is there a difference between acrylic and enamel paint?

Question

i have some that says it is acrylic and waterbased.....and another that is enamel and is thinned with lacquer, but i also see some that say acrylic enamel

Answer 1

To put it simply, acrylics are water or alcohol based and usually non toxic (with the exception of alcohol based acrylics obviously). Acrylics thin and clean with water or alcohol.

Enamels are an oil based paint and are quite toxic. They are the old school of model paints and are slowly being replaced with acrylics. This is mainly down to their toxicity and the fact that they thin and clean with enviromentally damaging white spirits.

A number of myths surround enamel paints (mainly spread by proponents of acrylic paints back in the day). They DON'T ruin brushes as many people say (people simply don't know how to clean hem properly) and they take hours to dry not days. They're perfectly suitable for painting small details on models and will not ruin anything (not even plastic - after all for 40 odd years enamels were the only paints available to paint plastic model kits).

Answer 2

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There is a difference between the two of them acrylics are water based and enamel is an oil based paint But they do have acrylic enamel spray Enamel paint is enamel and is oil based, if it doe s not say anything about acrylics then use strait enamel. I suppose they found a way to combine the two types of paint but I think it is only in spray cans.

Answer 3

Enamels do not take days to dry. They take hours to dry as dry is defined as the solvent evaporating. Enamels do, however, take much longer to CURE. Curing is what makes the enamel fully hard and what some people mistake for "drying." Curing requires the molecules in the already dry paint to react with oxygen in the atmosphere. This can take a long time if the paint coat is thick, because oxygen must diffuse through the paint. This is an exponential decay process so while it may be mostly complete within a few days, it can many days, or even weeks for a thick enamel coat to cure. When they do fully cure they are relatively strong and hard.

Acrylic resins cross link much more quickly. Acrylic paints are less durable and do not adhere as well. Without proper primers they can be easily scratched off with a fingernail. With proper primers they adhere sufficiently, but still not as well as enamels.

Answer 4

Well, I'll disagree with answer #2.
Originally, enamel was glass that was melted onto metal surfaces with 1000F degree heat. It has a glossy surface.
So when paints were developed that went beyond white wash and milk paints and had a glossy surface, they were called enamel paints.
Anyone who is using "enamel" paints that use solvent for thinner and is having to wait days for them to dry is using them wrong because they dry very quickly, sometimes too quickly. Oil paints for picture painting do use a solvent and take a long time to dry, but that is because the carrier is oil (linseed oil and others) which has to dry/set over days.
Acrylic paints use a carrier that can be washed out with water while still wet, but once it has dried, it should not wash off any more than solvent based paints.
Cleaning a solvent based brush simply involves cleaning with the solvent and then with soap and water. Solvent based paints will work (or used to work) on some materials better than acrylic - notably metal.

Answer 5

RE:
is there a difference between acrylic and enamel paint?
i have some that says it is acrylic and waterbased.....and another that is enamel and is thinned with lacquer, but i also see some that say acrylic enamel

Answer 6

I ve used enamel paints (Testors) for years to paint fantasy miniatures, and I love them. They only takes 5 or 10 minutes to dry (i.e. - you can handle the miniature) and afterwards you don t need to use some sort of fixer (clear coat or anything like that) because the paint itself leaves a hard shell.

I ve never had a problem with them ruining brushes, or anything else for that matter, but you do have to use thinner to clean your brushes right afterwards.

Answer 7

What Is Enamel

Answer 8

"acrylic enamel" Is just a fancy-pants way of saying "acrylic paint"

Acrylics are water-based, dry quickly and clean off the brush with water. Once they dry and cure, it takes HOT water to remove them, and generally doesn't remove easily.

Enamels, meanwhile, are oil-based. They take DAYS to dry, and sometimes even longer depending on atmospheric conditions. They have shelf lives and go bad with time, and are overall a royal PAIN to clean up after. There is no completely removing an enamel from your brush.

Overall, I prefer to use acrylics.

Answer 9

How can I get acrylic paint to go on a little thicker?

Answer 10

Enamel paints can damage some plastic surfaces, such as models giving them an "orange peel" appearance. Waterbased acrylics shouldn't do this.

The best thing to do is use the paint recommended for the specific project.