TESTORS AIN'T WHAT IT USED TA BE...

[Mothersworry]

So this morning I needed to get some paint outta my supply room, tried to lift a can from the shelf...imagine my surprise to find that can firmly attached to the shelf. It seems the can had spung a leak and dumped the binder (yellow goo) all over the place.

Upon further investigation I discovered that not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 32 cans of Testors spray can products had also relieved themselves of their binder...all over the place. Mostly lacquers with a few enamels mixed in, quite the mess.

Needless to say I wuz a bit miffed about this, so I thought I'd contact Testors to see what they might be able to do for a life long customer such as myself, after all, I've been using Testors products since I wuz about 6 or 7 years old, I'm now 65.

So I called Testors, guess what, their not aware of any problems with their products. When I mentioned that I had 32 leaking spray cans I wuz told that's not possible, however, they said they would be happy to to help with a refund if I would provide Testors with the batch and lot numbers on the cans and of course the proof of purchase (receipts). 

Now I'm pretty good about keepin records but I must admit that it never occurred to me to keep the receipts fer my paint purchases...so I don't have the receipts...but not to worry, even though I can't prove that I actually purchased the spray paint in question, Testors would be happy to consider a refund for up to 4 cans of spray paint.

All I have to do is send Testors the leaking cans so they can forward them to their research deptment to confirm if there is, in fact, any problem with their products. So I thought I'd ask, and no, I can't send in 4 cans at a time for a refund...it's a one time deal cuz I guess no way could there be so many defective Testors products. 

Obviously I'm being a bit sarcastic, but I've never had a problem with any Testors products, ever, fer the last 59 or so years, the stuff always worked like it wuz supposed to...no issues.

Enter Rustoleum (RPM Internatonal) and I got 32 cans of diaper scrapins, and I'm not counting the rest of my stock that haven't yet failed (another 50 or so spray cans).

So it seems Testors ain't what they used ta be

Thoughts?

Edited March 6 by Mothersworry

[peteski]

Yes, this is a fairly common problem with some batches of Testors spray cans. It has been discussed on this form more than once.  They never heard of it?  Sure  . . . Yeah, rigth.

[vamach1]

I assumed this was only an issue with older cans perhaps due to age but if this is happening with cans that are less than few years old that is not good.  Have you tries to use them despite the self sealing leakage?  Paying for postage to mail them back is a joke as the postage would barely cover your refund.

[Mothersworry]

4 minutes ago, vamach1 said:

I assumed this was only an issue with older cans perhaps due to age but if this is happening with cans that are less than few years old that is not good.  Have you tries to use them despite the self sealing leakage?  Paying for postage to mail them back is a joke as the postage would barely cover your refund.

I always date the supplies I buy so I don't mix up old with new, a few of these cans were dated 2018/2019 but most were 2021 thru early 2023...so most of them are not very old.

Nope...haven't tried to shoot any of em, don't have a use fer any of those colors at the moment regarding current projects. Additionally most of the cans are pretty light (weight) so I'm pretty sure they won't work.

 

[peteski]

While it has no bearing on the problem, are those brand new cans, or partially used cans?  If the cans were full then the amount of leaked out binder (in the photo) is just small portion of what's in the can.  If you squeeze the can you can tell whether it is still pressurized or not.  Of course you could also try spraying.

[Mothersworry]

24 minutes ago, peteski said:

While it has no bearing on the problem, are those brand new cans, or partially used cans?  If the cans were full then the amount of leaked out binder (in the photo) is just small portion of what's in the can.  If you squeeze the can you can tell whether it is still pressurized or not.  Of course you could also try spraying.

All the cans are virgins...factory sealed. Squeezing the can...interesting idea but with my luck the the partially failed can would completely fail all over me so I'm thinkin I'm not gonna temp fate. 

I suppose that a few of them might actually spray but at the moment I don't have a project for any of those colors except maybe the clears but I'm not gonna risk screwing up sumthin using a spray can that obviously has a problem to save some bucks.

[blizzy63]

I have a stash of Testors Extreme Lacquer spray paints in all their colors that I picked up here a there after Testors was going out of business.

About a year ago, I kept wondering what THAT smell was I kept smelling in my hobby room that never aired away. I kept blaming the lidded jar of lacquer thinner that I kept on my desk.

Then I tore into my boxes of rattle cans (most unused) under and around my desk and discovered the one Testors Extreme Lacquer Root Beer can had relieved itself through the bottom seam and all around the other cans.

I now keep a regular, close watch on my stash for the next chemical geyser.

[Old Nasty]

Were the cans subjected to extreme temperature variations or freezing?  I know that paints I store in the garage suffer from this.

[NOBLNG]

If you can’t use them soon you might want to decant and airbrush them in the future. If so…store the leakers upside down so only propellant leaks out.

Edited March 7 by NOBLNG

[Deathgoblin]

Pretty much all of my Testors paints did this.  I ended up chucking them all.  I mostly use Tamiya and Duplicolor anymore, or if I buy Testors it gets used up quickly.

[keviiin86]

I took a 20 year break from the hobby and recently dug into my stash and found a couple cans had done this,  of the 20 or so cans some dating back to the mid 90s only the newer cans from about 2011 had leaked out.  Most were junk anyway though and wouldn't spray properly.  I pitched most of them and had to start over.

[TonyK]

It's strange that you had so many of these cans do this. As stated above, many of us have had a few problem cans but not 32! I like to use Testors colors for less important parts like chassis, interior, and odds and ends but use Tamiya for bodies and such. More expensive but I never have a problem with those cans.

[Brutalform]

It’s pretty sad to say that, nothing seems to be what it used to be anymore. 
I have this silly little thing about me, and that is when I buy something, all I expect is that it does what’s intended. At least for a little while. It’s appalling how “new” items such as refrigerators , ovens, TVs, or otherwise simple things like model paint, are so cheaply made, (but always cost more), just fail to perform like they should. I’ve had several Testors do this also, but never Tamiya. And no one cares, as long as they have your money. Years ago companies stood by their products, and a few still do, but it’s pretty sad when they constantly hound you to pay extra for extended warranty coverage. How about stand by your product to begin with, or build it a little better? Just sayin

[Mothersworry]

2 hours ago, TonyK said:

It's strange that you had so many of these cans do this. As stated above, many of us have had a few problem cans but not 32! I like to use Testors colors for less important parts like chassis, interior, and odds and ends but use Tamiya for bodies and such. More expensive but I never have a problem with those cans.

I suppose it would be strange fer yer average modeler, but that ain't me. Typically, I tend to buy alotta paint, Testors, Tamiya, Duplicolor, Alcald...etc. I don't  wanna run out of anything so I keep a large stock on hand.

For example at the moment I have 27 cans of Tamiya TS14 in stock. I buy several cans at a time so it is likely that if a particular batch of spray paint from a particular manufacturer is bad I probably have purchased from that same bad batch and it would not necessarily have to be the same color as it is apparently the cans that are bad.

The photo below shows some of my paint stock, what you see is new and unopened. The shelves are all full, 6 cans deep. I keep the opened paint in several large drawers in my work shop.

As I said, I've never had any unopened spray paint go bad on me, never. A few years ago I used vintage AMT black lacquer from the mid sixties (tall can with the metal top) to paint a mint '62 lincoln kit...paint worked just fine. More recently I opened a can of Testors gloss grey enamel that I had purchased in the early 80's to use as a base fer Alcad Hi-Shine Aluminum...worked just fine.   

I'm disappointed that Testors has become so unreliable in their product and so indifferent to their customers, however, lesson learned...I simply will not give them as much money as I have in the past and if I find a suitable replacement Testors will get no more of my money.

What a shame.

[Mothersworry]

16 hours ago, Old Nasty said:

Were the cans subjected to extreme temperature variations or freezing?  I know that paints I store in the garage suffer from this.

Nope, from the Hobby Shop to my stock room in my work shop...stored under ideal conditions.

[Beans]

That is more inventory and organization than I see in most hobby shops!!  

[NOBLNG]

35 minutes ago, Mothersworry said:

I suppose it would be strange fer yer average modeler, but that ain't me. Typically, I tend to buy alotta paint, Testors, Tamiya, Duplicolor, Alcald...etc. I don't  wanna run out of anything so I keep a large stock on hand.

For example at the moment I have 27 cans of Tamiya TS14 in stock. I buy several cans at a time so it is likely that if a particular batch of spray paint from a particular manufacturer is bad I probably have purchased from that same bad batch and it would not necessarily have to be the same color as it is apparently the cans that are bad.

The photo below shows some of my paint stock, what you see is new and unopened. The shelves are all full, 6 cans deep. I keep the opened paint in several large drawers in my work shop.

As I said, I've never had any unopened spray paint go bad on me, never. A few years ago I used vintage AMT black lacquer from the mid sixties (tall can with the metal top) to paint a mint '62 lincoln kit...paint worked just fine. More recently I opened a can of Testors gloss grey enamel that I had purchased in the early 80's to use as a base fer Alcad Hi-Shine Aluminum...worked just fine.   

I'm disappointed that Testors has become so unreliable in their product and so indifferent to their customers, however, lesson learned...I simply will not give them as much money as I have in the past and if I find a suitable replacement Testors will get no more of my money.

What a shame.

Is that in your workshop or your survival bunker?😁 Looks like you have the same purchasing system for model kits too.😎

Edited March 7 by NOBLNG

[Bainford]

36 minutes ago, Mothersworry said:

 

I'm disappointed that Testors has become so unreliable in their product and so indifferent to their customers, however, lesson learned...I simply will not give them as much money as I have in the past and if I find a suitable replacement Testors will get no more of my money.

 

Yup, very sad indeed. Like most people here, I've been a loyal user of Testors products since my age was counted in single digits, but the apathy towards their customers lately leaves one feeling cold. Understanding that this is not the same company that we all knew and loved when we were younger helps a little, but not much. If we wish to know just how much consideration or appreciation we enjoy as Testors loyal customers, we need look no further than the labels on the little square bottles for the last 25 years or so, with their impossibly small and unreadable fonts. And this, at a time when their customer base is aging with dimming eyesight.

No consideration or appreciation whatsoever. Sad.

[vamach1]

40 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Yup, very sad indeed. Like most people here, I've been a loyal user of Testors products since my age was counted in single digits, but the apathy towards their customers lately leaves one feeling cold. Understanding that this is not the same company that we all knew and loved when we were younger helps a little, but not much. If we wish to know just how much consideration or appreciation we enjoy as Testors loyal customers, we need look no further than the labels on the little square bottles for the last 25 years or so, with their impossibly small and unreadable fonts. And this, at a time when their customer base is aging with dimming eyesight.

No consideration or appreciation whatsoever. Sad.

I see what your are saying about the microscopic print.  I almost grabbed a grey bottle instead of flat black because it was in the wrong rack at HL.  I guess Testors has to squeeze all the legal disclaimers on the labels so someone does not swallow the contents. 

[slusher]

16 hours ago, Deathgoblin said:

Pretty much all of my Testors paints did this.  I ended up chucking them all.  I mostly use Tamiya and Duplicolor anymore, or if I buy Testors it gets used up quickly.

I got rid of the bad ones and all the rest I had left, I have cans of testers paint fron 1992 still good but enamel. If I buy a can of Testors I will use it on a current project and throw it out when finished, glad I had them in a plastic bin..

[ewetwo]

I had about 10 cans unopened cans do the same thing. Now the testers model glue pours out of the tube. So I have to keep wiping it on a napkin until it stops before I proceed. Seems like Rustoleum is trying to ruin the model car hobby.

[peteski]

27 minutes ago, ewetwo said:

I had about 10 cans unopened cans do the same thing. Now the testers model glue pours out of the tube. So I have to keep wiping it on a napkin until it stops before I proceed. Seems like Rustoleum is trying to ruin the model car hobby.

Actually both Rustoleum and Testors brands are under the umbrella of RPM.  I don't think they are set on ruining the hobby (that would be detrimental to their business an making profits), and simply some bad decisions have been made when producing these items. 

Fortunately the hobby is healthier now than ever - there are multiple lines of hobby paints and adhesives out there, so we no longer have to depend on Testors or Pactra, like we did in the old days.

[oldcarfan]

Testor's may not be aware of this, but their parent company probably does. I recently uncovered a box of paints that I had put away many years ago. They were mostly Testor's brand and many were doing just as you describe. I started looking at them and the one common denominator was that the leaking cans all had Rustoleum's name somewhere on the can. The older ones had only Testor's name on them and there were no leaking cans among that group. Personal opinion, and I've tried many ways to make it work, but Rustoleum is not a particularly good product and that seems to have filtered down to Testor's as well. For spray paint I try to use only Tamiya, Duplicolor, or Krylon, depending on the use.

[espo]

This whole problem with Testor's Paint goes back for several years and has been discussed her as well by many. I have never had issues with the product, in fact have been very pleased even using just the spray cans for my builds. The issue has to do with the packaging, or the spray cans themselves. I'm not an expert in this area, but a person I used to work with was previously one of the quality people that worked for a well-known company selling canned foods. Long before the issues with Testors he and I were talking about some of the issues he had encountered with the canning process at his former employer. Realizing that these are two very different types of products it is hard to think that they are somehow related. One thing that he shared with me and one of the reasons he had left that company was that they made changes in the way the containers were made and cutting the cost of production. They started experiencing can failures, I.E. leaking. They wouldn't believe him and the others in his department that the changes were causing the problems, and even suggested it was a staff issue instead of a product issue. He and others left, and the company later figured out that their design changes were the problem not the staff. I also slept at whatever hotel chain used to make you smarter if you had stayed there.