"When did acrylics become common?" Topic

Just curious – does anyone know when acrylic paints took over the hobby, and why? Was acrylic invented or was it about manufacturing technology or what? I'd have loved to have had access to something other than Testors as a kid…

My nan used windsor & Newton acrylics in the early 70's, but I'm not sure when specific modelmaking/wargaming acrylics came on the scene :/

First used for outdoor murals in the inter-war years.

Acrylics have been on the wargame hobby scene for a long time now. I remember using Polly S paints in the late 70s. I used both Polly S and Humbrol enamels at that time and gradually shifted entirely to acrylics by ‘84. I remember using Polly S, Citadel, Ral Parthia and Vallejo.

I remember them in the hobby stores in the 80s.

I bought some Poly S back in the '70s as well. My guess would be mid '70s so 75 give or take. I found they had very coarse pigment and very poor coverage compared to the Humbrol enamels I used as a teen back then. For that reason, getting back into the hobby a couple years ago I stayed clear of "water based" paints. I do have a custom mixed acrylic (paint store sample) and a few washes. But I will probably die still using and hunting for enamels. I still have some 40+, almost 50 year old Humbrol enamels which just needed a little stirring and some additions of lacquer thinner to keep alive.

I do notice my brushes suffering more than I remember. Don't know if my old ones also suffered and I didn't notice or if the materials and way they are made now is lower quality. The brands from back then are either no longer available or different materials. I used artist's sable brushes for oils mostly for modeling. The new synthetics don't seem to last,and I do look for oil ones, and even the new sable brushes go "odd" as well. Mind you I have done a lot of micro armour infantry, maybe 1000 soldiers in the past couple years. Just my $0.02 USD cdn for what it is worth.

I remember getting a box set of D&D figures with acrylic paints late 1980 or early 1981. I think they were made by Grenadier. This was the first time I'd seen acrylics, only having used Humbrol enamels up to that point.

I started with Testors enamels but switched to acrylics when the first real game store opened near me. About 1983-84ish…

I think I was fully converted to acrylics,. Polly S and Citadell, by 77-78. Wasn't Duke Siegfried doing that stain painting thing in about that same period?

This is what caused the shift away from oil based paints as a whole:

"As they dry, oil-based paints release volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, into the atmosphere. VOCs are a major contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, the primary component of "smog." In order to reduce ozone levels, the EPA and several state agencies passed legislation limiting the amount of VOCs that can be used in various household products, including commercial cleaners, aerosol sprays, and architectural paints.

If you live in one of several states—including California and much of the eastern seaboard—you may have noticed the disappearance of oil-based paint (also called "solvent-based" or "alkyd") from the shelves of your local paint supplier. Or you may not have; unless you're a professional painter, the difference isn't readily apparent."

I started using acrylics in early 1980's with D&D. Up until then is was Testor's Enamels. Made a big improvement in painting.

I'd have said 1980's, but late 1970's may very well be right. Early 1970's were Imrie-Rielsey (Sp?) And apart from clean-up, the acrylics were a huge time-saver. No more waiting for the previous color to dry.

Mid 80's with Brands like Armory, Polly S and Ral Partha. Before that it was artist acrylics from the tube.

Most of us started with Model paints (Testors, Humbrol).

I used artists tube acrylics in the mid/late 1970s as an alternative to Airfix and Humbrol enamels.

I bought Plaka water based paints in 1978 and my first "hobby" acrylics in c1980 (imported from the US – complete with instructions on stain painting and washes).

stephen m – try treating your brushes to a tub of Masters brush soap. Using it after cleaning extends their useful lives.

Like others on this list, I switched to acrylics in the early 1980s, having relied on Testor's enamels for many years of model-building as a boy.

I had used acrylic paints in art class in junior high school, so I was familiar with them as artist's paints, but hadn't thought of them as useful for this hobby until I started seeing things that others were getting results as good as I could get with enamels.

With comparable end results, ease of clean-up closed the deal.

I do have two or three little Testor's paint bottles and some Testor's thinner in my painting stuff right now, but I don't remember when or why I bought them.

I'm going to say what ever year it was In the early 2000's when Vallejo became readily available.

Bargain Bin DM, where are you quoting from? I live on the eastern seaboard and haven't seen anything about that, nor have I had any trouble buying oils anywhere (in fact I just ordered more today). Might that quote be referring to house paints instead of artist paints?

Oils are my favorite medium, so I really hope no-one's trying to do away with them like you say!

I'm still using some of the Plaka paints I bought in the 70's

I used Poly S for model building in the late 60's or early 70's. The first miniature specific acrylics was either around 1980. I forget the first manufacturer, which wasn't very good (Heritage?.) Very thick and grainy. Then it was Armory-a little better. Ral Partha was a big step up, and that was probably mid-80's.

My oldest son was born in 1980 and my wife asked me to give up enamels to get rid of the fumes.

Like most of the earlier posters, I started switching to acrylics around 1980. They were easier to use, and clean up was quicker, so I could pop over to my desk, paint for 15 minutes and go off to something else, instead of having to set aside a large block of time. Around 1986 or 87, craft acrylics became available: they were less expensive, and at the time they were usually in subdued colors, instead of knock your socks off bright colors, which made them quite useful.
Grelber

In the late 1970s I tried using Polly S to paint plastic models and found it didn't adhere well. I started using the Heritage acrylics on miniatures around 1978 or 79 using the stain method. Later switched to Ral Partha paints which I much preferred over other brands I tried. Still have a few partial bottles of Ral Partha left.

We seem to be in agreement

It was Testers and Pactra enamels for me in the midwest USA until I mail ordered Polly-S from the Squadron shop (The Hobby Shop in Your Mailbox) in '75 or '76. Might have the old catalogs to check if I get ambitious.

The other option was Floquil which is what rail fans used. But that was a true lacquer based paint which used keytones as a solvent, so melted polystyrene models if one was not very careful.

I used Humbrol enamel well I to the 80s,switched acrylics in the mid 90s.

It still seems very recent!

For it it was when Humbrol started a range of acrylics in the mid 80's, before that I used enamel.

Early acrylics were not overly popular, it wasn't until Vallejo came on the market that people started to switch because they were so much easier to use than solvent based paints and had a comprehensive range.

As regards gaming GW's paint ranges also became the default for many.

Once Vallejo and GW were established acrylics became standard.

Right now I think a small minority still paint in oils, about 10-15% still use enamel and a majority of 50+ use acrylics. I'd say that a more recent development with modeling techniques and the ready availability of brands like Mig and AK means that some will use a mix of paint types to achieve certain effects, mostly for weathering or certain effects like metallics etc.

Can't say exactly when I first used them but the artists form has been around since the 50's with resins much the same as those currently used from the mid 60's.

I mostly used humbrol enamels and didn't much like their first acrylics. Their low pigmentation was too low and a poor choice of both pigments and resin made them less than useful.

I used artists acrylics for many years (the 'Flow' colours were excellent for figure painting) and only fully converted to modelling colours in the 90's. I tried 2 or 3 brands and they had poor coverage compared to the tube colours but I got lazy and switched to Vallejo (limited need to mix colours).

I still use my old tube colours on terrain sometimes but mostly it is Vallejo.

In the 70'ties there was a growing knowledge of the brain and nervedamaging effect of turpentine, benzene and toluen in paints, and cleaners. The brain damage of painters, printers and others were so massive that people had permanent headaches, memory losses, and the ability to use fingers to something as simple using buttons in shirts.
It is there fore classified dangerous and constant and event infrequent use demand specific breathing filters and very vell ventilated rooms.
This meant that acrylics became the most used paints also in hobby use.
I changed in the late 70'ties, and are satisfied with the quality.
Oil paints as used in oilpaints are also dangereous, even though they use wood turpentine, but is somewhat the same.
I know many hobby painters do not care but is is dangeous. The same with glues for plastic kits and quick glues. They would be categorized in the highest category, as regards to work classifications.
Take care out there.

John Armatys

stephen m – try treating your brushes to a tub of Masters brush soap. Using it after cleaning extends their useful lives.

John, the local (1 to 2 hours away depending on which store I visit) art supply house has some so I will have to try it as you are the second person to mention it. I use enamels and clean up with lacquer thinner. Over time the tips of my brushes start to appear like "hobble skirts". The tip spreads about 1/16" back from the tip. After every cleaning and before use I use spit and reform the tips but they still spread. Will the soap help with this? Thank you.

I got mine off eBay (I'm in the UK and a drive of over an hour to pick up supplies seems astonishing). I've only used water based paints for many years, but got Masters brush soap after it was recommended on TMP, and found that it restored some brushes that I'd given up on and that used every time after normal brush cleaning my expensive sable brushes lasted significantly longer (but mine tended to splay from just after the ferrule – now they just get thinner as they wear out). So I can't guarantee that it will work for you, but a pot costs less than a high quality brush, my pot is at least three years old and there is lots left, so I think it is a worthwhile gamble.

I've been using acrylics since the early 70s. Started with Liquitex tubes, then craft store bottles as they became available.

In the late 60s I used artist acrylics to paint my Airfix figures. Oils were just too much work for my impatient teen self.

"Started with Liquitex tubes, then craft store bottles as they became available."

nnascati, would you happen to remember what year that might have been? At least for me the arrival of hobby paints is the most interesting info.

Lonkka,
I'd guess maybe 1972-73, before I was married I think. I recall reading an article on painting with acrylics maybe in the old Courier, and that got me going.

I think that it became widespread in the hobby(in the USA, anyway) when both Heritage and Ral Partha started selling their own paint, around 1978 or so. Availability and color pallette were suddenly better than Testor's.

And a generation of kids whose moms made them assemble and paint their plastic models outside, or in the garage(due to the glue and enamel smell) could now paint in their rooms. Never underestimate the human factor . . .

I first started painting miniatures (54mm Imre Risley) in 1970 with IR's own brand of paints and primed using IR's metal primer. A local hobby shop carried a wide those miniatures and the paints.

As I got into painting wargaming figures, (Airfix and Der Kriegspielers) around 1972 or 1973, I initially used the IR paints and some Humbrol sets (from either The Soldier Shop or Polks in NYC, as I recall), but by 1974 I turned to Polly-S which offered a much greater variety and I continued to use some of the colors well into the 90s (I still have a couple of bottles each of their three German armor colors and they are still good). I also really liked a set of craft paints called Create-a-Finish which were sold in a local(eastern Pennsylvania) store that specialized in ceramics -- they really excellent paints and wish I could find them again.

So, to answer the OP, I starting using acrylic paints for painting miniatures about 47 years ago and never looked back, as did most of the people I games with.