, which give off some fumes.

2.No.

I use enamels exclusively for my 28mm figures.

Additionally, enamels take a little longer to thoroughly dry and in my experience, are harder to mix your own palette. I used Humbrol products for years before turning to water based acrylics and have never looked back. Also there are far more ranges of acrylics so easier to find a paint with the consistency/covering that you like.

Having said that, I know lots of very good painters who swear by Enamels.

Enamels require thinners for clean-up, and then you have to clean up the thinners. Acrylics are much easier to work with, and like Alcibiades, once I switched to acrylics, I never looked back.

Started out using enamels on my Napoleonic, probably first 4 years. Last colors I used for sure were silver and gold.

These are the things I didn't like about enamels:
1. The smell from the fumes. My wife asked me to give them up when our first child was born about 38 years ago

2. Working with mineral spirits to clean things up, and then cleaning up from the spirits.

3. Shelf life. They dried up more quickly then acrylics or required thinning from previously stated spirits.

4. Eventually acrylics made all the same military/aircraft colors that Humbrol or Testors made.

It's entirely up to the user, but I simply find acrylics a much easier to use alternative to enamels.

Any paint that has an oil base can yellow.

I had to repaint the white uniform of 400 figures because Humbrol matt white yellowed in about three years. After that experience I switched over to acrylic and I much prefer them as I can paint finer detail with them. they are also much easier to work with and clean up. Once I switched over to acrylic my painting took a big leap forwards.

However, I still use Humbrol for basing as they are much harder wearing.

I think that the oil based paints & thinners cause the brushes to wear out more quickly too.

I stopped using enamels for all of the above reasons – plus they are a complete pain to strip if you decide you want to do a repaint

Having said that if you want to use enamels, go ahead – its whatever works for you at the end of the day

I use acrylics for figure work and enamels for modeling.

I don't paint exclusively with anything.
Enamels in some cases are superior to acrylics or craft paints.
Maybe that's just because I never throw anything away and manufacture uses for them.

Mixing and blending acrylics is WAY easier.
Making washes too.

ooh I spelled enamels wrong.

I am not as concerned with the use of the paint as its longevity. Are there any differences with how both acrylics and enamels age on metal miniatures?

I've always used enamels for 20mm and below, and acrylics for 28mm since my first purchases of that figure size nearly 20 years ago.

I find that enamels better suit the painting technique I use on smaller figures, which for larger surface areas is a sort of rough damp-brush style, over a black undercoat overlaid with a white damp-brushing. I can put a dab of enamel paint on the shiny side of a small square of cereal box cardboard, thin it as required with turps, and because of its relatively long drying time, keep it 'alive' for hours if necessary by occasionally adding another drop of turps. I can then paint the same colour on a large number (up to hundreds) of figures using the technique described above.

For 28mm I paint solid coats using conventional brushstrokes, for which acrylics work well.

Because of the thinners fumes I paint the smaller figures on days when the windows can be opened, which occur more frequently in Spring and Autumn. 28mm figures can be painted year-round.

I don't know about aging variation, but enamels are reputed to be tougher than acrylics, and can survive a fair bit of handling unvarnished. Undercoats also seem to make a difference: in my experience acrylics painted on an enamel undercoat adhere better than those painted over an acrylic undercoat.

For miniatures:

Other than the difference in thinning agents, I find little difference in their use. Technique for each will come with experience, and will vary from one brand to the next, regardless of if enamel or acrylic.

I have used enamels since the 1970s, and acrylics since the 1980s, and am hard pressed to find any detectable yellowing on any of my 17,000 figures.

I frequently use both types of paint on the same figure, frequently within minutes of each other, and have never, ever, ever experienced any problems with the two types of paint reacting to or with each other.

I've never really found any significant difference in mixing the types of paint, and suspect that the problems relate more to skill set, or more probably, the particular paint line quality, than the type of paint themselves.

Overall, I have found more performance issues over the years with acrylic paints than enamels, usually, issues with the acrylics being too thin or having a high degree of transparency.

Regarding drying up in the bottle, I have experienced it with both, but again, far more frequently with acrylics. probably in something close to a 5 to 1 ratio (probably due to container type, more than properties of the paint). Acrylics in a shorter time span, but both last years. I have bottles of acrylic (Polly-S) currently in use from the late 1980s, and enamels in use from the mid-1980s (Pactra and Testors ModelMaster).

I find that paint in screw cap bottles, particularly glass bottles with metal caps, last longer than any form of plastics containers, or containers with pop-caps. I never used a lot of Humbrol metal tins, but for whatever reason, they had a shorter shelf life (still measured in years), than did Testors. GW paints have consistently had the shortest shelf life of any paint brands that I've used.

Enamels have outlasted acrylics with respect to handling and wear on figures.

My clean-up process is exactly the same for both types of paint, with the exception of keeping a little screw-cap glass jar of lacquer thinner for enamels v. jar of water for acrylics. Only the brush and a rag ever come in contact with either. I'm not sure what the clean-up process is that others mention relating to solvents for the enamels. The amount of solvent that evaporates during a multi-hour painting session is probably measured in milligrams.

I wash paint from my hands with dish detergent and water, and use a scrub-brush while doing so. Enamel is harder to remove, but usually takes no more than 1-2 minutes.

Overall, I prefer enamels, because they are more resistant to wear, otherwise, I wouldn't have a preference.

I find that each paint line tends to have its own smell. The one that I dislike the most is Polly-S, but I don't notice particularly over-whelming solvent fumes from painting with enamels. I mean, even if painting for hours, I'm still probably only painting a few square inches of area with any particular paint.

Since I use my brushes with both types of paint, I've never detected any particular damage from either. Since the early 1980s, I mostly have used Windsor and Newton red handled brushes (300 series?), Currently I buy the smaller sizes for about $4.25 USD a pop. I also use other W&N brushes, as well as Grumbacher, Liquitex, and other artists brands over the years. Regardless of the stated purpose of the brushes, I've never distinguished any overwhelming difference in performance associated with hobby acrylic v. hobby enamel. Handling of the brush during cleaning, is probably a bigger issue regarding brush life, and I am brutal. My most recent 000 brush is worn, though not unserviceable after six weeks, and a little over 400 miniatures.