Cheating, the Affair and the Second Marriage

 

I am talking paint. Since I returned to Australia in late 2020 (it may be Covid related) supply of Humbrol enamel paints have been unreliable. Toy stores and model shops have stopped keeping stock and even on-line hobby supplies in Oz don't always have the particular paint I need when I need it. This is in stark contrast to the previous 30 years when I got back into the hobby and of course, before that in my youth.

I turned in part to Vallejo acrylics (the affair) when I changed the way I painted flesh tones over ten years ago and expanded into metals when I finally admitted defeat over Humbrol coverage and separation issues. In time that collection reached a dozen or so paints but I continued to rely on Humbrol matt and gloss finishes.

I blend my paints and use a wash technique so it seems logical to switch the majority of my paints to contrast paints now that my marriage to Humbrol has to end. I find the dropper bottles quite handy and the Gods know they keep better than the Humbrol tins. Something happened about ten or so years ago in how Humbrol engineered their tins and for ages I have relied on G-clamps to fix the lids on properly after use. After about five minutes or so they re-seal (as much as they ever do) and then I place them back on their racks but you can imagine this slows me down quite a bit.

I'm just so used to using them and have always been extremely satisfied with the results but I've been applying work-arounds in order to persist with what has in due course become the inferior product - in terms of use. I wonder if there can be many of us left. Perhaps if I was in the UK it would be a different story.

I have always undercoated with white and as a self taught painter, my evolved technique relies on this. As I got older, it took on a new importance as I can't see details on a sculpt with a black undercoat anyway. So, my wash technique should translate well to the newer Vallejo XPress range. I must observe that in the world of hobby paints, the acrylic ranges do tend to have bloody stupid names like 'Dwarf Skin' or 'Templar White' ... I mean, really? But then I believe I am what they call an Airfix Generation wargamers who started in the 1970s and I just don't relate to fantasy/sci-fi gaming - so I would think like that, wouldn't I?

I watched a number of demonstration videos on YouTube and was sold on contrast painting, so I have leapt right in a bought 31 pots straight up - the second marriage. I now have nearly as many Vallejo acrylics as I have Humbrol enamels. Given the Humbrol failure rate (I can't remember when I finished a whole tin) before too many years I will have made the transition complete.

I will continue to blend but in many instances I won't have to. This will speed up my output considerably. At least it would do but my commitment to the hobby is in short term jeopardy. In about three weeks I am posting to Papua New Guinea for two years and it remains to be seen if I can or even want to uplift my hobby paraphernalia. When I return, it will be as a retiree and the time I will have together with these new paints should see my units fly off the table.

So, farewell Humbrol. I loved you but I will likely never invest in you again.