"Anyone use Howard Hues any more?" Topic

Was just looking through my paint collection, which runs the gamut: Vallejo, AK, Model Master, Ral Partha, Polly S, Tamiya, various craft brands and…Howard Hues.

It seems I don't hear much about H H these days. I've got a bunch of jars that are close to 20 years old and still going strong. I love 'em; big jars(1 oz.), thick but easily thinned and they cover well. Rarely a need for multiple coats, normally not even a second. Perhaps 10-15% of my paints are H H.

So just wondering who else besides me uses H H and how big a % of your paint collection is H H?

I have used one or two in the past but none now.

Jim

I have used, and probably will use, but since I mostly bought them at conventions, they're out of the running for now.

I would pick them up at conventions. Like you said, they seem to last forever. I put in a couple of drops of flow improver and I'm good to go on the oldest ones. %? I have around 15 jars out of a collection of?? Good God, I don't think I want to know that answer.. More than my wife thinks is needed!

I still use Howard Hues. They are my preferred paint. And like others, I still have pots going on 20 years.

I am a new convert, and used the first ones just last month. Very impressed. Had bought a batch for ACW and Nappies.

I think Geo-Hex used them on their terrain tiles.

I have about 10 bottles I'm using, some of which I think I picked up four or five years ago.

Eric

I use them a lot and I re-order them regularly.

I've never heard of them.

I use them for ACW….the light blue for Union Blue pants seems spot on too me!

Who sells HH paints? Is it still Monday Knight Productions?

What are these paints like? Chalky like the old Ral Partha paints? Sort of vinyl-ey like the old GW paints? Fine pigment grinds? Or coarse like craft paints? I'm a paint junky & love trying out new paints.

Damon.

I still use them. Concrete, Old Wood, Camo Red/Brown are great colors.

Paint is thick but covers smooth. And when it dries out, just add water and you're good to go again!

I still have a bunch of them. I especially like their skin tones, uniform colors and horse colors. I normally buy them from Dayton Painting Consortium at various conventions:
dpcltdcom.org

I had a chance to buy the range from Howard himself for only $10,000 USD but turned it down as I did other opportunities in the 1980-90s. Howard sold them to a company in Iowa who was later bought out by The Last Square. I do not know who got them after that.
Some of the best Equine and flesh variety out there. So I use them whenever I can find them.

I try out almost every brand of paint.

But do love HH.

I still have bottles from the 1980s if not the 1970s.
As T Corret pointed out, they had color matched paint for Geo-Hex (for those who remember that product).
Places to buy?

Monday Knight Productions in USA:
link

or Last Square in USA:
link

Magister Militum in the UK:
link

I still use them!

I too mostly use HH but I've never had one last anywhere near 20 years. However……..
I remember buying a tin of Humbrol enamel, metallic green, for some fantasy figs, in the early 70s. I used it a couple of months ago to do some jade on my Aztecs/Mixtecs/Zapotecs. That's nearly 50 years!

Still use them especially the horse colors & flesh tones. Last pretty well.

I use them all the time, especially for horses, and the "suntan" is perfect for a skin color for troops used to being outside.
For Der Alte Fritz: I've always gotten mine from Dayton Painting Consortium, the makers of RSM figures in Dayton, Ohio.

Der Alte Fritz,

Looks like you can get them at MKP and The Last Square, with TLS having the larger selection.

EDIT: Oops didn't see DyeHard's post w/ links for the above.

I have a 10 year old box of their horse colors still in use.

I still use these a lot (especially for terrain). Some of the best paint for dry brushing I have ever used. I keep the colors I use most stocked with several extras on hand. Been using them for 25+ years.

The paint I miss the most though is the old Musket Miniatures line of paints. Very similar to HH.

I still use Howard Hues – particularly like the equine colors and the wood varieties. I primarily got them at cons, but have also ordered from The Last Square.

Bought some from Magister Militum several years ago as individual pots. Looking at current online catalogue, they seem to be in themed sets, though may be incorrect.

The ACW Union Blue (Pants Blue 1647) seemed to me to be the perfect colour…just the 'hint' of green. Many other colours were also 'spot on'.

The big pots did dry up, if not used…BUT…could be revived with water. I have not attempted to paint for some time, so cannot guarantee.

Pretty Good Paint IMHO.

Nice to see I'm not alone in my affection for H H. After I did the OP I ordered some more from Monday Knight Productions. Had to replace my Canvas, which did unfortunately dry up on me and couldn't be rescued with H2O. It's my go-to color for WW2 cargo truck covers and tarps and such.

I have a bottle of Suntan Flesh that's 20 years old and still has 1/8 inch of paint in it. I believe it's going to out-live me.

I know this is way behind the times, but I have not gotten on here much in he last few months. I have used Howard Hues for many many years before I let my job control my life. I am having to buy more now because mine did unfortunately dry up but I still have some that are golden. Some of the old colors have disappeared but it is still an excellent range. For those doing ACW I agree the Pants Blue color is great because it has the green tint to it, which is what the sky blue change to over time.

Finally picking up the brush after too many lots years

I used them quite a lot but they discontinued my favorite blue years ago.

I have more than a dozen colors. My favorite is the red that I use for ACW officer's sashes and other uniform colors (e.g., artillery kepis). Its hue and intensity are more convincing to me at 1/72 scale than any other reds.

Use them all the time. Either mail order through the Last Square or at Cold Wars, Fall-in but can't remember the vendor which has them at the cons.

I use a few of the camo colors. Bought a few online last year. Echo the other comments--they last forever if you take care of them.

I have them for civil war and infrastructure (concrete, rust, etc). Like others, they last forever. I'm mostly Vallejo, but for some uses I prefer HH.

I really like them because of the way that the paints cover. They also are easy to thin. I have 25-35 bottles.

I knew a guy who knew a guy. The story I heard was that Howard Hues paint was just latex paint that was poured into smaller jars and labelled with catchy names. Maybe that's true maybe it's not.

Does anyone know if there is a connection between Howard Hues and the paints that Heritage Miniatures produced in the 1970s? Some of the HH stuff reminds me of those, like the very dark brown for musket stocks and one called Venetian Dull Red.

Or did they simply re-bottle the same house paints?

Back in my younger days in the 1980s, I was the production manager for Empire miniatures (formerly Heritage miniatures) and Texas miniatures. The paint we sold was house paint with added tint and rebottled for hobby use. We were not connected to Howard Hues at that time.