Humbrol Finally Going to Dropper type bottles.

[NARSES2]

The Airfix magazine I've mentioned  elsewhere also contained a colour chart for the new Humbrol Acrylic Dropper Bottle range. Not the full range for sure but hopefully it will increase.

Finally they've seen sense. The current "tubs" are useless as the threads on the lids soon become bunged up with dry paint no matter what you do to avoid it and very soon you just can't replace the top without it being askew, sometimes by a large degree.

[Old Wombat]

Have they done anything about the supposed enamel paints they were producing a little while ago which were, in fact, tinlets of gelatinous goop?

[TomZ]

In my experience the more recent ones with the "wavy" blue label are much better than the goop of previous years.
I heard somewhere that they brought production back to the UK after outsourcing it to China?




TomZ

[PR19_Kit]

In my experience the more recent ones with the "wavy" blue label are much better than the goop of previous years.
I heard somewhere that they brought production back to the UK after outsourcing it to China?




TomZ

That's exactly correct. The tins with the straight blue border are ex-Chinese and are rubbish, the wavy blue bordered ones are UK manufactured and are much better.

'Dropper type' bottles, eh?

Yet another good marketing move on their part. It's not lost on me that you always 'drop' more than you need, so the bottle empties faster and they sell more of them. What a surprise...............

[tigercat]

The Colemans method

[sandiego89]

Seems I have more small glass paint bottles that age out before they run out, can anyone comment on how the "new" dropper bottles do longer term?  Does the paint still get gooey/goopy? (excuse the technical terms).

I have yet to buy a dropper bottle.   

[Mossie]

I'm glad, I've got quite a lot of Humbrol acrylics that have gone off due to the pot design.  I mainly use Vallejo now, partly because I can get them locally but also because they last and I prefer the way they brush.  The only I don't like about dropper bottles is that they're difficult to stir.

[PR19_Kit]

Aren't you meant to shake them up and down?

A LOT!

[jcf]

'Dropper type' bottles, eh?

Yet another good marketing move on their part. It's not lost on me that you always 'drop' more than you need, so the bottle empties faster and they sell more of them. What a surprise...............

Horses for courses, I guess, as I've found I use less paint, especially when airbrushing.

[PR19_Kit]

But I don't airbrush, or very rarely anyway, so the only way that I know is to 'drop' a blob onto palette, and use my hairy stick.

But it's impossible to estimate how much you're going to need.....

[ChernayaAkula]

<...> The only I don't like about dropper bottles is that they're difficult to stir.

Add a stirring ball.  Small steel ball bearing or something like that. Bought a lot from a hobby supply store. I just add one to each new bottle I use. Makes stirring a breeze.
Some brands (AK or Ammo???) now add them themselves, I think.
Someone suggested a small nut instead of a ball for egen easier stirring, which makes some sense.

But I don't airbrush, or very rarely anyway, so the only way that I know is to 'drop' a blob onto palette, and use my hairy stick.

But it's impossible to estimate how much you're going to need.....

Don't you have to add a little more than you need anyway? They usually dry so quickly for me that the blob on the palette needs to be bigger than what I need. I use a ceramic tile, but am now considering going for a wet palette for brush-painting acrylics.

[ChernayaAkula]

Horses for courses, I guess, as I've found I use less paint, especially when airbrushing.

Having a droper bottle eliminates paint sticking to or remaining in whatever you use when transferring paint from the bottle to the airbrush/palette.

I constantly find that there's much more paint on the cocktail stick than on the model when painting details with Revell's acrylics.

I mix my paints for airbrushing in a separate container anyway. Cleaner, easier to control the amounts, which is good as airbrushing is still a black art to me. One day it works fine, the other day it's nothing but a nuisance.
And it's just a cent's worth of "wasted" painted - if that much.

[zenrat]

While putting a ball bearing in the bottle will help mix the paint they do cause problems when the paint gets low as they block the nozzle when squeezing the paint out.
A small nut might not have this problem.

[Mossie]

<...> The only I don't like about dropper bottles is that they're difficult to stir.

Add a stirring ball.  Small steel ball bearing or something like that. Bought a lot from a hobby supply store. I just add one to each new bottle I use. Makes stirring a breeze.
Some brands (AK or Ammo???) now add them themselves, I think.
Someone suggested a small nut instead of a ball for egen easier stirring, which makes some sense.

I've never been able to find them in quantity.  I've also been wary of adding them to acrylics as I've heard in some instances they can rust.  I probably should bite the bullet and buy some online.

Aren't you meant to shake them up and down?

A LOT!

Vallejo recommend that you squeeze them, but I often shake them too.  I often find there's a bit at the top that remains unmixed and the first couple of drops are on odd colour or runny.

[NARSES2]

The blurb in the Humbrol leaflet recommends shaking for 45 seconds.

Hataka are my go to brand nowadays and they come with a small ball bearing in the bottle. Shake until it rattles and stop when it stops. Or count to 100 whilst shaking 

The thing I really like is that they do an air brush use range (red) and a brush use range (blue). Obviously the difference is the consistency of the paint. I use the brush range when available. You can brush the red range it just takes more coats. They also do a lacquer range (orange).

The only downside in the UK is getting the brush (blue) range as most outlets only stock the red & orange ranges. However I had a long chat with the guys at Telford and their postage to the UK is very good. Let's hope it stays that way come January 2021.

As for waste I've gradually got used to how many drops I will need for a given surface area so don't waste that much normally. This morning however and Polish Blue Grey