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So, I'm sure this topic would have been done before - but I can't find it

We've all had those moments as painters when we crack open a pot of GW devlan mud wash, and wonder if, due to the smell factor, you might potentially painting faeces on your mini.

I have no idea why, and was wondering if someone could come forward with the science of it ...

WHY DO GW WASHES STINK SO BAD!

~Ghost

Just assumed it's something to do with the pigment.

I've never noticed a smell, Tamyia paints however .....

Try using a question mark in the title next time champ. Thought you actually were going to tell us...

^Agreed.

I think that their washes are a lot like India Ink, which let me tell you, if they stunk as bad as India Ink I wouldn't use them, so count yourself lucky they don't smell that bad. So in short, I wouldn't be surprised if it had some Patchouli Oil in it.

Oof, I thought there would be an answer here.

Have you noticed some of the pigments are worse than others? Devlan Mud is worse than Baal Red, for example, and Mechrite Red (foundation) is truly hideous smelling.

Has anyone noticed that the GW gloss varnish smells like pineapple?

Xeriapt wrote:Has anyone noticed that the GW gloss varnish smells like pineapple?

It will be a chemical in it, like poly cement plastic glue smells like apples because, IIRC, it contains the same kind of ethanol. Long time since chemistry

Dammit I thought you were going to tell us!

Also, Brother-Captain Scotti, I believe the pear-drops smell in Poly Cement is added artificially to make you aware of it, as the "glue" compound in plastic glue is Chlorophorm. True say.

I must be weird, never think mine smell :s

If it smells like pineapple it will be a ketone in the mix then which is a polymer solvent

One of the grey foundations also smells a bit like chocolate

Almost without doubt the smell comes from the solvent in the paint, usually some form of Ketone.

My pot of Badab Black smells like a rotting corpse, but this is the only pot I have had that smells so bad.

It makes a nice practical joke though, from time to time I hand a mini that I just washed with Badab Black to someone,
and tell him "That mini smells a bit funny don't you think?" and they proceed to smell it and almost throw up.

At our FLGS we've actually convinced one of our (admittedly younger) painters that someone actually HAD replaced the devlan mud at the communal paint station with fecal material.

"Oh, you didn't really just use that, did you? Thats poop"
::sniff::
"OH MY GOD NO HOW DO I GET IT OFF PLEASE TELL ME"

I can honestly say I'm (not intentionally mind you) tasted several brands and colours of paint, and Vallejo seem to have a somewhat lemony taste....

Anyways, what hurts washes in my opinion is the fact they encourage you to down the model in them and they tend to distort and fill in detail when they dry. Never had this problem with home made washes.

mine dont smell like fecal matter.... maybe yours are special?

However i work with animals so i can tolerate some really smelly things!

Ouze wrote:Oof, I thought there would be an answer here.

Have you noticed some of the pigments are worse than others? Devlan Mud is worse than Baal Red, for example, and Mechrite Red (foundation) is truly hideous smelling.

Crap, I never have used Devlan Mud but I just bought some Ball Red and my eyes grew wide when I smelled it. If Devlan Mud is worse then there is no way I'm EVER buying it, lol.

I finid that Badab black doesn't really have a smell. Ball red is the worst I have. followed by Leviathan Purple, Gryphonne Sepia isn't to bad either.

Tek wrote:Dammit I thought you were going to tell us!

Also, Brother-Captain Scotti, I believe the pear-drops smell in Poly Cement is added artificially to make you aware of it, as the "glue" compound in plastic glue is Chlorophorm. True say.

If you mean plastic model cement (like Testor's) that's tolulene. The fancier brush on stuff may have zylene if I remember right, closer to what you cement pvc pipe with. Either way there's no artificial scent needed. It's the stuff that can get your neighbor high in the apartment above you. Fun fact - read your cautions, some of them tell you to extinguish the pilot lights on furnaces and water heaters nearby

My devlan mud for sure smells like it was excreted by some guy named Devlan. Just yesterday i got some on my fingers and thought i might of had a poomergency.

Why's there got to be a science to it? Some chemicals just smell bad. They smell bad because they smell bad. And there's some in GW washes.

They usually don't bother me, with the exception of one time I used quite a bit of Badab black on a metal figure and...oh geez, that was especially awful for some reason.

I can honestly say I'm (not intentionally mind you) tasted several brands and colours of paint, and Vallejo seem to have a somewhat lemony taste....

Wait, what? I can understand accidentally tasting paint once or twice, but how do you "not intentionally" taste "several brands and colors"?

Actually friends, I work in a paint store so I can tell you exactly why this happens.

Generally if you open your paint and it has a foul odor like that of rotten eggs or feces it is because it has quite literally gotten sick. Latex based products can all go bad with age. Despite the nasty chemicals and volatile organic compounds in paints bacteria can still grow in them. Its always a good idea to pop open any miniature paint you buy in the store that you think may have been on the shelf for awhile and take a sniff. It make look weird but as long as your paint smells painty and not poopy you're probably good to go.

This may change as new regulations in Canada and parts of the USA (California) have placed heavy new restrictions on paints in terms of how much VOC's they're allowed to have. And paints with no VOC's have virtually no smell at all. This is a good thing because its better for the environment but there are draw backs. Paints with low (or no) VOC's can be made to maintain the durability of their grandfather products but its SEVERELY impacts their age. Most no VOC products will go bad after only about a year if left in the can and not applied where as their regular counter parts can last for years upon years. Keep this in mind next time you go to paint your house!

Chances are these regulations will not affect those of us in the mini painting hobby as its pointless to regulate such products VOC levels considering the tiny amount consumed compared to house and industrial products.

My washes all smell fine if slightly different they don't seem to have this terrible smell you all speak of.. Its quite possible that washes may go bad even quicker because they have less solids. That being said other then the terrible smell you can probably still use these as normal. Generally we don't recommend you use paint that has 'gone bad' but I think thats based on the the putrid smell and less on risk of paint failier. Mind you, thats just a guess. I just don't see the bacteria affecting adhesion.

EDIT:

As for why certain paints smell different then others its completely based on chemicals the manufactures use. Some of it can be telling. For instance paints that have a very strong 'chemically' smell (usually like bleach or ammonia) are often more durable or bite better into their surface for superior adhesion. This is not always the case but more often then not holds true.

Most house paints of the same product line will smell fairly similar regardless of the colour (as long as its a light color) but beings as mini paint is likely all 'coloured bases' rather then 'tint bases' it wouldn't surprise me if different colours smelled differently. (I don't have any beside me to test right now..)

This is likely due to the colourants that make up the base. Colourants are generally made from common minerals, for example almost everything white, paper, paint, white out, etc. is made white by using titanium dioxide. Another common one is burnt umber which is a clay pigment that is heated some how if I remember correctly. The smell you get from different colours of paints will be due to the mineral the colourant is made from. This SHOULD hold true regardless of paint lines. For example GW Regal Blue should smell similar to Reaper Brilliant Blue or Vallejo Imperial Blue (assuming they all use the same colourants) There will probly be a slight variation in odor due to paint bases but you should be able to smell the underlying colourant.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

Brotherjulian wrote:

Tek wrote:Dammit I thought you were going to tell us!

Also, Brother-Captain Scotti, I believe the pear-drops smell in Poly Cement is added artificially to make you aware of it, as the "glue" compound in plastic glue is Chlorophorm. True say.

If you mean plastic model cement (like Testor's) that's tolulene. The fancier brush on stuff may have zylene if I remember right, closer to what you cement pvc pipe with. Either way there's no artificial scent needed. It's the stuff that can get your neighbor high in the apartment above you. Fun fact - read your cautions, some of them tell you to extinguish the pilot lights on furnaces and water heaters nearby

This is true. We carry 5 gallon pails of both xylene and toluene. They come in metal contains and often after the long truck ride from the warehouse the seals on them are not 100% perfect.. as such we need to be very careful as the shrink wrap the skids are wrapped in will build a massive static charge on you and if you happen to touch a leaky can...

To be honest I've never thought any of my washes or paints from GW smelled weird

It must be hard to paint with the models directly under your noses...

I know that a number of my paints/washes are less than fresh, but after a few years of painting, I can honestly say that I can count the number of times I've caught a distinct whiff of my paints on one hand. Of those, Devlan Mud was definitely the worst, but it really wasn't that bad, nor was it terribly strong.

I almost wonder if those with horror stories are avid brush-lickers who paint directly out of the pots and may have inadvertently introduced some extra bacterial gribblies into the mix, or something. I doubt it, as the particulars point to specific paints as the primary offenders, but it seems so odd, to me.

The GW Inks called. They want to know what the big deal is.

Lol I thought it was me only too. My badab black has no apparent smell but when I got my baal red.... oh putrid stuff that was my devlan has a little smell but not as much. Has anyone btw had a mechrite/blood/scab/red gore red paint smell like strawberries? My mechrite red smells like fruit and my other regular paint smell like doritos/chocolate LOL

Nope, my reds smell like paint. The Baal Red, on the other hand... I just spilled some in front of my computer (I work and paint in front of my computer) and now I wish I can block out the smell. OH THE HORROR.

I just ordered my Devlan mud from gw online a week ago, figures they would sell bad stuff first.

I can honestly say I'm (not intentionally mind you) tasted several brands and colours of paint, and Vallejo seem to have a somewhat lemony taste....

Wait, what? I can understand accidentally tasting paint once or twice, but how do you "not intentionally" taste "several brands and colors"?