Testors discontinues Model Master products

[Point353]

I'm still in denial. 

[prr7161]

Well, damn...MM Acryl was/is my go-to.  Guess I'll have to scrounge some soon and switch over to Tamiya.

[Philip H]

@SkipGear - any sense on whether Testors actually asked hobbyists if we would withstand it, or are they doing a Walthers and making unfounded assumptions that they then cling to no matter what evidence is presented?

[thomasjmdavis]

Assuming this is correct (that ALL Model Master production will cease, including acryl), and that SkipGear's sources are not exaggerating, it really should not be unexpected.  Testor's has no say in the matter, it became a brand name of the RPM corporation some years ago.  It is just a label.  RPM is a very good company from an investor point of view (not counting the last 6 weeks that have been rough on all industrial stocks).  But they are currently executing a plan to consolidate operations by closing small plants and assessing the profitability of product lines.  Testors is 1 of 100 brand names, and represents only a tiny portion of the consumer products segment of the corporation.  I suspect that a company that size just has a difficulty producing small amounts of 100s of colors, which are marketed through a completely different supply chain than Rustoleum and its other major consumer brands (that is, through hobby distributors vs. big box home improvement stores and major hardware store chains).

To substantiate my assumption above, to quote from the RPM 2019 annual report:

RPM initiated the closing of 12 plants and intends to close
approximately 19 more over the remainder of the 2020 MAP to Growth
program. The company also launched MS 168, a manufacturing system that
has fundamentally changed the way its plants are managed by identifying
and executing on opportunities that drive greater manufacturing efficiencies,
reduce operating costs and improve speed to market. Rolled out to
16 plants so far, this new system has already resulted in millions of dollars
of cost savings across the enterprise.

Compared to however many millions of cans of Rustoleum are sold in a year, or millions of gallons of commercial furniture finishes to factories, does that sound like a company that wants to be involved in marketing 1/2 ounce bottles of 500 colors of a dozen different formulations, each with its own labeling, to a market of picky hobbyists?
If you want to research or write a letter about your concerns, the "investor kit" with annual report, and other contact info, is here: https://www.rpminc.com/

[C855B]

I have been hearing about this for about a month now and more and more colors were being discontinued as I re-ordered ...

Basically I'll echo what Thomas just said. RPM management discussion goes something like this: "We cannot announce discontinuance, it will overwhelm our customer service staff like it did when we dumped Floquil. These niche product buyers are a picky and emotional bunch. Also, announcing discontinuation of a variety product too soon will prompt buyers to seek alternatives earlier, leaving us with inventory we can't sell. Let the product line deplete naturally for as long as we can before retailers and buyers realize we're not in that business any more. These hobby product lines required too much attention for the low volume and revenue. We've been down this road, so we think from that experience simple attrition will reduce our phase-out costs significantly."

What puzzles me is what motivated RPM to acquire Testors, Floquil/Polly Scale and related lines in the first place. They're a mass marketer. I was very skeptical at the time since very few corporate takeovers at that level let minority product lines continue to live, especially products that aren't even a blip on the P&L. So my fears came to pass. Good for me.

What really, really sucks about this is the loss of formulae for popular products in our corner of the world. They grew popular for a reason, and now cannot be easily reproduced should somebody want to tilt at regulatory windmills.

[StarCruiser]

What motivated them to buy up all of the (then extant) US Hobby Paint brands? Greed...gotta completely dominated a segment of the market, no matter what!

Problem is, RPM's management had absolutely no clue what the Hobby Paint market even was, and couldn't handle the task of managing a complex line of low-volume products.

Fortunately, there are other brands out there now and if Testors goes away well, it's sad but, it happens...

[peteski]

What puzzles me is what motivated RPM to acquire Testors, Floquil/Polly Scale and related lines in the first place. They're a mass marketer. I was very skeptical at the time since very few corporate takeovers at that level let minority product lines continue to live, especially products that aren't even a blip on the P&L. So my fears came to pass. Good for me.

Come on Mike, it is all about the profits and dividends for the share holders.  Most everything nowadays is owned or controlled by some mega-corporation.

Where do we start? Cellular phone service?  food producers, car manufacturers, we can go on and on.  I believe it the mega-mergers and takeovers started in the Regan years, and have continued ever since.

BTW, RPM controlled Floquil/Polly S for a long time.  I have some old Floquil bottles (with Amsterdam, NY address, and the already have RPM logo on them).  This is not something that happened in a last decade or two - RPM owned Floquil for decades (but I guess let them do their thing).  I don't really know how long RPM owned Testors (probably not as long as Floquil/Polly S.

The only paints similar to Testors Model Master are Humbrol, and I'm not sure if they are still an independent company (I have my doubts).

[C855B]

Come on Mike, it is all about the profits and dividends for the share holders. ...

For which I'm thankful.   

[cv_acr]

Has anyone confirmed this?

There was a confirmed HOAX going around about six months ago stating this exact thing, which got everyone worked up until someone actually directly contacted Testors.

[peteski]

Has anyone confirmed this?

There was a confirmed HOAX going around about six months ago stating this exact thing, which got everyone worked up until someone actually directly contacted Testors.

I keep mentioning this (in this thread).  Like I said earlier: I'll believe it when Testors (or RPM) issues an official statement.

EDIT: Um, it looks like there is some official info now.  See http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/146481-testor-brand-paints-discontinued-short-answer-no/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-2216931

[legostudios34]

Went to my LHS today to buy some paint for my corona projects before the Governor's shutdown starts tomorrow. The guy that runs the store said he hadn't heard anything from Rustoleum about this yet but said he'd investigate further. I did notice that they were out of stock of a number of the Model Master military acrylic colors (annoying, the two shades of green that match the BC Rail greens).

Based on their Facebook comments though, I guess I'll have to figure out how to airbrush the Tamiya paints now. Never had good luck with those other than the silver (no matter what air pressure or thinning ratio I use, even with the Tamiya thinner, I've never been able to get nice even coats with Tamiya paint with my Paasche H.)

Baxter Barnes

[thomasjmdavis]

I keep mentioning this (in this thread).  Like I said earlier: I'll believe it when Testors (or RPM) issues an official statement.

EDIT: Um, it looks like there is some official info now.  See http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/146481-testor-brand-paints-discontinued-short-answer-no/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-2216931

https://www.facebook.com/pg/testorscorp/community/?ref=page_internal
Yep, it is real.  Not as many folks painting models as there were 30 years ago.

Bad timing though.  I had just "standardized" on Model Master Blue Angel Blue to do all my C&EI and L&N cars.  1/2 done painting.  I do have more paint, but probably not enough to finish the project and in any case, I will want future models to match existing models, so essentially need to strip everything and start over.  This will be "take 3" for some cars.  Not counting actual mistakes.

On the bright side- maybe some hobby shops will start carrying the Rapido Proto-paint acrylics- and that will influence Rapido to market more colors (like L&N passenger car blue).  A couple years ago, I went looking.... took 3 months, but I did find ONE (and only one) shop in the United States that carries their paint on eBay.  Unfortunately, all they make that I use are black, white and CN#11. And a couple versions of their boxcar red- although they don't give you a clue as to what the 4 different boxcar reds are a match for (at least, I couldn't find a reference anywhere on their website).

[wazzou]

EDIT: Um, it looks like there is some official info now.  See http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/146481-testor-brand-paints-discontinued-short-answer-no/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-2216931

It does confirm the discontinuation of the Model Master line though, which to me is the biggest loss.

[Doug G.]

I'll just stick with Sherwin-Williams.



Doug

[Spades]

What about Dullcote? 

Chris  I use Winsor And Newton Matt Acrylic Varnish as a substitute.  Airbrushes great.  Also for spraying just about any acrylic Liquitex Professional Flow Aid Effects Medium