Has anyone tried any of the new Testors "Trend Colors" enamels?

[Monty]

If you hadn't heard, they recently came out with some new colors, but only in 1/4 oz hars. Some of the colors sounded interesting, but the last thread we had about these gave me the impression that there aren't many places who are carrying them.

Anyway, if you've got some, I'd appreciate it if you'd post some pics - even if it's just color swatches on spare parts.

For some reason the honey and the caramel sound enticing...

[Chuck Most]

At the moment I've not seen them, but my local shop plans on bringing them in, and I do plan on trying them out. I'll be more than happy to share my findings once that happens.

[Eshaver]

Monty, somone else posted a link to a testors Color chart andI looked it over carefully. Seeing that the colors were simply re packaged as the small bottles for the most part , a lot of hobby shops simply don't or won't have excess space for a duplicate paint line . I think Testors would have done well to have madethe One coat Laquers in bottle form . Ed Shaver

[larrygre]

This looks to me as Testors coming up with a branded competitor to some of the craft paints such as Krylon Short Cuts. This was tried a few years ago with acrylic waterbased colors, but the paint never did catch on and the line was discontinued.

Being that this seems targeted towards the art and craft market, the places to look for these would be art and craft stores, Michaels, A.C. Moore, and the like, rather than traditional hobby shops that cater more to the scale modeler.

Edited May 15, 2012 by larrygre

[larrygre]

I think Testors would have done well to have madethe One coat Laquers in bottle form .

Ed, I often wonder why Testors, who is also an airbrush company (Aztek) only packages these car-oriented colors in spray cans. Perhaps their market research shows the majority of model car builders prefer rattle cans???

If they bottled the stuff, I'd buy it. Period.

[Monty]

Ed, I often wonder why Testors, who is also an airbrush company (Aztek) only packages these car-oriented colors in spray cans. Perhaps their market research shows the majority of model car builders prefer rattle cans???

If they bottled the stuff, I'd buy it. Period.

I agree. You'd think the marketing geniuses would try to find a tie-in somewhere.

This "policy" of theirs goes way back before the lacquer car colors ever came out. I remember having to buy spray cans of Cherry Red and Black & Blue Pearl enamel because Testors didn't offer them in the 2 oz. bottles. I'm sure there were several others, too.

[Monty]

Monty, somone else posted a link to a testors Color chart andI looked it over carefully. Seeing that the colors were simply re packaged as the small bottles for the most part , a lot of hobby shops simply don't or won't have excess space for a duplicate paint line . Ed Shaver

A lot of these do look like retreads from the Testors and Model Master lines, but I think the honey, the caramel and the fluorescents are all new. I still don't get why they went with the 1/4 oz size.

I wish I could find an original, sealed bottle of #2727 Ford Engine Blue from the early 80s. I bought one back when Monogram

first released their Boss 429 & was very pleased with the paint because it matched the shade of the engines in my dad's Fords.

Testors still sells a P/N 2727, but now it's labeled as Ford/GM blue, and it's several shades lighter.

[Monty]

Don't mind me, I'm just finishing off an old thread with a mild rant. I would've written this sooner, but apparently none of the hobby stores around here plan to ever carry these "trend" paints, so I finally had my lhs special order a few of the ones I was interested in.

The first thing you need to be aware of is the cost issue. These paints are only available in the little 1/4 oz jars of our youth, but they're priced @ $1.85 a jar. I'm always on the lookout for some great new shade of color that'll really make a model stand out, so I bought a couple bottles of each, just in case they turned out to be unique enough to make that happen.

Turns out they're not unique at all. When I saw that they'd created a paint called "Honey", I had high hopes for a translucent golden yellow. They bottle may have been labeled "Honey" but the paint itself was nothing more than standard yellow.

The next bottle was labeled "Caramel", and I envisioned using it as the basis for something like Mopar butterscotch paint or an interior color. Nope. It's pretty much a poor man's version of Tamiya's Camel yellow.

OK, so those were a letdown. Let's see if Testors did better with some variations on red. I've got a kit in the on-deck circle that I have every intention of painting cherry red, but it sure as heck won't be this formulation. Anybody wanna guess why Testors would make a paint called Cherry and make it a flat color?

One last try: How hard can it be to mix up some maroon, Testors? Apparently much harder than I thought. I'm not sure I can describe what the actual color is, but I can categorically say it's not maroon. I've sprayed Tamiya's maroon. I've polished Tamiya's maroon, and Testors, your stuff ain't worthy of the name maroon.

Take-home lesson: Skip the Testors "trend" paints. They're expensive, and you probably already have that shade somewhere in your paint collection.

But I'm not bitter....

[Lownslow]

theyre rebottled boyds paint

[charlie8575]

You can create your own maroon, using proportions of red (or Testors dark red), brown and black.

I would start with the red or brown base, depending on which end of the spectrum you want to be on, and and red or brown, and black until you get the color you want.

Charlie Larkin