Life span of Model Master paints?

ABARNE wrote:

zokissima wrote: I've had problems with storing enamels however. Every year or so I get half a bottle being solidified into a rubber-like substance. The same thing happens periodically with me as well.  What I find strange, is that sometimes a bottle of paint that is very old will die, but sometimes it will be a new bottle that has been opened only once or twice.  I cannot seem to find any common cause or factor such as age, thinness, cap seal tightness, etc. to explain why some bottles just seem to die.

I know exactly what you mean. That's probably what confuses me most. I'll have paints that I've used from the same bottle for years, and are still fine, and I have several that I've opened once or twice, and are now useless.

I'm not sure about MM, but I've got some regular Testors from the first set I got 15 years ago.  MM is supposed to be a step up from that so theoretically...  I could probably take a gander at my collection of MM and get an idea of the label changes.  I write the date I bought it next to the color on a list so following that, I could probably tell.

zokissima wrote:

I've had problems with storing enamels however. Every year or so I get half a bottle being solidified into a rubber-like substance.

The same thing happens periodically with me as well.  What I find strange, is that sometimes a bottle of paint that is very old will die, but sometimes it will be a new bottle that has been opened only once or twice.  I cannot seem to find any common cause or factor such as age, thinness, cap seal tightness, etc. to explain why some bottles just seem to die.

My own LHS has paint going as far back as 10 years. I've had problems with storing enamels however. Every year or so I get half a bottle being solidified into a rubber-like substance.

I've noticed that too at one of the LHS's near my home.  Dust on the tops of the bottles really makes me wonder sometimes.  I tend to visit Hobbytown which is also nearby to buy my paints.  Its a really new store so all there stock is new.  Luckily they heavily stock a lot of paints like Tamiya and MM.

It also makes me wonder how long my paints will hold up.  I mostly shoot acrylics now but I have a bunch of enamels sitting around that I'd like to use up eventually.

It seems to me that all petroleum based products eventually break down.  But if you've had paints last 20 yrs that seems like a great lifespan.  I'd be happy if it even lasted 10 yrs.  Thats pretty long.

If kept tightly sealed and not exposed to extreme variations in temperature, modern, well formulated, paints are stable for remarkable periods of time. I have previously opened, but very carefully kept, bottles of Tamiya that are over twenty years old. Whether MM paints are that stable I have no way of knowing, since I don't use them, and the oldest bottles of them that I have are only five to seven years old. Enamels can be even more stable—I have two perfectly good tins of Humbrol that date from 1972.

There may be a code on the bottle, but good luck deciphering it. You could try to find a history of label changes, but that would only be pretty general.

Rattle cans are another story. While some may last for decades, I wouldn't count on it. This is because the reducer and propellants used are not always as compatible with the resins as the solvents used to dissolve them, and because rattle cans are not nearly as tightly sealed as a glass bottle or metal tin.