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1 minute ago, martinfan5 said:

It was such a great product, I used a lot of it.

The buffing aluminum was the one I used most, and I just bought enough cans and bottles of the stuff to last me the rest of my life, most likely.

I've never seen another product that could do exactly what the buffing metalizers do, though there's some that look to be pretty close.

And I never woulda thunk the stuff would ever go away just due to lack of interest on the part of the corporate parent.

Here's one of those niche market opportunities just waiting for some enterprising person to step up and fill...

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2 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

The only MM Metalizer I used was stainless steel. I bought a can of Dupli Color Stainless Steel that will last me the rest of my time probably. I'm down to my last spritz of Dull Cote. I'll replace it with Tamiya Matte Clear when the time comes. 

I used pretty much the entire line, but mostly Aluminum and Steel. 

I am still confused as to what is getting removed, I thought Dullcote was staying, as it was a "Testors" branded product.

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Just now, Ace-Garageguy said:

The buffing aluminum was the one I used most, and I just bought enough cans and bottles of the stuff to last me the rest of my life, most likely.

I've never seen another product that could do exactly what the buffing metalizers do, though there's some that look to be pretty close.

And I never woulda thunk the stuff would ever go away just due to lack of interest on the part of the corporate parent.

Here's one of those niche market opportunities just waiting for some enterprising person to step up and fill...

I never used the buffing one myself but I know the buffing ones were popular too , its going to leave a big void and like you said, there is much out there than perfectly replace it, more so the buffing ones.   Alclad can fill most of the void that is going to be left behind.

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2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

It's not political to say that this Covid mess has pointed out the sheer stupidity of relying on China for so much of our manufacturing and goods. 

I agree completely . Something about double-edged swords and the such... or is it , "Live by the sword..." ? 

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2 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

I used pretty much the entire line, but mostly Aluminum and Steel. 

I am still confused as to what is getting removed, I thought Dullcote was staying, as it was a "Testors" branded product.

So am I. That's why I'm going ahead and moving on.

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The metalizer paints would be missed.

Hoping that new line of Tamiya becomes available here in North America.

yah, they need more colors and those mixing notes on the instructions have

left some scratching heads. ? If there is one hobby paint company not

worried about, it's Tamiya. Just wish they would expand the range for

us car and military minded modelers. 

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2 minutes ago, STYRENE-SURFER said:

[Tamiya's] mixing notes on the instructions have left some scratching heads.

Even just regular Paint letter "A" paint "guides" bother me . Revell went that route (plus around 3-4 pages of parts callouts --- an utter waste of space IMO) with the "lettered" painting some years ago , and it bugs the ________________ out of me ! Not so much for subjects that I'm familiar with ( e.g. , Muscle Cars from the classic era ) , but for the vehicles that I'm not as hip to .  While I understand that Revell and AMT ( et alia ) have a larger market --a global market-- to which they felt compelled to print their instructions in other languages ( not a thing wrong with that --- "When in Rome..." ) , I would be remiss if I'd neglected to mention that , They had it "right" in the 90's .  

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...most modelers today are not kids who shove bits of plastic together.

We have become a rather picky and b!+<#¥ lot that can't stand anything other than perfection.

Those military modelers who need the perfect hue of Sahara dust or Tuscan oil grime wash

are too much for me but somehow they have a lot to choose from. It's time we get some proper 

automobile colors so we don't have to mix are own,  desert radiator pin wash or Michigan salt brine

pigment anyone?

I kid, I kid! ?

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The Rustoleum 2X aluminum is amazing. It covers completely with just a small puff of paint. I have been having trouble finding their other metallic colors, but I think I will look online. The Metalizer stainless steel was my go-to for exhaust systems, but I am sure I can find something else.

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19 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Which has basically been the downfall of much of American business.

In the beginning, the idea was "we want to make good stuff that people want, and we'll figure out a way to make enough money doing it to keep making good stuff that people want".

Today, the idea is primarily "we want to make a ton of money, and we really don't give a rat's rear what kind of garbage we make (or WHERE we make it, or even IF we make ANYTHING), as long as we make a ton of money...

...and we'll spend insane amounts of money on marketing and advertising to make people THINK they want the garbage we sell, rather than making really great stuff that sells itself because we spend real effort on product development to make really great stuff.

Amen brother

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18 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

...has a long-standing , outstanding business model . I really , really wish that Tamiya would seize this opportunity to expand their ( excellent ) paint colour chart ---- I'd buy the "BLAH-BLAH-BLAH" out of any "Big Four" engine colours and body colours that they could offer ! 

I need to write another message to Tamiya , USA... maybe even a 'petition' signed by my fellow enthusiasts whom want for Tamiya to pick up where Testors (et al.) left off ?

X2

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21 hours ago, Plowboy said:

I'm not familiar with FS colors. But, they have 32 colors in the AS line and 90 in the XF line.

FS colors are federal standard colors.  The military uses these for its aircraft and vehicles.  Many military kits use the Federal Standard numbers to call out colors on the kits.   http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_fs.htm

Edited by El Roberto
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On 8/22/2020 at 4:24 PM, martinfan5 said:

FYI- Rustoleum does not own Testors, RPM International owns Rustoleum and Testors, they are brands under RPM Intl.

For me personally, the only Testors/MM products I used are/were the Metalizers, I am going to miss those for a short time till I transition over to Alclad, and I use Testors Dullcote , other than those two products, I have no use for Testors at this point and use Tamiya and Mr Hobby for my brush painting needs.   Since I build automotive subjects, the small depth of the paint line is a none issue for me. 

Thank you for this Jonahtan!

I don't know why people seem to think that Rustoleum is a company that owned Testors name.  Was the Rustoleum name mentioned on the labels in recent runs of Testors paints?

Like you said, all those brands are part of the RPM corp.  The old Floquil, Polly-S and Polly-Scale paint lines were also owned by RPM.  And none of this was recent.  RPM owned those brands for decades.  It was the RPM "mothership" which decided to end those paint lines.

If someone is looking for alternatives for the old-fashion "stinky" paints (other than ones already mentioned), I recommend Tru-Color paint, and Scalecoat II paints.  While these are mainly geared towards model railroad hobby, paint is paint - they can be used on any models.

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6 hours ago, peteski said:

Thank you for this Jonahtan!

I don't know why people seem to think that Rustoleum is a company that owned Testors name.  Was the Rustoleum name mentioned on the labels in recent runs of Testors paints?

Like you said, all those brands are part of the RPM corp.  The old Floquil, Polly-S and Polly-Scale paint lines were also owned by RPM.  And none of this was recent.  RPM owned those brands for decades.  It was the RPM "mothership" which decided to end those paint lines.

If someone is looking for alternatives for the old-fashion "stinky" paints (other than ones already mentioned), I recommend Tru-Color paint, and Scalecoat II paints.  While these are mainly geared towards model railroad hobby, paint is paint - they can be used on any models.

Its a very common  misconception that Rustoleum is the parent owner, I see it all the time on other forms of social media,  I think RPM purchased Testor in 1984.  Like you stated, RPM owned those other lines too .  I didnt know it either till I looked it up a few years ago, but I do think on some of the Testors/MM products had Rustoleum on the label somewhere, I want to to recall Ive seen it(or maybe not), I know the RPM logo has been.

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On 8/22/2020 at 8:55 PM, Rodent said:

The Rustoleum 2X aluminum is amazing. It covers completely with just a small puff of paint. I have been having trouble finding their other metallic colors, but I think I will look online. The Metalizer stainless steel was my go-to for exhaust systems, but I am sure I can find something else.

http://alclad2.com/finishes/regular/

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I too am mourning the loss of the Metalizers. I use them on all my builds. I seldom buffed and sealed, more using them to have several different metal tones under my hood and chassis. I didn’t realize the sprays had been discontinued until they all but disappeared from store shelves. I was able to score one last can each of Magnesium and Aluminum, which I’m rationing. 

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I too appreciated the Testor's Metalizers. When airbrushed, they had a habit of laying down really nicely. They did a great job on simulating metal finishes, and made a great base coat for semi-transparent color coats too.

I'll miss the factory color lacquers and Xtreme lacquers as well, though I can't say I love the finishes right out of the can.

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14 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

Its a very common  misconception that Rustoleum is the parent owner, I see it all the time on other forms of social media,  I think RPM purchased Testor in 1984.  Like you stated, RPM owned those other lines too .  I didnt know it either till I looked it up a few years ago, but I do think on some of the Testors/MM products had Rustoleum on the label somewhere, I want to to recall Ive seen it(or maybe not), I know the RPM logo has been.

Yes, 1984 is the date in an industrial journal referenced in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testor_Corporation

As far as Floquil /Polly-S paints go, I have some old bottles (probably from the '70s), still with their Amsterdam, NY address with RPM logo on the labels.  So RPM was in the hobby paint business for quite some time.  I'm not sure about the history and status of Pactra paints. As I see it, all those corporate mergers and acquisitions don't serve consumers very well.

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This just makes me wonder. If the economics of the products aren't there, why did you buy the company in the first place? You always pay a premium over the real value. The executives of the target companies love this because they get a lot of money in the process. But none of this makes sense for the acquiring company. If their market position was that tenuous, it's much easier to let them fail, then swoop in and buy them out of bankruptcy or liquidation. 

Maybe someone needed a company sale on their resume? (Don't laugh. I've seen some catastrophic technical decisions made on this exact basis. )

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3 hours ago, Dave Ambrose said:

This just makes me wonder. If the economics of the products aren't there, why did you buy the company in the first place? You always pay a premium over the real value. The executives of the target companies love this because they get a lot of money in the process. But none of this makes sense for the acquiring company. If their market position was that tenuous, it's much easier to let them fail, then swoop in and buy them out of bankruptcy or liquidation. 

Maybe someone needed a company sale on their resume? (Don't laugh. I've seen some catastrophic technical decisions made on this exact basis. )

Maybe at the time of the acquisition Testors was a leader in hobby paints market, and growing.  It made sense for RPM to swallow the "small fish" hoping to grow it even further. Then few decades later, the hobby market has shrunk, and the paint sales were declining, so RPM decided to slowly get out of the hobby paint market?

We will likely never know the reasons RPM acquired, then slowly killed of Testors line of hobby paints.  We will also never know where Testors would be if RPM left them alone.  But going by my life experience, like I said, it seems like consumers suffer because of all those acquisitions and takeovers.

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