Old (very) old paint

[Sprue42]

The last time I was seriously into using model paint must have been getting on for fifty years ago. I still have my old paint. I have used the odd tin (it is Humbrol enamel) in recent years for odd things, not model related, and to my surprise it seems fine. Odd tins rattle... I guess these are no good! Over the next few months I will have a go at revving some of the ones that are still liquid and let you know how I get on.

One thing that may have helped preserve the paint is that I always stored the paint tins upside down, that way the paint formed its own seal with the lid. Out of hundreds of tins I have only had the odd leak.

Anyone else using old paint successfully?

Ralph.

 

[Mark1]

That paints just about as old as me! An probably in better nick

 

[Andy T]

I don't store my paint upside down as I'm concerned about leaks, but I'll always invert the container after closing to let the liquid make that seal you mention.

 

[Waspie]

I don't store my paint upside down as I'm concerned about leaks, but I'll always invert the container after closing to let the liquid make that seal you mention.

Yup, me too, always invert the tin, a good shake and then store upright!!!!

 

[Ian M]

Yep. but not stored inverted. Lid on and a shake then away.
I have some Humbrol paints that are 45years old at least, some of them the good Humbrol Authentic tins! Remember those? I even had a tin of Airfix paint.

 

[Tim Marlow]

I have humbrols that are at least fifty and are still useable, including first generation authenticolour paint, but they are seldom used these days. I have never shaken mine, by the way, and have rarely mixed them in the tin. I dig out some pigment from the bottom, add it to a dry pallet along with a bit of the liquid phase and mix it to the consistency I want.

 

[Sprue42]

... Humbrol Authentic tins! Remember those?

Yep, Sure do. that is what most of mine are. The only trouble today is, I have to pick them up one at a time as the round sticky labels that denote the paint colour have all fallen off as the tins are upside down! As I pick them up, I have to reattach the label. I now have a few that are 'camouflaging' their own identity - even if they were from the Railway Colours range!

Ralph.

 

[Jakko]

Rattling tins will have dried out. If the tins don’t rattle, chances are very good that if you open one, you will be able to stir the contents for a minute or ten and have paint that is as usable as the last time you had it open. Ten years ago or so I bought a couple dozen Humbrol tins dating back to the 70s and 80s, some of which had been used and some hadn’t, and each and every one of them is still usable. After that lengthy stirring time that gets both tiring and hard on the fingers, anyway

What I normally do with Humbrol tins — and especially the old ones — after use is to clean the rim of any paint that may have caked there. Before closing it again, I brush a bit of paint all around the rim, put the lid on, then set the tin on the floor, put my heel on it, lift my other foot off the floor and balance on the tin for a few seconds

 

[Tworrs]

Thanks Jakko, that gave me a giggle picturing you doing that.