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Very disappointed to hear...


Wulf

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...that Testors has discontinued their Polly Scale military colors. I talked directly to Testors and they confirmed it. They claim the customer core for these products was too small. I asked if the Model Master acrylic line was going to "pick up" the obscure colors PS offered. There was no real straight answer. So, if you are a PS user, better get to the online stores and the LHS's and gobble 'em up.

 

And....I heard 21st century toys is going under as well. Seems once Walmart stopped carrying their models, they went downhill. So, if you have some of their kits, might want to hang on to them. Might be worth something some time down the road. Some online stores still have them in stock.

 

Andy

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I was in the paint making biz for 22 yrs. I think you will see these trends go on from here on out. Get the things you need in this hobby because it is going to look a lot different as time goes on.

 

Ronald F.Thorne Jr.

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Andy & RonBo,

 

Let me share the perspectiver of a LHS owner.

 

Floquil used to be the best selling line we had. Their enamel and acrylic formulas were the best to be found, and their prices was in line with Testors but slightly higher. Floquil outsold Testors Model Masters by about 40%. Polly Scale outsold Testors Acryl by about 600% (6:1) and we eventually killed the Acryl line in favor of Polly Scale, Tamiya and Gunze since it was the slowest seller we had, even slower than Humbrol (we also killed that rack)

 

Once Testors bought Floquil, they killed the superior line to promote their own. If you can't beat the competition, buy them out and kill them internally.

 

Then it seemed that Polly scale's formula changed. I do not know if Testors mucked around with it or not, but it doesn't adhere as well as some of the old pre-Testors bottles. This was a key factor in the consumer shifting their loyalties to other acrylics.

 

The final straw was last year when Testors changed their prices yet again. Polly Scale went to $4.29/bottle. My customers immediatly reacted by buying more of the Tamiya & Gunze paints (at $2.50/bottle). In the past year+ the sales of Polly Scale have dropped from an average restock of 20 colors a week to 2 or 3. I don't know if their formula was that much more expensive to make, but it was and is inferior to the other brands, IMO.

 

Frankly, I am surprised to see thyat Testors let it live this long. Their own Acryl line is an inferior paint but it is the 'home team' brand and must be kept alive at all costs. The wants, needs and wishes of the consumer be damned.

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James,

I agree with everything you said and you were not the first to say them. Your case has been backed my others, merely by observation. Many people say that MM acryl is an inferior paint. However, I have been using it since I started back in the hobby. I get good results with it but have to treat it like small child, so to speak. The prep and app has to be just right. Now, I do use PS and Tamiya on occasion. I will say that brush painting Tamiya is something to be desired. PS and MM do hand brush very nicely.

 

Nonetheless, I'm disappointed with Testors for this move, regardless of the motivation. I guess my next step is to branch out and try other acrylic brands. I won't "divorce" MM entirely but I may find other "company".

 

Andy

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Last time I was active in the hobby I used Tamiya paints, but was never really happy with the color section or performance. Switched to Pollyscale and was a lot happier. I planed on using mostly Pollyscale this go round with a few others mixed in where needed. Sounds like that may not be workable for the long run, so I decided to give Vallejo a try on the kit I'm about to start. Just received all of the paint I'll need for this project today and plan diving in tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

 

I can already say that I like the dropper bottles. Should save considerably on pipettes. Didn't someone else use these same dropper bottles before? Seems like I remember seeing them years ago.

 

-dave

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While I liked PollyScale (and miss it already--especially the Marine colors), I have used Acryl with success since they replaced the horrid Testor Model Master Acrylics in the late 1990's. What made PollyScale so good was that you could thin it with distilled water. I have had to rely on Testor's Universal Acrylic Thinner for Acryls of late, I had one incident where my other favorite acrylic thinning potion (91% Isopropyl Alcohol and Future mixed) caused the paint to clump in the color cup.

 

I seem to be the only person in the universe who publicly states that I have not had adhesion problems with Acryl--I'm either not the only one, or I'm living right....

 

I also have managed to come to terms with Tamiya's paint--when it was originally released in 1982, it was superb--then they changed the formula and it was difficult to airbrush, even with their own thinner. The latest stuff thins well with the aforementioned Isopropyl/Future mix....

 

I do, however, miss the Pactra acrylics--shoot, even the old Pactra International Colors enamels were great paints. Another case of Testor buying the line, then killing it.

 

R

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  • 2 months later...

I'm not a big acrylic user but the comments in this thread are spot-on with regards to Floquil's Military Line. Once Testors got that, it was gone quickly. Why couldn't they have pulled a Borg precept and used Floquil to enhance their existance instead of killing a superior product? I'll take enamels and lacquers over acrylics and while I do use MM enamels, their business model stinks and, by now, they should be able to recognize how to improve their products based on the superior lines they've killed-off...

 

Grrrr...

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When I learned that Gunze Sangyo (Mr. Color) was going to be impossible to get in the states, I went out and stocked up. I'm sitting on (thankfully) about 200 bottles at the present time, and I'll cross the bridge of what to replace them with when the time comes.

 

I still have to use Tamiya for primary colors, black, white, etc. I have a drawer of MM, Polly-Scale, even some old Pactra, and for the most part, they sit there unless I desperately need a color that I don't have in Gunze.

 

Gunze, mixed with Dupont Centari Mid-Temp Reducer, is the absolute best paint I've ever used...period.

 

Once you've used it, you'll wonder how you managed without it.

 

As for Testors, I try to avoid using any of their products if I don't have to. I knew some of the original Floquil/Polly-Scale folks when I lived in NY, and I wasn't overly impressed with the way they were tossed aside when the big T bought them out.

 

 

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