Anyone know how old this paint is

[junkyardjeff]

I am guessing it's about 45 years old and is still good,I used it to paint the engine for my latest 40 Ford project.

[BlackSheep214]

Probably going back to the 70s early 80s at best. 

[Little Timmy]

I remember paint bottles with printed 35 cents on the top. That was 1976.

( I still have a bottle of Testors metal flake Blue . Still usable after what, 47 years ? )

All hail Testors ! 

 

 

[sfhess]

I have some priced at 10 and 15 cents.

[junkyardjeff]

That was the only one I had with the price on the cap.

[Tom99]

Here are some of what I have, along with last weeks purchase price.

 

[redscampi]

I have several marked at 40 cents on the lids. I also got these three Pactras in a kit I bought at some point. The silver is unused and viable. The black is barely used and good too. The yellow is separated and I can't seem to shake it enough to mix it. Anyone have any idea where Broadbents is?

Edited December 4, 2023 by redscampi

[Monty]

I've seen both sides of the aged paint thing.  There's a Barbados Rex YouTube video where he takes a 50-year-old 1/4 oz bottle of Testors Metallic Green paint, uncaps it, stirs it, adds some reducer and airbrushes it.  Turned out great.   

Conversely, about a decade ago I came across a box of clearance paints at a hobby shop and was pleased to see it included 4 bottles of Pactra Hot Rod Primer.  I tried every trick I knew but could not make them workable.  

[TarheelRick]

14 minutes ago, Monty said:

I tried every trick I knew but could not make them workable.  

I seem to have similar issues with nail polish.  I have a drawer full of colors that were on sale and I couldn't resist, or I envisioned a build using that particular color.  Some will reconstitute using thinner, others don't.

[magicmustang]

Yep, prices took off after the oil embargo in 1973.

[bobthehobbyguy]

One thing to watch out for in the paint is the Pactra plastic bottles. In an effort to cut costs pastrami decided to use plastic bottles. The problem is the paint would go bad even when they had been never opened before. I suspect it was the plastic was porous.  The bottles were changed back to glass.

[Mike 1017]

List them on E-Bay: Hard to find Antique Testors Paint bottles.

$100.00ea.

Mike

[peteski]

40 cent Testors paints are likely from the late '80s. I bought paints in the early '80s for 30 cents.  Here are some from my collection (the 15 cent ones were given to me by a friend).  Funny how the logo looks similar to Tesla car logo.

[Vintage chromoly]

This is my oldest. Early 80’s.

[peteski]

38 minutes ago, Vintage chromoly said:

This is my oldest. Early 80’s.

What's the price shown on the cap?

Edited December 7, 2023 by peteski

[Vintage chromoly]

3 minutes ago, peteski said:

What's the price on the cap?

No price on the cap. 
 

its the last bottle that was still good from my childhood. My model building years were late 70’s until around 84ish.

[GLMFAA1]

Now lets set Mr. Peabody's way back machine to the early 1970's where President Ford establishes WIP ( Whip Inflation Now!) program. Along comes a little model builder that reports to the President that Testor's is not following his program by increasing the cost of their paints. Makes national news. Your bottle is between then and the 80's.

SIDEBAR: Patcra made a  gun metal bottle paint that was a great paint for the magnesium color of mag wheels. Their spray silver undercoat was the best for bare aluminum aircraft.

greg

[peteski]

24 minutes ago, Vintage chromoly said:

No price on the cap.

its the last bottle that was still good from my childhood. My model building years were late 70’s until around 84ish.

Hm, I thought the priceless caps were introduced later in the '90s (to present) so they would not have to remake the caps using the new, constantly growing price. Generic cap solved that problem.

EDIT: On second thought, I seem to recall that the little square bottles had different diameter necks too, using different caps.  Larger and smaller. I think the small caps didn't have prices and were used in paint sets. But my memory is fuzzy, I think I still have a paint set from the '80s. Would have to dig it out and check the cap.

Edited December 7, 2023 by peteski

[Bainford]

Building in Eastern Canada since the early 70s and using Testors paints almost exclusively, I have never seen the price on the lid as pictured above.

[Straightliner59]

I have a Testors marked 35 cents on the cap, and one marked 40. I have three of the old Pactra 2/3 oz. bottles. One is Hot Rod Primer that's still good--it has 25 cents printed on its label. The other two are not marked. I have a ton of ancient Humbrol paints I bought back in the early-mid '80s, that's still good, too. 

[deuces wild]

To get the paint to mix, try some stainless BBs from Crossman in them bottles and shake the living ? out of them.... That should do the trick...?

[Ulf]

I was a plumber in the mid-1980s and drew pipes in the laboratory of a paint factory. When I would beg for some cans of lacquer paint, they were careful to find some old ones for me, much like wine waiters. The lacquer colour became better by being stored, it became a better feeling and control for the painter.

[Mark]

Before shaking long settled paint, MIX it.  Get a good (metal) mixing utensil and get it into every possible area of that bottle.  If by chance it absolutely won't mix, then it can be written off as no good.  If it mixes, then shaking periodically should keep it mixed.

[Lunajammer]

On 12/6/2023 at 6:44 PM, Vintage chromoly said:

This is my oldest. Early 80’s.

Ah yes, back when you could plainly read from the label what color you were buying. Bought a couple bottles last week that, in the store, I couldn't for the life of me read whether they were flat, gloss or even shade ?.  Can't go by labels on the rack because bottles often aren't   in the right place.

[Vintage chromoly]

I feel the same way about the new labels.