NP2626 If you use paints on RTR stuff, great! How high of a percentage of people who buy RTR; or, ready built structures and paint them is a guess, at best and my guess is it is likely a low number. If the demand for these paints was overwhelming, what manufacturer in it's right mind would shut down a high demand product?
If you use paints on RTR stuff, great! How high of a percentage of people who buy RTR; or, ready built structures and paint them is a guess, at best and my guess is it is likely a low number. If the demand for these paints was overwhelming, what manufacturer in it's right mind would shut down a high demand product?
Even if it was making a profit, it was probably making such a small marginal amount that there really wasn't much more of a justification to keep the lines going. After all, Polly Scale and Floquil were just two lines of paint that were a part of a much larger company. I use quite a bit of Testors brand paint for my WW2 fighters (Me 109, P-38J Lightning, P-51D Mustang and Spitfire) but I have used Testors on my model railroad equipment and Polly Scale on the planes (with the 109's yellow nose and rudder being the best examples, done with Reefer Yellow, looks real sharp), so the paints are really quite universal, probably yet another reason that the chosen lines were ended.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Route of the Black Diamond Express, John Wilkes and Maple Leaf.
-Jake, modeling the Barclay, Towanda & Susquehanna.
hmmm, not sure if I've thrown my hat in the ring here or not. anywho, it bites that they're cancelling the line because anything I need I have to paint and decal(if decals are available). This coupled with the fact that I plan on custom painting various multitudes of locomotives and cars in schemes not seen in 1:1. a reverse BN scheme with white as the primary and green as the secondary or a straight black with green lettering and numbering. A BNSF dash 9 in GN BSB or EB, NP Butterknife or Loewy, SP&S hourglass or broad stripe, and/or CB&Q red and silver or aluminum and black.
Instead of bleeding cash their cutting their losses and moving to support their bigger crowd which is probably military modelers. undecorated locomotives are slowly disappearing from the N scale market.
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
NP2626 If you use paints on RTR stuff, great! How high of a percentage of people who buy RTR; or, ready built structures and paint them is a guess, at best and my guess is they are in the minority. If the demand for these paints was overwhelming, what manufacturer in it's right mind would shut down a high demand product?
If you use paints on RTR stuff, great! How high of a percentage of people who buy RTR; or, ready built structures and paint them is a guess, at best and my guess is they are in the minority. If the demand for these paints was overwhelming, what manufacturer in it's right mind would shut down a high demand product?
Remember the Coke fiasco?
Let me preface this by saying this is likely not the case here, but I don't buy the assumption that business decisions are universally made based on the medium or long-term best interests of the company. There are too many examples of executives choosing short-term gain (propping up the next quarter or next year's bottom line) over medium to long term health. It works even better when the Board of Directors just smiles and nods, afraid or too indifferent to ask the questions or press the issue.
And we won't spend time discussing the effect of government bailing out companies who make enough of those bad decisions. Suffice it to say, I don't think corporate decisions are above questions nor the motives of those who make them necessarily pure in terms of being in the company interest.
As for me, I'm not a shareholder in the parent company, so the only impact is my purchasing decisions. It is not personal, but if a company pulls the product I prefer or modify it to lessen its effectiveness, I re-evaluate what I am using. Like I said, I'll miss Floquil since it was an old standby. But, if Tru Color proves to be a worthy replacement, my concern is over. I'll have my answer in about two weekends, when I tackle my next mass painting project (at least I hope).
- Mark
My guess is that the new owner sees model railroading as a dying hobby and wants to exit the business before it gets caught with oversupply at some point down the road.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrain My guess is that the new owner sees model railroading as a dying hobby and wants to exit the business before it gets caught with oversupply at some point down the road. Rich
If so, then he isn't in tune with the hobby. As mentioned before, model railroading as a hobby is as strong as ever, maybe stronger today than it ever has. More loco types and more locos in different types of schemes is a sure sign that the hobby is going strong.
Lehigh Valley 2089 richhotrain My guess is that the new owner sees model railroading as a dying hobby and wants to exit the business before it gets caught with oversupply at some point down the road. Rich .... and more locos in different types of schemes ....
.... and more locos in different types of schemes ....
That's the reason right there. The need to custom paint engines and rolling stock isn't as much of a necessity as it once was due to the proliferation of RTR items. As for weathering and detailing these RTR products, Testors has already said to use their Model Master or CreateFX (which they are keeping) for these applications, so they have their bases covered.
I understand how difficult it is to accept change, but trust me .... sometimes the grass IS greener on the other side.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Mark R. Lehigh Valley 2089 richhotrain My guess is that the new owner sees model railroading as a dying hobby and wants to exit the business before it gets caught with oversupply at some point down the road. Rich .... and more locos in different types of schemes .... That's the reason right there. The need to custom paint engines and rolling stock isn't as much of a necessity as it once was due to the proliferation of RTR items. Mark.
That's the reason right there. The need to custom paint engines and rolling stock isn't as much of a necessity as it once was due to the proliferation of RTR items.
I don't know what percentage of the modeling population is like me, but what also influences me is the proliferation of new colors offered by some of the larger brands like Krylon/Valspar.
Boots Brown, Red Primer, and terra cotta (some other name) are great for brick structures. Ivory is great for wood structures and trim items like windows. Putty is a dead-on match for concrete. Camoflauge green (Olive) and Tan are great for a variety of things. I use Oxford Blue for Pikestuff steel cladded buildings. All are available in satin or flat finishes as well.
Maybe guys like me is one of the reasons Testors is making its decision. Sorry.
- Douglas
Yes, there are a LOT of alternatives out there. Once I got looking into it, I was lead to other forums of military modelers, fantasy figure modelers, history modelers and others. I was discovering all kinds of paint lines that I had never even heard of !
Really pays to browse outside your comfort zone once in a while - it can be a real eye-opener !
Mark R. Lehigh Valley 2089 richhotrain My guess is that the new owner sees model railroading as a dying hobby and wants to exit the business before it gets caught with oversupply at some point down the road. Rich .... and more locos in different types of schemes .... That's the reason right there. The need to custom paint engines and rolling stock isn't as much of a necessity as it once was due to the proliferation of RTR items. As for weathering and detailing these RTR products, Testors has already said to use their Model Master or CreateFX (which they are keeping) for these applications, so they have their bases covered. I understand how difficult it is to accept change, but trust me .... sometimes the grass IS greener on the other side. Mark.
Burlington Northern #24 Mark R. Lehigh Valley 2089 richhotrain My guess is that the new owner sees model railroading as a dying hobby and wants to exit the business before it gets caught with oversupply at some point down the road. Rich .... and more locos in different types of schemes .... That's the reason right there. The need to custom paint engines and rolling stock isn't as much of a necessity as it once was due to the proliferation of RTR items. As for weathering and detailing these RTR products, Testors has already said to use their Model Master or CreateFX (which they are keeping) for these applications, so they have their bases covered. I understand how difficult it is to accept change, but trust me .... sometimes the grass IS greener on the other side. Mark. that's not a good reason, there's a massive list of roadnames that are not represented in any RTR equipment. SP&S is one, NP is so under represented in N scale it's ridiculous, there's no GN big sky blue locomotives. even shortlines like California northern, Puget sound and pacific, Tacoma rail, list goes on. (The ones I listed are relevant to my area)
Yet another one is the Lehigh Valley, despite the fact that there are a fair number of diesels in the Valley's rainbow of color schemes. The main area that is lacking of Valley power is STEAM. Barely anything there.
Lehigh Valley 2089 Burlington Northern #24 Mark R. Lehigh Valley 2089 richhotrain My guess is that the new owner sees model railroading as a dying hobby and wants to exit the business before it gets caught with oversupply at some point down the road. Rich .... and more locos in different types of schemes .... That's the reason right there. The need to custom paint engines and rolling stock isn't as much of a necessity as it once was due to the proliferation of RTR items. As for weathering and detailing these RTR products, Testors has already said to use their Model Master or CreateFX (which they are keeping) for these applications, so they have their bases covered. I understand how difficult it is to accept change, but trust me .... sometimes the grass IS greener on the other side. Mark. that's not a good reason, there's a massive list of roadnames that are not represented in any RTR equipment. SP&S is one, NP is so under represented in N scale it's ridiculous, there's no GN big sky blue locomotives. even shortlines like California northern, Puget sound and pacific, Tacoma rail, list goes on. (The ones I listed are relevant to my area) Yet another one is the Lehigh Valley, despite the fact that there are a fair number of diesels in the Valley's rainbow of color schemes. The main area that is lacking of Valley power is STEAM. Barely anything there.
Four words:
Rapid prototyping. Needs paint!
Five ( 5 ) words.
Dead Horse.......Stop Kicking It.
Dennis Blank Jr.
CEO,COO,CFO,CMO,Bossman,Slavedriver,Engineer,Trackforeman,Grunt. Birdsboro & Reading Railroad
Found this on another forum today.......
First email from Testor ----------------------------------Thank you for taking the time to write us regarding your disappointment with the decision to discontinue the Military colors in our Floquil Pollyscale line.Due to the low sales and the difficult economy, the decision was made to close down the line since we have the same Military colors in our Model Master Line.We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and thank you for your dedication in using Testor products and we hope that we can continue to be the supplier for your Hobby needs.Second email from Testor -------------------------------We are only discontinuing the pollyscale military line the floquill railroad colors and the pollyscale railroad colors will still be available.You should keep the following in your files for anyfuture use.Testors Customer Service Department1-800-837-8677 (1-800-testors)M-F 8:00 A.M - 5:00 PM CST
rdgk1se3019 Second email from Testor -------------------------------We are only discontinuing the pollyscale military line the floquill railroad colors and the pollyscale railroad colors will still be available.
Second email from Testor -------------------------------We are only discontinuing the pollyscale military line the floquill railroad colors and the pollyscale railroad colors will still be available.
Say what?
Is this true?
Pollyscale railroad colors are all that I use.
If this is true, it would be great news.
I hope it is true.........Polly Scale is all I use too.
rdgk1se3019 I hope it is true.........Polly Scale is all I use too.
This would be terrific news.......IF it's true. I sure hope it is, as the rail colors are the only Pollyscale colors I regularly use. Not trying to be skeptical, but I just can't help but wonder why Testor's did not clarify that point in their initial announcement.
Carl
"I could never belong to any club that would have me as a member."
I just double checked the original announcement on Testors Facebook page & it definetly implies that the rail colors are being discontinued & I quote:
" Many of you have expressed disappointment regarding our decision to exit Floquil and Polyscale. Decisions such as these are never easy. Trends in model railroading have changed over time. Creating product for weathering and scenery has been more of the focus as train cars have moved to pre-decorated. The good news is that the same great products for weathering and scenery can be found in Testor's CreateFX line that is available now.........."
This would say to me one of two possibilities:
1. That e-mail claiming the rail colors will continue is a hoax.
or
2. Testors has changed their mind at least with regards to the rail color lines.
But there is no announcement regarding any change of heart on this on Testor's Facebook page.
One of the postings indicated that Testors was moving from a large factory to a much smaller factory, hence the news of discontinueing certain paint lines was not unexpected.
Who was that poster with their newsource being someone at Testors?
Deleted comment ....
Hey Everyone,
Can't claim these colors are "dead ringers" an exact match but they should get you pretty close.
Revell had a conversion chart put together by Testors. In there you will discover some Floquil colors matched to Model Master colors if you read from right to left. Very handy to have.
http://downloads.hobbico.com/misc/rmx/TES_Revell_Paint_Match_Guide.pdf
Hope this helps out a bit with future modeling projects. Let's keep it fun
Chris Palomarez
Testors facebook page is now thoroughly overrun with unhappy customers. Read one forum post that the communications person responsible for the facebook page was contacted and said to have been notified of immediate layoff, so there's nobody left to clean up the mess. Sure looks that way.
If you still feel frustrated enough to vent, I suggest moving over to the Rustoleum products web page.
Rumors of railroad paint being continued are floating around but haven't been substantiated.
That equivalency chart that just got posted is a winner. Thanks so much!
Vallejo paint? I've never heard of it, where do you get it?
Of course, colors of the same name in Pollyscale and Floquil don't really match either.
It looks like you can purchase from a variety of sources in the US. Here is one, certainly not the only place you may purchase it. http://www.thewarstore.com/vallejomodelcolors.html
I'm not sayin all my paint is like this but,
these are paints from Walthers ( I lost the label to the one) and the other is from Howell Paint co.
They all are liquid and mix up well when shaken,, ahh,, the good old days!
Karl
NCE über alles!
kbkchooch I'm not sayin all my paint is like this but, these are paints from Walthers ( I lost the label to the one) and the other is from Howell Paint co. They all are liquid and mix up well when shaken,, ahh,, the good old days! What century did these come from?
Must've found them in king tuts tomb
rdgk1se3019 kbkchooch I'm not sayin all my paint is like this but, these are paints from Walthers ( I lost the label to the one) and the other is from Howell Paint co. They all are liquid and mix up well when shaken,, ahh,, the good old days! What century did these come from?
Ex-wifes Grandfather passed them along to me, with some O scale kit parts and an HO Penn-Line Atlantic
I have a bottle of "High Ball" PRR Tuscan, circa 1980? The paint is still good - though it smells much worse than most paints today.
S&S
Modeling the Pennsy and loving it!
At the very nice model train show and sale at Carl Sansdburg College in Galesburg IL this last weekend (part of their Railroad Days) I saw someone selling a large collection of new Floquil paints in popular railroad colors for $1 a bottle -- and nobody seemed to be buying. There's your problem.
Dave Nelson