Really terrible news!

Just stumbled on this old thread. As long as I've spent too much on modeling, I might as well spend too much on paint. So I've got a pretty good selection of the usual suspects among acrylics. Here's my humble take: for airbrushing Gunze Mr Hobby and Tamiya are tops ... if you're willing to use lacquer thinner. It's nearly essential with Gunze and there's no doubt Tamiya lays down better with it - especially if you do thin coats. And I think lacquer thinner keeps your nozzle cleaner longer.Gunze Mr. Hobby is exceptional paint, but wear a mask. (I sure take exception with some of their colors: what they call "deck blue" is way too dark to my eyes.)

Don't like MM much and only use Testors for washes. I do, however, like Polly Scale Floquil acrylics - this is the railroad brand. Very fine pigments. Their "engine black" and "grimey black" are two of the great colors in paintdom. These guys are water based so you can thin them with water: I put in liquitex flow aid and just a bit of Future to keep those pigments suspended. Not better than Tamiya but very good and much easier on the fumes. And Pollyscale is more expensive but the bottle is a full ounce.

Vallejo and Xtracrylix are pretty close. I prefer Model Color to Air Color in Vallejo, simply because I'm more used to a thicker paint. But it's sweet paint either way: I really like those Euro bottles. (Another reason to like Model Color is that you get a lot more paint per dollar.) 

I even bought some Aeromaster that were on an uber-sale. The bottles that are in good shape are okay and really easy to clean up - but I can see why they're not with us anymore.

jimbot58

I'm not an acrylic person myself but I do feel for those of you who are.

You better get used to acrylics as they are going to be about all you can get before much longer.

I'm not an acrylic person myself but I do feel for those of you who are. I was also was disappointed when Testors bought Floquil/Pollyscale and dropped the military line of enamels of Floquil. I guess I can understand not competing with yourself, but I personally thought the Floquil enamels were better than the MM. I guess that's how you eliminate the competition! Buy 'em and drop 'em!

I have also noticed inconsistencies in the MM enamels. Colors not matching between different bottle and some the thickness never the same. I even had a bottle of flat black that was half full when I opened it. I didn't notice when I bought it and it wasn't worth my time to drive 20 miles back to the hobbyshop where I bought it.

I use Tamiya paints and I like them. They do spray great. Brush painting with them is tricky though. The problem with Tamiya is the color selection....its not that large and I don't like mixing paint unless I have to. Though I am slowing changing that as I am starting to see the control that mixing your paint can give you.

rrmmodeler

I disgree with you about the Acryl line. I use Acrylics for 99% of my painting and their Acryl is the worse I have used. Its so inconsistent from bottle to bottle. Sometimes it would be so thin it looked like water right out of the bottle. Other tmes it looked gummy and thick. I have even had it give me different problems from the same bottle. I never know what I am going to run into from one spray session to the next when using Acryl.so I avoid it as much as possible. At least with Polly Scale I knew each bottle was going to be  the same and I knew what to expect when using them.

Now after saying that I have brought some Acryl paints to give them another try to see if they have gotten any better. However, I am not holding out much hope.

Why not give Tamiya acrylics a try? They are the best I have used.

I talked to them to and they told me the same thing. As  you said there are colors in the line that Testor's other lines do not have and I use those colors. So I will be going else where for those if possible. The problem with Testors is that they won't add any colors to replace the ones lost. I firmly believe the whole reason for buying the Polly Scale line was to take them off the market. I am surprised it took them this long.

I disgree with you about the Acryl line. I use Acrylics for 99% of my painting and their Acryl is the worse I have used. Its so inconsistent from bottle to bottle. Sometimes it would be so thin it looked like water right out of the bottle. Other tmes it looked gummy and thick. I have even had it give me different problems from the same bottle. I never know what I am going to run into from one spray session to the next when using Acryl.so I avoid it as much as possible. At least with Polly Scale I knew each bottle was going to be  the same and I knew what to expect when using them.

Now after saying that I have brought some Acryl paints to give them another try to see if they have gotten any better. However, I am not holding out much hope.

On the other hand their enamel line seems to be good and even better than when I use to use it so many years ago when starting out. I sprayed one of their enemal colors the other day and it was really good, it might the fading memory but the smell didn't seem near as bad and the clean up was not all that bad either. I might just look at using enamels more now, since they are so much easier to find, (I really hate ordering paint online). However, that was just one bottle so we will see.

I talked with Testors as well. They are discontinuing their Polly Scale military colors only. They claim that the customer core for these products is too small when most of the colors are offered in Model Master, which is not entirely the case.

Nonetheless, this is disappointing to me because I use a good bit of Polly Scale for the "obscure" colors they offer. I like their stuff and Model Master as well. I don't think their stuff is crap. I think that's kind of harsh to say. I get some very nice results from their products. Acrylics are a different animal and have to be treated as such. If you take the time to prep and apply correctly, they do a great job. Each to their own,  I guess...

I do hope that Testors steps up and covers the acrylic colors that will be lost in the PS line. That's the least they could do.

Andy

This is not surprising to me and I have been expecting it. Ever since I heard that Testors brought them  years ago I knew they were going to do away with them. Its like Microsoft...why compete with someone when you can buy them and take them off the market? That is why I have shifted away from Polly Scale to other paints. I am trying out Lifecolor paints and will try others as time goes on. I will miss pollyscale but they were getting too expensive....with is just what Testors wanted...price them too high so they could kill the line. Of course they could have tampered with the formluation so that they acted worse than their acryle line so people would stop buying them that way.

In any case the line was dead as soon as Testors brought it. Its a shame I really really liked the paints. You could brush paint them and airbrush them easily and such a wide range of colors. What a shame....

Wow, that's a bummer. My one source for that stuff (the clear flat and satin finishes) had trouble keeping enough of it stocked. It was always flying off the shelves. I've got a few bottles of each left - after that I 'll probably go back to mixing Tamiya flat base w/ Future, not a bad substitute, but not near as good as the Pollyscale.

Triarius

 

batai37:

 

What exactly do those of you with negative comments about MM Acryls have against them? I've found them pretty easy to both airbrush and hand brush.

 

 

Abysmal adhesion, for a start—even on a pristine surface. Any acrylic that requires an enamel or lacquer primer is a paint indistinguishable from mud.

Poor color control.

Variable viscosity—two new jars of the same paint, two very different viscosities.

Any paint that is sold as "ready to airbrush" has been pre-thinned. They are selling thinner for paint prices. I object.

Now if they'd dumped ModelMucker ACK-ryl in favor of Polly Scale, that would have been a class move.

The adhesion issue is one I did notice recently after I painted a non-primered canopy with MM Gunmetal...in places the paint came off when I peeled off the masking. Unfortunately, around here if I need a bottle of paint on the fly, it's either enamels or MM Acryls (or rattlecans). I recently tried Vallejo acrylics, and have been quite pleased with them, but of course they can only be had online.

batai37

What exactly do those of you with negative comments about MM Acryls have against them? I've found them pretty easy to both airbrush and hand brush.

I had problems spraying them well at times. Also the paint seemed to dry very fast in the airbrush and clean up was a lot more work with some colors as they would dry with so much grip that I had to use lacquer thinner to remove them from the color cup. That was a few years back now and they may have changed the formula so I would have to see again. I am happy with Tamiya but you do have to mix your own colors as they don't have the FS numbers.

Ross, do you like Tamiya's acrylics? I have had good success with them and 70% Ethyl Alcohol as thinner.

batai37

What exactly do those of you with negative comments about MM Acryls have against them? I've found them pretty easy to both airbrush and hand brush.

Abysmal adhesion, for a start—even on a pristine surface. Any acrylic that requires an enamel or lacquer primer is a paint indistinguishable from mud.

Poor color control.

Variable viscosity—two new jars of the same paint, two very different viscosities.

Any paint that is sold as "ready to airbrush" has been pre-thinned. They are selling thinner for paint prices. I object.

Now if they'd dumped ModelMucker ACK-ryl in favor of Polly Scale, that would have been a class move.

What exactly do those of you with negative comments about MM Acryls have against them? I've found them pretty easy to both airbrush and hand brush.

In one sense this is not suprising. The brand was priced over $1 a bottle more than Testors own MM Acrylic line. Kind of makes it seem to me like they intended to kill the line due to affordability. MM Acrylics are around $3 a bottle, but Polly Scale are over $4 at the LHS that do carry them. Prices like that for a small bottle of paint will kill any brand. I will mourn their loss. Just as I still miss the end of the even better Polly S line. Not a good omen for the future. I think I need to look at the craft store acrylic lines for my color needs the way things are going. Is it too much to ask for affordable acrylics from the hobby paint lines that go on smoothely without drying during application and give one coat coverage when handbrushed?

Someone on ARC said that the railroad line is being continued. I didn't ask at Testors, so I've no idea whether that is true or not.

Well I guess it is time to go to the Testors website and do some shopping. I just bought some from them the other day. I will be stocking up. I do hope they take some of the colors not in the MM line over there.

PWP, I say you grab what you can from the guy!

Any info on the PollyScale  model railroad colors?

RESlusher

I agree with Ross!! MM acryllics are CRAP!!  I like their enamels; but their acryllics suck!!

Richard

The clear flat is not too bad but I stopped using the regular Acryl colors a few years back and switched to Tamiya exclusively, except for the clear flat.

What wonderful news! Just when I find a guy within reasonable distance from me that carries a VERY good selection of Polly Scale, they are pulling the plug. 

HobbyLobby stocks just the bare minimum of ModelMaster enamel or acrylic. 

'Hawkeye Hobbies' comment that "their customer base is shrinking" is what should alarm us the most. Look at the demographics of this or any other forum will show that the younger generations are not flocking to the hobby. Why build a kit that just sits on a shelf when you can play a video game that makes you feel like you're a super hero soldier of fabulous Ace in the sky?

Computer tracking software allows companies to see in an instant what their sales numbers are like compared to their historical performances. Like any corporation, they are going to do what is in their financial interests. Short term profit is the holy grail of finance now. That is the age in which we live.

So, I guess the question that should be uppermost in all our minds right now is: What is the shelf life of the unopened bottles of these acrylics and would it be worth it to stock up on them?

What a bummer to hear that an element of the hobby is disappearing.

I agree with Ross!! MM acryllics are CRAP!!  I like their enamels; but their acryllics suck!!

Richard

Cold hard reality is...their customer base is shrinking. Their competition is putting out better products these days. An yes, hobby is but a small fraction of their market...they can sell more aerosol cans of Rustoleum at a better margin than hobby paints. RPM's personnel choices to lead Testors cost them plenty. In respect as well as growth opportunities.

MM Acryl = garbage IMHO. Model master paints follow the modern business model: inadequate but marketable.

All I ever used of theirs was the clear flat Ross.

I like it but I would imagine the MM Acryl flat will do just fine as well.