Alclad

[935k3]

Has anybody heard that Alclad is out of business.

[StevenGuthmiller]

No.

I haven't heard anything.

Their website is still up and operating.

They just announced a new color in February.

 

 

 

Steve

Edited April 16, 2023 by StevenGuthmiller

[Bugatti Fan]

Where did you hear that from Dale?

[Dpate]

Haven't heard anything like that, but if they did they could easily be replaced.  Tons of great replacements on the market. 

[935k3]

21 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Where did you hear that from Dale?

Some brits that get together on Friday nights on youtube.

Edited April 17, 2023 by 935k3

[Bugatti Fan]

Rumours and speculation can be very damaging.

Dusty's comment appeared a bit dismissive. Yes there are plenty of replacements. But one has to remember that if any company ceases trading a number of people lose their livelihoods as a result. I sincerely hope that this is not the case with Alclad who have been around for a while and one of the pioneer companies in that field.

Maybe Alclad  should be contacted directly to confirm their current status?

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[Straightliner59]

Their website looks normal.

https://alclad2.com/

[Dpate]

19 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Rumours and speculation can be very damaging.

Dusty's comment appeared a bit dismissive. Yes there are plenty of replacements. But one has to remember that it any company ceases trading a number of people lose their livelihoods as a result. I sincerely hope that this is not the case with Alclad who have been around for a while and one of the pioneer companies in that field.

Maybe Alclad  should be contacted directly to confirm their current status?

 

Didn't mean to come off that way.  Don't get me wrong i love alclad, and hope they never go out of business.  It's just with the way things are going on in the world today it wouldn't surprise me, and just saying if they did we have other great options on the market - so the hobby wouldn't be hurt to bad as a result.  It just wouldn't have the same effect on the hobby as if lets say BMF went out of business which i hope they never do as well. Both Alclad & BMF are pioneer's, and i hope they both continue to be successful till the end.

Edited April 18, 2023 by Dpate

[StevenGuthmiller]

I suppose it’s a little like my reaction might be if Tamiya paints went away.

A lot of people would be quite unhappy, but it wouldn’t affect me much.

Plenty of other exceptional options.

 

 

 

Steve

[Bugatti Fan]

So many different choices.

That could be the root of the problem these days. As the market becomes more competitive some businesses will unfortunately and regrettably for their staff fall by the wayside. It is a question of market share enabling sustainability.

Back in the 80's when Humbrol was the market leader in the UK a company named Gloy brought out a huge range of enamel paints as a direct competitor. Humbrol  enamel paints were already firmly entrenched as the main supplier to model shops. As soon as Gloy came onto the scene Humbrol rapidly increased their ranges so Gloy could not get a foothold in their territory so to speak. Modellers had it great paint wise for about 2 years. As soon as Humbrol saw off Gloy's challenge, needless to say their ranges began to be reduced.

Since then things have changed a lot with finishing products, and to quote a late UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan from way back 'You never had it so good'.

Edited April 18, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[peteski]

The original Alclad and the current Alclad II is a well established hobby paints company.  Probably over 30 years old.  They are not a "new kid on the block".  Should be able to defend their turf.  They have good product and a wide range of finishes (not just metallic paints).

[Bugatti Fan]

Not sure where Alclad originated whether it be the UK or USA.

From what I understand there were two Alclads that I believed were the same trading company one on each side of the Atlantic. I heard somewhere that the US company was separate and copyrighted the Alclad name, and as a result the UK one had to change theirs to another. If this is correct,  perhaps someone else posting on here might have an accurate answer to this and what the current status of the UK company is?

[Dpate]

I know ammo by mig has alclad and the labels say "The original".  I'm not sure if they partnered with them or not.

[CabDriver]

8 hours ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Not sure where Alclad originated whether it be the UK or USA.

From what I understand there were two Alclads that I believed were the same trading company one on each side of the Atlantic. I heard somewhere that the US company was separate and copyrighted the Alclad name, and as a result the UK one had to change theirs to another. If this is correct,  perhaps someone else posting on here might have an accurate answer to this and what the current status of the UK company is?

I don't know, but a Google search revealed this:

https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/blog/alclad-ii-brand-splits-from-uk-producer/

[CabDriver]

Also found online on a site named "Britmodeler" 

"Alclad started in the UK in the 1990s but after a few years one of the owners moved to the USA and started a second production line there. The 2 businesses have operated independently ever since but there seems to have been some dispute between them recently. The UK business has now removed all references to Alclad from their website and the products which is probably why you couldn't find any link to Alclad.

I spoke to one of the owners of HR Hobbies recently and the paints are made to the same specification as always it's just the brand name that's changed."

Of course, anyone can write anything on the internet, so take with the pinch of salt you should always apply to anything written on the internet...but maybe that's where some of this rumor is coming from - one of the two parties who manufactures it is changing name

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235109004-alclad-ll-paints-where-are-they-now/

Edited April 19, 2023 by CabDriver

[Bugatti Fan]

That would explain things!  Thanks for the feedback Jim and Dusty.

[peteski]

Yes, the demise of Alclad (II) paints is mentioned on the British site.  I have some of the original Alclad paints (when they were first introduced on 1990s in USA).  Back then there was a limited number of shades available and the paint formula seemed to be different than what they have now.  The bottle on the left (with the tiny cap) is the oldest one.  Going by the labels, it was a small cottage industry manufacturer. To me the Alclad name always meant "Aluminum" (as in metal) "clad".  I don't know of any buyouts or mergers, but it is possible.  The info in some of the links posted above seems to imply that there is (or was) a British version of those paints.

The company name and address was Lumonz Products, PO Box 15571, Long Beach, CA 90815.

Edited April 20, 2023 by peteski

[bobthehobbyguy]

I read the britmodeleer article.

What was said was two partners started already ll. One came to the US. The US company copyrighted the name and the separate British company could not use the name and changed it. The British company tried to keep the same part  numbers but that was not allowed by the US company. Instead of changing the numbers they passed the paint line off to a company named MIG. So the British version of alclad does not exist.

As said this is based on what was said however it seems plausible.

[StevenGuthmiller]

11 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

I read the britmodeleer article.

What was said was two partners started already ll. One came to the US. The US company copyrighted the name and the separate British company could not use the name and changed it. The British company tried to keep the same part  numbers but that was not allowed by the US company. Instead of changing the numbers they passed the paint line off to a company named MIG. So the British version of alclad does not exist.

As said this is based on what was said however it seems plausible.

So my take away from all of this is that Alclad is not going anywhere in the US, and the same product is available in the UK, just under a different name.

Anyone, feel free to correct me if this is not the case.

 

 

Steve

[Dpate]

59 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

So my take away from all of this is that Alclad is not going anywhere in the US, and the same product is available in the UK, just under a different name.

Anyone, feel free to correct me if this is not the case.

 

 

Steve

I think you're right.  But you can buy both versions online in the states, and there both the exact same product.  So i guess it boils down to Alclad Alclad or Ammo by mig "the original" Alclad lol

[SfanGoch]

45 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

they passed the paint line off to a company named MIG

The company is AMMO by Mig, owned by Jose "Mig" Rodriguez. Jose was the owner of Mig Productions, followed by AK Interactive. He left AK Interactive after a falling out with co-owner Fernando Vallejo (no connection to Amadeo Vallejo of Acrylicos Vallejo who, coincidentally, is a Jersey guy and started the company there in 1965, moving the company to Spain in 1969) and started a new company, the aforementioned AMMO by Mig.

From Britmodeller:

Quote

Alclad UK changed their name to HR Hobbies as the US-based Alclad business had trademarked the brand name and the UK business could not longer call itself Alclad.

Following the re-branding, HR got a further complaint from Alclad that the HR product names and catalogue numbers were the same as Alclad and had to be changed to distinguish between the two different brands.

Rather than re-work the products again, HR Hobbies decided to stop selling the paint under their own name. They now supply the paint in bulk to Mig who retail it under their name.  Once shops sell out of stock the HR brand will disappear.

Alclad paints are sold by AMMO under the A-Stand brand. Therefore, any claims that A-Stand lacquers are superior to Alclad are nothing more than marketing B.S. since both are the same product.

 

[Bugatti Fan]

By the breakaway company in the States taking out a Trademark on the Alclad name looks to have really made life problematical for the originator UK company it would appear. Just goes to show there is no sentiment in business.

A salutary wake up call to any business to trade mark their product name immediately to avoid hostile but legal practice.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Bugatti Fan