SkyKing Posted October 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 9 hours ago, ipmsusa2 said: Noel, In spite of what I've said previously, your comments regarding evolution are correct to a point. However, I'd suggest that regulation is more of a factor than evolution. Case in point is Krylon paint in rattlecans. They've been around for decades and I've been using the stuff off and on for a few decades myself. That changed about eleven or twelve years ago when their formula changed by edict of the EPA. You can read about the entire saga in an ebook I produced...it's available FREE...in your choice of epub, mobi or pdf formats by going here. Also, remember when Testors bought Floquil and then changed the formula and then killed the line entirely? How about buying and killing Pactra? This happens in the publishing world as well. Kalmbach bought two auto modeling magazines, killed one...arguably the best one...and kept the other. And Kalmbach also made a distribution deal with a magazine I was writing for, started making editorial suggestions and not much later the magazine ceased to exist. Business decisions or evolution? Evolution, Business Decisions or Regulation? Given the current obsessions in various countries to regulate or control everything in sight, rewrite history from a perspective of political correctness and allow big business to absorb small businesses, I suggest that evolution comes in dead last. Just my opinion. Your opinion may differ. As far as i have been able to discern, regulation had nothing to do with Testors changing the formula for Floquil. Original Floquil met all the regulations (except, possibly, for California's) but was not "plastic friendly" due to its solvents (toluene and xylene). Also, Floquil catered primarily to railroad modelers,and that hobby changed as more and more ready-to-run pre-painted locomotives and rolling stock began to replace kits. Killing off Floquil and Pactra was nothing more than an unregulated capitalist business decision to eliminate any competition in favor of their Model Master line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipmsusa2 Posted October 23, 2020 Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 Michael, I did not specifically state that Testors moves regarding Floquil and Pactra was the result of regulation requirements. What I said...or at least meant to say...was that regulations were one of the factors that could and in some cases did cause a change in a product. I was told by one person at Testors some years ago that they were being required to utilize a multilevel label on their paints in order to print all the required warnings. You know the kind I'm talking about...the back label peels up from one side, expanding the available space for warnings and instructions. My contact was expressing concern about the added unit cost. Whether or not they ever went that route I can't say because I never saw a Model Master bottle with that style label. As far as Floquil not being plastic friendly, maybe it wasn't for most, but I never had a problem with it. I used the brand...as well as automotive lacquers and milspec two part urethanes...for years on a wide range of plastic, resin and vinyl models, scratchbuilt architectural models, plastic bodied locomotives and more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelsmith Posted October 23, 2020 Report Share Posted October 23, 2020 Corporate decisions, regulations, no matter how much we debate the loss of products that we have known and loved throughout the years, these things happening are a fact of life that we have to live with. Evolution is not always brought about by gradual change. Often it is forced upon us, like it or not. I started modelling say back in the 60's when 95 per cent of the finishing products we take for granted today were non existent. Maybe we ought to count our blessings that there is so much after market stuff available despite some things being withdrawn. We all like our comfort zones with products that have served us well for years, but things move on. Not always for the better I might add, but it is what we have to live with. When I started modelling all that was available to me was a kit, tube cement, paint brushes and limited shades of enamels. So look on the bright side and forward guys and be thankful for all that is now available to us. I only wish that a quarter of what is available today was around when I started modelling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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