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Model Master Label Changes...And It Ain't Pretty


ipmsusa2

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The next time you need to buy a bottle of Model Master or Testors paint, you may want to take an Optivisor or jeweler's Loupe with you so you can not only read the label but find the color name at the same time. Here's why: They are in the process of changing labels so that the front is nothing more than a warning about the dangers of the product. The color name is on the back in a very small font.

 

Here's the old, familiar 1/4 oz bottle.

 

 

545764_1%5B1%5D.jpgThe red band at the top says "Enamel/Email/Esmalte" (by the way, Email is Enamel in Spanish). Below the band is "Warning! Flammable. See sides." in English, French and Spanish. Below that is a fire emblem inside an octagon with "Danger Peligro" below that. They do manage to tell you the bottle contains 1/4 fl.oz or 7.4 mL.

 

 

The Model Master Enamel and Metalizer labels follow a slightly different but similar path. The front of the label, where we used to find the actual name of the paint now warns you about how dangerous the product is. The name? It's on the back in small print, just above the bar code. When you look on the Testors website, you find that even Acryl is getting basically the same treatment, though it isn't considered flammable.

 

What's the bottom line? Unless you know where to look, you have to select your color from the color chip and name on the paint rack...and that's assuming the employees put the right color in the right place to begin with. Makes you wonder what the next change from Testors will be, doesn't it?

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Alright you dinosaurs. That's the way things are going to be so adapt or perish.

Thanks for the info, though. I have yet to experience the joy of adaptation to the new label. Think I'll call a bunch of modeling buddies and we can have a "New Label" party at the paint racks in the local hobby shop.

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Since I have multiple hundreds of bottles in my paint rack, I've just now begun running into the new labels. Unless you care to trust browsing customers...never mind employees...to put the paint bottles back in the correct slots, we'll all have to carry jeweler's loupes or magnifying glasses with us when we need paint!

 

Incidentally, if having the United Nations behind the GHS labeling system ain't bad enough, consider this from Rustoleum. Had a problem with a can of Testors paint, (for those who don't know, Rustoleum owns Testors and technical problems go to a Rustoleum number) so was talking to one of their techs. He told me that they're constantly being pushed by...drum roll, please...the EPA to increase the amount of thinner in their paint. You know what that means. The more thinner, the worse it covers.

 

Are we having fun yet?

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, we'll all have to carry jeweler's loupes or magnifying glasses with us when we need paint!

 

Yes, the labels are printed in very small letters. But don't the vast majority of us now routinely carry a cellphone, mostly with a camera attached? It's a bit of an inconvenience, but why not use said camera to either look at the label through a zoom function (if yours is capable), or snap a photo of the label and then view that enlarged? I've done this and it works.

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This isn't a major crisis and its happened before. It will happen again. If you can't read the label then ask an employee in the hobby shop for help.

If reading small print is difficult then it isn't just the label in question that is an issue, its reading maps, reading prescription instructions, reading kit instructions, or doing anything that involves small items. Most likely you have a pair of reading glasses that you tote around with you. Using your cell phone, as was suggested by Joe, is SOP for me.

 

I'm quite sure that paint producers really don't want to have to change their label designs since it most likely costs them some coin to do that.

 

And blaming the United Nations and EPA is a bit of an "over-reaction".

If there's a problem (like lead being in paint) then you probably want to know about that and don't mind EPA stepping in. There are multiple ways to get around this issue.

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Dick & Joe,

 

While your comments concerning the new labels are quite true, the purpose of my post was to make anyone who hasn't run into the new labels aware of the change. As for my comments re: the U.N. and the EPA, we can kick that one around on a political forum somewhere. However, before Testors was a part of Rustoleum, I had several conversations with them over a period of a few years regarding changes in the paint. The EPA was blamed for a lot...not all...of the changes and I wasn't the one assigning blame.

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For the FACTS about the GHS labeling system, see here:

 

https://www.msdsonline.com/resources/ghs-answer-center/10-ghs-facts-in-60-seconds

 

The anti-government/anti-regulation/new world order conspiracy theorists among us should note item 5:

 

"The GHS is not a global law or regulation– a common misconception – it is a system. Think of it as a set of recommendations or collection of best practices. No country is obligated to adopt all or even any part of the GHS."

 

Note also that OSHA is the lead agency, not EPA.

 

No doubt Testors/Rustoleum has voluntarily adopted the GHS system because their products are sold internationally. And the solution to the small print is for them to put their products in larger, more economical bottles with bigger labels.

Edited by SkyKing
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Michael,

 

Your very logical and common sense solution is exactly what is needed. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen since the more economical a product is, the less profit a company makes on that product. Tamiya offers both a 23ml and 10ml size (3/4 and 3/8 oz) for $3.90 and $2.10 respectively. While the 23ml size is slightly more economical (you save $.30 cents), many brick and mortar shops only carry the 10ml. Thus the customer returns more frequently and the shop makes slightly more money.

 

Of course, as anyone reading this knows, ordering online obviates the problems discussed in this thread...except for the larger size economics when no larger size is offered.

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Fun never stops huh?. Yes, we know it contains harmful stuff and "most" of us are not going to drink it. So just leave the warning label where it was! I like to be able to read the color and/or FS number without the help of my new and shiny bi-focals or as it looks by the new label an electron microscope!

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If you are so old that you can't read the fine print, then you are old enough that you shoud know the colours on sight. If you are so young that you do not know the colour just by looking at it through the glass, then your eye sight should be good enough to read the label! I am sure that that's what Rustoleum was thinking. Nick - knows all the colours he needs just by glancing at the bottle- Filippone.

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Come on Nick. I am old enough that I do know my colors but l can't tell gloss from flat by looking at the bottle. The key thing now is we have to be more careful buying paints. A good thread. Also, I have over 160 bottles of MM paint. I can't tell them all apart.

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Clare,

 

You answered that reply MUCH more nicely than I would have.

 

Talk about self-righteousness!

Edited by RLFoster
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Oh, for heaven's sake people! You don't mean to tell me that you actually thought I was serious about Rustoleum's " intentions." It was obviously written tongue in cheek as a joke! But, to your credit, it demonstrates what I had hoped to- that in the abscence of body language, facial expression and nuance of inflection, simple black and white print cannot reliably convey subtlety in communication. The "listener" can than only guess what the "speaker" meant, always at the peril of each. Gotcha! Nick-thinks most social media is stupid unless it is being used to find lost pets, curb animal abuse and expose police brutality-Filippone.

 

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Oh, for heaven's sake people! You don't mean to tell me that you actually thought I was serious about Rustoleum's " intentions." It was obviously written tongue in cheek as a joke! But, to your credit, it demonstrates what I had hoped to- that in the abscence of body language, facial expression and nuance of inflection, simple black and white print cannot reliably convey subtlety in communication. The "listener" can than only guess what the "speaker" meant, always at the peril of each. Gotcha! Nick-thinks most social media is stupid unless it is being used to find lost pets, curb animal abuse and expose police brutality-Filippone.

B.S.
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I for one, know all the paint I have in my stock pile....it's all in bottles, it has the name of the manufacture, the color inside, complete (as of dated printed) safety data, a cap apon which I put a salvaged price tag from a previous purchase with the name written by my own hand with an environmentally sensitive marking system (The stub of a twig, from my yard, I burned to make a charcoal tip for writing)

.
As to the new more challenging labels I have devised a "work around". As I need to replace a color and the labels make easy reading too difficult or requiring mechanical aids; I shall simply buy one of each color in the range I need (i.e. if I need a dark gray), I will simply buy all the medium grays to nearly black grays. This will assure me I have: 1) gotten the color I wanted and 2) I will have a more complete selection of colors for my future needs.

So, I do not have to worry about the label readability. I will gain a host of, no doubt, future needed colors.

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. 4346fefe.gifroflmao_zps227429dd.gif

 

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I for one, know all the paint I have in my stock pile....it's all in bottles, it has the name of the manufacture, the color inside, complete (as of dated printed) safety data, a cap apon which I put a salvaged price tag from a previous purchase with the name written by my own hand with an environmentally sensitive marking system (The stub of a twig, from my yard, I burned to make a charcoal tip for writing)

.

 

Like most modelers, I too have a reasonable case of AMS or OMS (old modeler syndrom) in my case. I have a data base program with all of my paints listed. The key thing in the future is that we will have to be more careful when we shop to replace a color or add a new one. Model on. BTW, I like the idea of buying all of the greens or grays to make sure that you have the right one but have you seen the price of paint? ;-)

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I for one, know all the paint I have in my stock pile....it's all in bottles, it has the name of the manufacture, the color inside, complete (as of dated printed) safety data, a cap apon which I put a salvaged price tag from a previous purchase with the name written by my own hand with an environmentally sensitive marking system (The stub of a twig, from my yard, I burned to make a charcoal tip for writing)

.

 

Like most modelers, I too have a reasonable case of AMS or OMS (old modeler syndrom) in my case. I have a data base program with all of my paints listed. The key thing in the future is that we will have to be more careful when we shop to replace a color or add a new one. Model on. BTW, I like the idea of buying all of the greens or grays to make sure that you have the right one but have you seen the price of paint? ;-)

 

Thanks Clare, for reading my drivel. With the silly-ness that is me, I couldn't resist a bit of tongue and cheek, before feelings veered too far from the original posts bit of well meant information. :smiley2:

As to the system you are using; it does sound like a very workable one. Having forgotten (again) :lol: just which colors I Do have, your system certainty minimizes that dreaded "bottle #5 of 5 situation" . :smiley1:

 

Model on my friend

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