Re: Testor's Paint

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Even David Freiburger doesn't like em.

So I guess this means he's a modeler, too? That's cool!

[Guest]

Huh?

[Snake45]

New formulation?

[chunkypeanutbutter]

New formulation?

I think they're water-based.

[62rebel]

the aroma of enamel paint drying has been part of my modeling experience since i was nine or so.... and will not be replaced by the delicate fragrance of acrylic..... i'd rather hang a carp around my neck.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Just like lacquer thinner. Can't beat that smell.

[martinfan5]

Who is David Freiburger ?

Edited December 24, 2014 by martinfan5

[bill_rules]

^^^^^ What he said....

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Who is David Freiburger ? and why should I care what he thinks about Testors paints ?

He's the editor from Hot Rod Magazine and co-host of Roadkill.

I just thought it was cool that he's a modeler.

[Joe Handley]

I think they're water-based.

I'm thinking that too, the labels on the bottles look like the acrylic ones as does what little I can see of the box.

Edit: Not to mention it says Acrylic in two other languages on the bottom left of the box too.

Edited December 25, 2014 by Joe Handley

[Snake45]

Just like lacquer thinner. Can't beat that smell.

AKA "Wife Repellant."

[slusher]

AKA "Wife Repellant."

You got that right Snake....

[1972coronet]

It's like comparing the sweet , pleasant odours of high-test leaded gas , to that of the putrid unleaded "pump" gas ...

[chunkypeanutbutter]

It's like comparing the sweet , pleasant odours of high-test leaded gas , to that of the putrid unleaded "pump" gas ...

Never smelled hi-test, but regular pump gas is great-smelling.

[JunkPile]

Pump gas smelled way better before ethanol

[Joe Handley]

Having run high percentage ethanol fuel in my Chrysler for the past couple years, I find that I prefer the smell of that over regular pump gas, and especially over the nitromethane R/C fuels. Funny thing about it though, is that I worked for a drug store back in high school and it's no worse than many on the alcoholic beverages I had to mop off the floor there (with the exception of Corona and red wine on concrete, that wine on concrete smell was nearly was bad as vomit!), while the exhaust scent is comically reminicent of breath of many of the customers who made working Friday/Saturday/Sunday and holidays "interesting".

Edited December 27, 2014 by Joe Handley

[JohnU]

So what....did Testors stop making enamel paint or did this Freiburger guy use the wrong stuff?

[Snake45]

So what....did Testors stop making enamel paint or did this Freiburger guy use the wrong stuff?

AFAIK, they're still making enamel. On one of my model airplane boards, guys have been complaining about recent batches of some colors. I've noticed a difference in viscosity in the last few years. Used to be the stuff was all pretty much the same. Now you can open one bottle and it's like pouring syrup, another bottle of the same color could almost be airbrushed as-is, it's so thin.

[Joe Handley]

They are still making enamels, we still get them on a regular basis at work, ut I haven't bought any in some time to use, so I can't say one way or the other on the thickness issue.

[FordRodnKustom]

I've been building since the early 60s and I noticed most model enamel bottle paint formulas changed somewhere in the 90s. For whatever reason or whatever was changed they seem less effective. I find them today to be thinner, more translucent, dry stickier or more slowly, don't cover that well and the flats are not so flat as they once were. Kind of like there's less pigment in the mix.

The good old days

[Joe Handley]

Has their been a change in EPA regulations that might have forced Testors to change things again?

Edited December 27, 2014 by Joe Handley

[Snake45]

Has their been a change in EPA regulations that might have forced Testors to change things again?

Prolly more trying to screw the bottom line up tighter. They now have thousands fewer retail outlets than they did 20, 30, or 40 years ago, with many LHS closing and most of the "five and dime" and discount houses getting out of the model bidness.

[Joe Handley]

Prolly more trying to screw the bottom line up tighter. They now have thousands fewer retail outlets than they did 20, 30, or 40 years ago, with many LHS closing and most of the "five and dime" and discount houses getting out of the model bidness.

Considering they've killed off Pactra (which annoys me greatly) and Floquil/Polly S (which annoys me to a lesser extent), that makes sense, but their lacquer lines have kinda eaten into enamel sales from what I've seen at work too.

[aurfalien]

Wow, cool thread and info. Glad I spent a bit more for Tamiya, so far the paint is a pleasure to work with both spray and brush.

[SfanGoch]

Testors changed the formulation of the enamel paints in the late '80s-early '90s. The paints were reformulated as "Lead Free". Compared to the "old" formula, the new stuff is thinner and more translucent.