PACTRA, AZTEK and Model Master: the end

[Homebee]

Source: https://www.facebook.com/FineScaleModeler/photos/a.214503981911776/3367502656611877

 

Quote

Seeking information about the status of the status of several of Testors long-standing paint lines, we have received the following from Vince Pierri, Senior Manager, PR & Corporate Communications for Rust-Oleum:
“With a long history of producing quality hobby kits and supplies, we are evolving our strategy to focus more keenly on Testors, our flagship brand. To that end, we are discontinuing our PACTRA, AZTEK, and Model Master brands as demand for these products continues to decline. We will continue to support the hobby market with a robust line of aerosols, brush paints, tools and accessories – always looking for opportunities to innovate in these categories.”
We have no idea how long this change will take to implement or how soon it will affect the availability of the paints and supplies.

 

V.P.

 

[Learstang]

That's why I've been buying up Model Master paints like there's no tomorrow. Thank you very much, Rust-Oleum! Oh well, I suppose I'll still be able to buy Testors Fluorescent Pink and Metallic Flake Blue for my next WWII aeroplane kit.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[Paul Thompson]

Wasn't this also announced April 1st last year?

 

Paul.

[SAT69]

I really hate to see the Model Master enamels go. They've been my favorite modeling paints for years. I know there's a lot to be said for acrylics, but I like working with enamels much better. Need to find another brand that has a wide variety of colors.

[Trenton guy]

Modelmaster were also my “go to” paints for nearly a lifetime. Modelmaster II line was discontinued, April 1, a year ago. I guess original Modelmaster is gone now also. Strangely, MM and MM II were not the same paint. MM II was much more finely ground and i could cut a very fine line with my Pasche VL airbrush. No matter what I did I could not match it with regular MM. It was (and is) splatter city all the time, just can’t cut a fine line with it, but at least it never clogged my airbrush spray tip like every water based acrylic I ever tried did.

 

Been experimenting with acrylic lacquers since Rustoleum’s first stab in the back. The best replacement for MM II seems to be Gunze Mr Color. Cuts a very fine line and levels beautifully, so much so that I have had success useing as an after the fact filler on fine cracks. Seems to dissolve the layer below and level out, even if the underlying coat has been dry for some time. Gunze has a pretty evtensve palette, covering RAF, USAAF/USAF/USN, Luftwaffe, and, of course, JASDF/JMSDF. Mr Paint is a close second for me with AK trailing some (clogs my airbrush tip).

 

One thing for sure, i’ll never buy another can of Rustoleum for any purpose, ever.

 

 

[Learstang]

That's why I like Model Master - they work well with my airbrush (Badger 150). Like you, every aqueous acrylic I've ever used has clogged my airbrush. I can't say I'm too well-disposed towards Rust-Oleum for this, either. I realise it's a business decision, the bottom line, not personal, blah, blah, blah..., but it makes my modelling life harder and I don't like that.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[SAT69]

Trenton Guy, I get the impression Gunze Mr. Color doesn't clog the tip of your airbrush. Am I correct?

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Oops better let Mike know. @72modeler he just wrote me about using M/Master paints. 

[72modeler]

1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Oops better let Mike know. @72modeler he just wrote me about using M/Master paints. 

When they announced some years back that they were going to discontinue the Floquil and Polly-S lines, I started picking up the colors I used a lot; then they announced they were going to discontinue the Modelmaster paint lines, and I could see the handwriting on the wall. Hobbyinc is an online hobby distributor that still carries a pretty good stock of Modelmaster paint, and they have weekly clearance sales for the same, so if anybody is interested in MM paint, they should see what is still available. I'm sure Testors is looking at the bottom line, and I'm sure demand for the 'traditional' paints has declined, but if that's the case, why have Gunze and Tamiya come up with new lines of enamels and water-based lacquers? 

Mike

[Trenton guy]

3 hours ago, SAT69 said:

Trenton Guy, I get the impression Gunze Mr. Color doesn't clog the tip of your airbrush. Am I correct?

No it doesn’t cologne at all. It also cleans up very easily, whrher in my airbrush or on a brush.

[Hobo]

11 hours ago, Trenton guy said:

No it doesn’t cologne at all. It also cleans up very easily, whrher in my airbrush or on a brush.

Hello Trenton guy,

What thinner do you use to thin Mr. Color? Also, what thinner do you use to clean up? Thanks!

[Trenton guy]

5 hours ago, Hobo said:

Hello Trenton guy,

What thinner do you use to thin Mr. Color? Also, what thinner do you use to clean up? Thanks!

I use their own Mr Color thinner, both to thin and clean up. They also make a Mr Levelling Thinner but I haven’t found that to be necessary. The basic paint/thinner combination levels very nicely for me.

[Harold55]

I am going to miss MM paints.  Where I am they have been easy to get reasonably priced.  I love Mr. Color but they are not readily available here.  Tamiya flats are great but lack many colors (unless you do you own mix).  So I am at a loss as to what to use as a general replacement for airbrushing specific FS or RLM numbers.  I have tried Vallejo but have not had the best luck as they clog my airbrush every time I have used them (and that is using their thinner).

[Dudikoff]

Yeah, I have to admit MM were my go to paints ever since mid 90's when model kits and paints started being imported to where I live.

 

I love their enamels, they could have been hand brushed very nicely IIRC and I will surely miss then.

 

Though, I have to say I've been experimenting with acrylics in the last decade and while they can't hold a candle to enamels at all, they are much nicer to use indoors. I presume most turned to acrylics which is why MM saw the demand/profits steadily falling?

 

It's a shame they couldn't have sold the brand off to someone to continue making them instead of just ditching everything..

Edited May 3, 2020 by Dudikoff

[Aardvark]

On 5/2/2020 at 9:10 PM, 72modeler said:

I'm sure Testors is looking at the bottom line, and I'm sure demand for the 'traditional' paints has declined, but if that's the case, why have Gunze and Tamiya come up with new lines of enamels and water-based lacquers? 

Testors strange company,  they had in mid 90, as far as I can tell by their paint FS 36440, acrylic paint  in a bag.The idea of producing paint in plastic bags with a straw was a terrible one, but the acrylic paint itself was not bad, as for my.

 

But instead of packing this paint in normal bottles, they simply stopped producing it and began to produce acrylic paint similar to Vallejo....strange company, strange....

 

I simply poured this single buying

acrylic paint of that formula from the polyethylene

bag into an empty bottle of Tamiya acrylic paint and I still have it.

 

The only inconvenience for me with Testors enamels is that during prolonged storage they require dilution only with a proprietary solvent.

 

But colour shadow MM enamel for FS was very accurate, in fact - standard.

 

 

B.R.

Serge 

[Navy Bird]

I never really used Testors/Model Master much, but it is always sad to see such an iconic brand disappear.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Giorgio N]

21 hours ago, Aardvark said:

Testors strange company,  they had in mid 90, as far as I can tell by their paint FS 36440, acrylic paint  in a bag.The idea of producing paint in plastic bags with a straw was a terrible one, but the acrylic paint itself was not bad, as for my.

 

But instead of packing this paint in normal bottles, they simply stopped producing it and began to produce acrylic paint similar to Vallejo....strange company, strange....

 

I simply poured this single buying

acrylic paint of that formula from the polyethylene

bag into an empty bottle of Tamiya acrylic paint and I still have it.

 

The only inconvenience for me with Testors enamels is that during prolonged storage they require dilution only with a proprietary solvent.

 

But colour shadow MM enamel for FS was very accurate, in fact - standard.

 

 

B.R.

Serge 

 

They were indeed quite accurate colours and found them great to use, both brushed and sprayed. I always preferred them to Humbrol's and with Italeri importing the MM range they were also available everywhere here in Italy. However their enamels tended to dry very quickly in the bottle once opened as the lids were never really airtight. I rarely managed to use an MM enamel bottle for more than one model unless I was building multiples at the same time.

Said that, they have been unavailable in Europe for a few years now, while several shops here still have some stock left, it's a brand that I haven't used for a long time.

Different story for our American friends of course, I can see how the demise of the MM line can be a real problem for modellers who like enamels.

[lasermonkey]

I had rarely come across Model Master paints in the UK but managed to acquire a good 30-40 odd when I bought a lot of 300 paints off eBay a few years ago. There's a nice range of colours amongst them, though I haven't got around to using them in anger as yet. What thinners do you guys use with them?

 

I didn't realise that Testors were behind Polly Scale. I thought they were by far the nicest acrylic paints I have used. I have no idea what ingredients made them behave the way they did, but I never found anything that was so consistent in use, covered so well (by brush and airbrush) and was so benign in character. If someone were to reverse-engineer their paints I'd be all over them!

 

What saddens me most of all is the demise of the Aztek airbrushes. I know I am very much in a minority here, but I much prefer the Aztek A370/380 over conventional airbrushes. When I first heard about the possibility of Testors' demise I bought up a spare airbrush body and am slowly building a stock of nozzles, just in case.

[Aardvark]

2 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

I always preferred them to Humbrol's and with Italeri importing the MM range they were also available everywhere here in Italy.

We had a chain from Poland, where they came from Italy or from the Russian Federation where they were brought in by the Zvezda, who then collaborated with Italeri.

2 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

However their enamels tended to dry very quickly in the bottle once opened as the lids were never really airtight.

Yes it is.  Therefore, I keep them upside down, inverted.  It is true that in order to use them then you need to shake them for a long time and still have to use their proprietary solvent.  Another problemma these are not quite convenient for opening the lid.  I had to pour a little into the gap between the lid and the can of solvent and wait until the paint between the lid and the can becomes soft so that you can open the can. The use of metal lids played a bad joke with their decal liquid, probably the vinegar contained in the liquid roasted the lid to holes, after which the liquid dried out successfully ... I just had to watch an empty bottle with a rusted lid.

😕😁

 

The printed inscription on the label about the name and number of the enamel was also very easily removed.

 

In general, the bottles were not the best for storage and use.

 

B.R.

Serge

[Giorgio N]

2 hours ago, lasermonkey said:

I had rarely come across Model Master paints in the UK but managed to acquire a good 30-40 odd when I bought a lot of 300 paints off eBay a few years ago. There's a nice range of colours amongst them, though I haven't got around to using them in anger as yet. What thinners do you guys use with them?

 

 

I used the same "generic" enamel thinner that I used for Humbrol paints and never had problem. I remember that they sprayed with a very smooth finish even using that thinner.

If you have other enamels, I'd try the same thinner you use for them, should work.

 

ours ago, lasermonkey said:

What saddens me most of all is the demise of the Aztek airbrushes. I know I am very much in a minority here, but I much prefer the Aztek A370/380 over conventional airbrushes. When I first heard about the possibility of Testors' demise I bought up a spare airbrush body and am slowly building a stock of nozzles, just in case.

 

I never got to try one but I remember well the impact on the modelling world of the introduction of the Aztek airbrushes. They were for a while the hottest topic among modellers. It feel strange to see that now they are going

[Aardvark]

3 hours ago, lasermonkey said:

What thinners do you guys use with them?

Only as retrospective. 

Because You are not using it anyway.

 

And also do not repeat this in  house with you's enamel! 😁

 

In Soviet Union for the civilians marked was very few solvents, these were "white spirit", "thinner "646"", "thinner "647"", "thinner "650"", also was clear acetone and maybe something else, but all use "white spirit", "thinner "646"", "thinner "647"".

The capabilities of these solvents were enough to dissolve not only enamels Humbrol, Revell, Testors, Tamiya but also acrylic Gunze and Tamiya! 😁 Ofcource the surface was very matt, and if you overdo it with a solvent, he could eat a plastic model.😕 B.w. "thinner "647"" also maybe used as liquid glue for plastic. These solvents were naturally used only directly in the airbrush reservoir , because when added to the bottle, the paint simply folded into one whole rubber piece. 🤗But   addition "white spirit" to bottle 

 enamel to Revel, Humbrol and Tamiya, from my own experience and the experience of local modelers,

cans did not affect the curl of these paints in any way, although these enamels naturally lost some qualities.

These local solvents were used for the following reasons:

 - brand solvents simply did not actually exist!  Paints began to appear, but solvents were not brought;

- Branded solvents cost crazy money, I don’t remember exactly, but the cost of a 140 (?) ml bottle of Testors was equivalent to a few liters (!!!) of solvent "646" or "647".

 

But of course it was necessary to pay for cheapness.  The board was the terrible smell of acetone and of course toxicity.

Therefore, they tried to paint on the street, with fully open windows and a mask ....

The era of these solvents came to an end for two reasons:

1. Finally, branded solvents began to be transported at affordable prices.

2. The main reason that these solvents were precursors that drug addicts used to produce drugs, so the police legally banned the sale of these solvents with precursors and forced manufacturers to produce such solvents without precursors ..... but solvents without precursors began to dissolve branded paints poorly!

 

In fact, the era of the mass use of cheap solvents in the post-Soviet space ended.

 

Of course, some enthusiasts are not only diluted with these solvents, but also paint with enamels for cars or other household paints, as well as share recipes for replacing branded solvents with some solvents for car enamels, but this phenomenon does not seem mass to me.

 

As for me, for a long time, somewhere in the beginning of 2000, I switched completely to branded solvents.

 

So, epoch legendary enamel 

comes to the end.

Sad.

 

 

1 hour ago, Giorgio N said:

I used the same "generic" enamel thinner that I used for Humbrol paints and never had problem.

Interesting experience, me need tasting also this way! Because, as I think in future with Testors thinner will be a problem for my.

 

B.R.

Serge 

 

[Shalako]

It's a shame!

 

I still have in my stock a small range of Pactra's Acrylics and some MM Enamels and unfortunately the only models' store in my area that had them both has closed because the owner died a few months ago (and therefore, never got the chance to go and buy as much as I could).

 

Now, I guess I'm gonna have to look around to other stores like Hannants and Der Sockelshop to check if they still have them.

 

Both brands produced some of the most accurate FS and RLM numbers.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Shalako