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Author Topic: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now  (Read 2453 times)

RST

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Hi,

I was in my local model shop today and they had a sign up over their Humbrol enamel display saying please don't pick any tins because it can't be sold now.  There was apparently an EU rule change for one of the solvents used in stopping it skinning over inside the tin* and they are legally not allowed to sell it now (maybe £1,000 of stock stuck on the shelves and Humbrol won't take any stock back apparently).

I make no comment on EU rules, and I can't stand Humbrol enamel anyway except for No 1 primer (which I actually went in there for).

I checked google afterwards and there are other internet posts out there about it the last month or so which are easy enough to find, so I could well believe it.  If you are still a Humbrol enamel user (good luck to you), you might want to replenish stocks while you can?

*Thats the reason I found on internet afterwards.  In any case, I beieve this shop, they're not simple "box-shifters".

Rich
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Tug Fanatic

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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2022, 08:25:45 am »

It isn't just the EU make "interesting" rules.

Our local farmer was telling me that they are no longer allowed to spray their potatoes with something that stops them chitting (throw out shoots). As a result he has sold all his potatoes before they sprouted. This is a UK rule & it means that there won't be any UK sourced potatoes for sale at this time of year.

As he says all the potatoes that you are now buying in the UK will be EU sourced and have been sprayed to stop chitting as they don't have this rule.

The logic of this escapes me.




 
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raflaunches

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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2022, 08:41:47 am »

From many Facebook Airfix style pages the reason is because it contains a minute amount of MEK to prevent skinning. They will be back in stock in the next few months with a readjusted recipe but no one is quite sure what is going to happen with the old stock.
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Nick B

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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2022, 12:17:21 pm »

How many sniffs can you get from a Humbrol tinlet before the solvent runs out?  :-X  Far fewer than a tube of Balsa Cement.


  Regards   Ian.
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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2022, 03:58:50 pm »

From many Facebook Airfix style pages the reason is because it contains a minute amount of MEK to prevent skinning. They will be back in stock in the next few months with a readjusted recipe but no one is quite sure what is going to happen with the old stock.
The simple way around the not selling is a donation box
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Colin Bishop

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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2022, 09:58:24 pm »

Found this video re continuance of Humbrol enamels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYk8CIeY8tg

Colin
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ballastanksian

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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2022, 11:01:01 pm »

It does not help to sell the old stock, but at least we know they are bringing the enamels back but with a new recipe. I use Enamels as primers due to their better wear qualities. I am not a white or black primer modeller preferring a similar or darker shade of primer to the final top coat for visual effects.
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RST

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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2022, 12:27:16 am »

From many Facebook Airfix style pages the reason is because it contains a minute amount of MEK to prevent skinning. They will be back in stock in the next few months with a readjusted recipe but no one is quite sure what is going to happen with the old stock.
...Its MEKO not MEK but I guess the consituents are similar.

I am not a fan of Humbrol his past decade or more anyway, it was just to say.  No doubt they will be back, I know others get on well with them but for me they have allot of catching up with anyone else making paints the last 10 yars.  It wasn't supposed to be a post griping and I've gritted my teeth since.
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derekwarner

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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2022, 12:57:30 am »

MEKO not MEK.?.....    >>:-(      couple of drops of either in your coffee...you couldn't tell the difference :-X

coupla' Carbon co-valient bonds the difference?


Derek  {-)
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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #9 on: September 22, 2022, 07:38:49 am »

Hi all, is the MEK referred to also the plastic solvent?  This seems freely available on ebay.

I use whatever old paint I have in the wet and dry rub down (I prefer a wooden hull) frequently paint on 10 + coats of paint.  Different colours tell you how far down you are going with the rubbing down.  Never had to re-paint a model yet and some are nearly 50 years old.  I usually finish with a good quality antique polish, it does not add shine but the water drops off very quickly.
Regards
Roy

 
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Re: Humbrol enamel -rule change and not for sale in my local shop now
« Reply #10 on: February 14, 2023, 12:02:17 pm »

I make a brand of enamel (although I admit the raw ingredients I use cost more than Humbrol retails for so whilst I can confidently claim objective superiority in the product I can't get near the cheap price of Humbrol) and know a bit about this issue.


The chemical in question is Methyl Ethyl Ketone Oxime - MEKO - and it's used as an anti-skinning agent as stated above. MEKO is a derivative of Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK - used for many things including plastic solvent adhesive) but it's most definitely not the same, the molecules containing additional parts compared to simple MEK as a result of synthesising an MEK molecule with hydroxylamine. It's a nice choice for this purpose as one of its qualities is that it has no tendency to turn the paint yellow like some of the alternatives do. It's definitely not the only one though. MEKO has been categorised as a carcinogen and over 2 years ago notice was given that it would become illegal to sell over 0.01% MEKO content to the general public, although it's still acceptable to sell business to business for professional use.


This appears to have been what caught out Humbrol. Humbrol is just a brand name owned by Hornby. Manufacture of Humbrol paints is subcontracted and it appears that there are few employees within Hornby who really know anything about paint so they appear to have spent the whole 2 year notice period not noticing. It was still perfectly legal for the actual manufacturer to make it and sell it wholesale to Hornby to market as a Humbrol branded product. They then got caught with their pants down at the end of the notice period with a product that could no longer be sold to the public.


This led to a lot of alarmist talk online that enamels in general had been banned which started to affect my business even though we were perfectly compliant, so we had to make statements publicly that our formulation was absolutely fine.
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