hjracing Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Hello. I have some Revell paint cups, I think from the kits/paint combo, and I need to know if they are achrilyc or enamel. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Roberto Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Give em a sniff. You can smell enamel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeBee Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 4 hours ago, hjracing said: Hello. I have some Revell paint cups, I think from the kits/paint combo, and I need to know if they are achrilyc or enamel. Thanks in advance. There acrylic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjracing Posted January 20, 2019 Author Share Posted January 20, 2019 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 I cringe every time I see people ask those "acrylic or enamel" questions. Long time ago, some uneducated modeler started this, and it caught on. Quick overviews:There are 2 main type of paints: lacquer and enamel. The liquid part of those paints is called solvent. It could be a very strong organic solvent (like acetone), something milder (like some type of alcohol), or even water. Or some combination of multiple chemicals. The other parts of paint are binder and pigment. Pigment is the color, and binder is what contains the pigment and makes it stick to the painted surface (it is the body of the paint). Binder can be many different things. Acrylic, polyester, epoxy and other resins can be binders. The difference between lacquer and enamel is the way they dry or harden. Lacquers dry by evaporation of the solvent. Once the solvent evaporates, the binder hardens and the paint (lacquer) is dry. This process can take from an hour to multiple days. But the lacquer (its binder) can be redissolved at any time by soaking it in the solvent. Enamels also initially dry by evaporation of the solvent. But that is only the first stage of the drying process. Once the solvent evaporates, enamel paints then keep hardening by a chemical reaction, which changes the properties of the binder. Once that process takes place, the enamel (unlike lacquer) cannot be redissolved using the solvent. The question which is often asked by modelers is whether the paint utilizes organic-based solvent (stinky paints) or some milder solvent like alcohol or water (those have low odor which many modelers prefer nowadays). But using "acrylic" to specifically identify the low odor (or water-based) paints is plain incorrect. There are lots of stinky paints (organic-solvent) which use acrylic resin as the binder. On the opposite end, stating that enamel=stinky is also wrong. There are many water-based enamels (actually most water-based paints are enamels). So the actual question should be: is that paint organic-solvent or water based? Or to greatly simplify it: stinky or low-odor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy124 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Thanks for the explanation. Chemically "uneducated modelers" like myself might be partially excused by the fact that paint manufacturers do not really add a lot of transparency to this subject by using the products names as they do. Example, Tamiya has the famous X/XF colors on the one hand side. Obviously they are waterbased acrylics. By your definition I would reckon that they are lacquers. Are they? Then on the other hand side they have those LP (Lacquer Paint) colors which are also acrylics, although of course using different ("stinky") solvents. So it has to be assumed that they are using the term "acrylic" to specify the low-odor X/XF color type (although both types are acrylics) and the term "lacquer" to specify the stinky LP colors (although both types are lacquers). Do you agree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Yes, misinformation is rampant in this hobby. Including hobby companies It doesn't make things easier. I was enlightened few years ago at my club;'s meeting when one of the member gave a presentation on paints. That was an eye-opener! To answer your question, acrylic is the binder in those paints. Acrylic binder can be a water-based emulsion, or dissolved in a stinky organic-based solvent. So I think that Tamiya just tells you what substance is used as the binder. Similar to the house paints in a hardware store. They also give you descriptions like "latex" or "acrylic-latex". I think that Tamiya paints in the little glass jars are acrylic lacquers which use alcohol-based solvent (so they are only slightly-stinky). I never tried to thin them with water. I usually like to use thinners specifically designed for the paint. That way I don't have to worry about compatibility and bad reactions. Even the water-based paints have some other chemicals in the solvent - it is not just pure water. But then can be thinned with water. Those paints are usually enamels. My main gripe about the misuse of terms is that people just assume that acrylic=water-based and enamel=organic-based stinky solvent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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