Model Forum / General / Models / June 2006

Polly S/Polly scale has been available in america as long as I can
remember (I'm 37).My brother was using it in the early 70s.

Don't know how long the acrylics have been around ,but Humbrol enamels
have been around for ever .I remember using them in the late 50's.In
fact I still have some that would be 20 years old at least.
My local shop sells Humbrol and ModelMaster enamels ,they want to get
rid of the Modelmaster line, I was in there yesterday and the display is
a mess ,so much so that you have to spend hours going through the rack
and try to find the colours you need.There is a basket with at least 150
bottles in it all loose .I told the munchkin at the counter to tell the
owner to call me and I will make an offer to buy the whole display ,so
I'm waiting to see if he calls .A few years ago they sold only Tamiya
acrylics and enamels ,the same thing happened and I bought out all they
had for a very good price.
As I left the store the munchkin and the droid that works with him
proceeded to play with a football.I thought to myself  it would be a
good idea for them to sort the model paints instead of playing football
in the shop.

Tamiya acrylics was my first encounter with acrylics of any type. This
was back in the late 70s.
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Acrylic paint
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Acrylic paint is fast-drying paint containing pigment suspended in an
acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water,
but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint
is diluted (with water), the finished acrylic painting can resemble a
watercolor or an oil painting.

Acrylics were first available commercially in the 1950s. The first
commercially available acrylic paints were actually oil compatible.

Acrylics are sometimes used in place of watercolors because acrylics
dry closer to the desired color (slightly darker, usually) while
watercolors dry lighter (and often unpredictably, especially for
beginning artists).

Acrylics are often used as an alternative to oil paints because
acrylics dry much faster (usually within an hour or even as little as
less than a minute, depending on brand and thickness of application).
On the otherhand, oil paints, which consist of pigment suspended in an
oil (usually linseed, or other natural oil) base, can take a very long
time to dry: a few weeks or as long as several months. By use of
certain products, such as those made by many of the large art
companies; often termed extenders or retarders, an artist can combine
the best qualities of acrylic; low toxicity, longevity and cost, with
the drying time associated with oils or enamels, which makes it easier
to blend two or more colours into each other. The naturally short
drying time of most acrylic does not allow this to occur, but certain
solvent-based acrylics as used for airbrush work, may allow the paint
to remain fluid enough to permit blending via airbrush. Such mixtures
of retarded acrylic or solvent-based acrylic are commonly used by
those who paint model figures and by some artists who favor acrylics
over oils for normal, canvas or paper painting because of their
characteristics.
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