Problems with Humbrol drying in the tin

[Rick Lowe]

Hi, All

Two weeks ago (to the day) I bought a new tin of Humbrol 155.
I got it home, opened it and gave it a good stir and put a couple of steel BBs in to stir the paint when I next shook the tin.
I then made sure the lid was seated properly (made that mistake too many times before) and put it aside for later use.

I opened the tin again yesterday and the paint had dried to where there wasn't just a skin on top, I could barely push a spike into it to see how far down it had dried.
The lid was still seated properly, but I'm thinking as it snapped into place a bit easier that others have done, might there have been a slight distortion?

(Knew I should have waited until the Vallejo came in)

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Cheers
Rick

[zenrat]

I have had them where the lid won't stay pushed all the way down and keeps popping back up again.
I sit something heavy on top of them until the paint round the edge dries and sticks the lid down.

[Hobbes]

I've never seen a full tinlet of Humbrol dry out, even decades-old tinlets stay good as long as they're full.

[NARSES2]

Like Haro I find that very odd. I've got tins of the old Humbrol Authentics I'm still using and they are 40 years old ? I did find that the acrylics in the original "flip top" containers dried out very quickly. The newer style acrylic container is fine.

[Dizzyfugu]

I have had them where the lid won't stay pushed all the way down and keeps popping back up again.
I sit something heavy on top of them until the paint round the edge dries and sticks the lid down.

Same here. I have occasionally Humbrol enamels dry up, but this happens gradually, not over night, and most of the time it's due to collected dry pigments around the tin and the lid.
I just had the case with Humbrol 147 that, out of s sudden, the paint pigments and the thinner separated completely - really strange, and no chance for revival!

[Rick Lowe]

Yeah, I've had them separate (usually they come home from the shop like that) and they can be remixed and are fine.

Likewise, I have decades-old tins that are perfectly viable - except the ones that I've neglected to shut properly and the paint has built up and stopped an airtight seal.

This was the first time anything like this has happened, and like I said, it was opened once and two weeks later was dead.   

Cheers

[Allan]

some modellers advocate turning the tins upside down when not in use to force the liquid paint inside to form some sort of a seal with the lid, but I've never done that

the best way to avoid paint drying out in the tin is to make sure that the lid forms a perfect seal with the tin and to do that the rim of the tin and the rim of the lid must be scrupulously clean, so wipe them very carefully with a rag after use and before sealing the tin

also, open the lid carefully with a screwdriver using the trusted method of first gently levering up the lid a little bit in one spot then doing the same to a spot on the lid directly opposite the first levering up location, then move the driver 45 degrees around the lid to lever it up again and then do the same to a spot on the lid directly opposite that location

that way the lid doesn't get deformed in shape and so maintains the airtight seal

if you get what I mean

[zenrat]

It's probably due to global warming.

I tend to bend the lids by levering in just one place (impatient).  The solution is to put the lids back on with a hammer.
I too have decades old tins of Humbrol and Airfix enamels.  But only gloss.  Matt seems to dry up quicker for some reason.

[Dizzyfugu]

Yeah, I've had them separate (usually they come home from the shop like that) and they can be remixed and are fine.

In my case, the paint was "dead", at least wtice, and both times with 147 (any maybe with 34, Flat White, too, but I am not certain. Long ago...). Totally separated, and no stirring or thinner would revive it.