# Floquil RIP



## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

I received this Friday and thought that I would pass this along.


_Friday, May 17th, 2013 

Dear Valued Partner, 

I am writing to inform you about changes that are taking place at the Testor Corporation. For over 80 
years, we have provided premium paints and finishing systems to the craft and hobby industry. Today, 
we announced that we are transforming our business in order to more effectively address the changing 
needs of our consumers and their interests. 

We’ve made the decision to exit the following businesses within the Testor® Brand family - Pactra®, 
Floquil®, Polyscale®, and ColorArtz®. This will enable the Testor Corporation to return to our foundation 
of success – providing premium, innovative product that inspires creativity. We will  by CouponDropDown">continue to accept 
orders and ship product for a limited time based on available quantities. 

Going forward, the following brands will be critical to our success and development – Testor®, Model 
Master™, and Aztek®. These brands will be infused with marketing support, innovation and operational 
efficiencies. 

In support of this, we have announced a consolidation of operations at our Rockford facilities. Over the 
next several months we will provide updates critical to your order and delivery needs as well as product 
availability. We assure you there will be no disruption to service during this transition. 
Our commitment to the Testor brand has never been stronger. By implementing these changes, and the 
ability to leverage all of Rust-Oleum’s world class services, we are more strongly poised to take your 
business to the next level through product and merchandising innovations, and increased customer 
intimacy. Please contact me or your  by CouponDropDown">sales manager directly with any questions. 

We appreciate your business! 

Best Regards, 

Kristin J. Schiro 
Director of Sales & Marketing_


I hope this is the right forum to post this in.

Andre Anderson


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Thats really bad news. Polyscale has been my first choice for years.


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## Dansgscale (Jan 9, 2010)

Oh great, so now how are we going to get the correct colors of paint for the Colorao Narrow Gauge or any railroad for that matter. Floquil and Poly Scale were about the only ones that made paints specifically for model railroaders. Testers Enamel paints are crap for trying to airbrush with and I would never enen try to use a brush to paint rolling stock or structures even if they had the correct colors. 

I can see a lot of serious modelers are going to be making orders and hording the colors they need. 

Dan


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

Its a shame to see Floquil go, I have always used them, and recommend them. 

Dan, consider Scalecoat and Modelflex paints. I have used scalecoat with success. 

Alan


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

I sure hope this is a prank. Testor's standard paints suck the giant lemon, their Modelmaster level is only just acceptable at best, the Floquil brand is by far the best for model RRing, I cannot (yet oh I so can) believe they would drop their best lines just so they can force their other brands on everyone from model RRers to gamers to scale model wonks. Oh well, thank God they dont own Tamiya.

BTW at my local store the little Testor bottles dont even bother labeling the colors on their bottles anymore, just 3 labels of warnings. I am told the color IS labeled but its text is so small you need a electron microscope to read what the color is.

Way to go Testors.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

It would be nice if it was a prank, but I wonder why Andre would post it. 

More likely a large parent company, Rustoleum has determined that the subordinate company is not making enough profit and is cutting the less profitable lines, just like other big box companies... notice that the selection in Home Depot keeps being winnowed down? 

Greg


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Bummer, but not surprising. The Floquil and PolyScale displays at the local hobby shops have gotten increasingly barren over the past few years, fostering rumors of the lines' demise for quite some time. Personally, I haven't used either brand in at least 10 years, if not 20. Their paints aren't UV stable, so you couldn't use them on anything that was going to be outside for any length of time. I did use their spray cans for freight cars, but even then they had QC issues where I got some dud cans, so I switched to Krylon, etc., and if I needed a specific railroad color, ScaleCoat. 

I'll echo the recommendations for ScaleCoat and Badger's "ModelFlex" paints. There's also a new company whose name escapes me at the moment, but they've got a sizable rack of paints at Caboose now. I'll have to check to see who it is. 

Later, 

K


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

This does not surprise me. In the 70s Floquil was t the go to paint. When I did military miniatures in the 80s they served most of my needs. Then Testors bought them out. I expected the line to disappear sooner. 

Also, after Testors bought them out, the line under Testors was not the same quality. One way to eliminate a rival.


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Kevin 

The paint you are probably thinking of is called Tru-Color paint. It is a reformulation of the old AccuPaint product. I am one of their dealers. 

Web site ==> http://www.trucolorpaint.com/


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## llynrice (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Jim,

Can't access the Tru-Color web site -- even when I try to Google in. Any idea what's happening?

Llyn


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Llyn 

No clue. I just did a "cut and paste" from my post above and it came right up. Maybe an Internet burp.


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

I expect that Floquil and Polyscale will continue under new ownership. Really hope so. 

Kevin, I agree with your experience with Floquil spray cans of many years ago, but not presently. Just used a can of tuscan, with excellent results, as well as numerous other colors in the past few years. I do buy the spray cans direct from Testor's to ensure fresh stock. 

I also have used Krylon for decades. Since they reformulated certain ones (added the "5" to the number over the bar code), the paint seems thicker, with longer drying time, and requires strictly following the application instructions on the can. I learned the hard way. 

Larry


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## redbeard (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Llyn,
Worked fine for me, try this. 

 Tru-Color Paint

Larry


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Any options for water based paints? I liked using Polly Scale because it was water based, and easy to use in a variety of water soluble products. I think Model Master line is not a water based product? 

Craig


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

I used Badgers Modelflex a while back, after they fixed the seperation problem. 

It was sad/funny as I read the Obit, I could smell Floquil's scent.... 

John


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## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

Greetings again, 

I also have gotten the same news from several of my distributors that I work with among them both Walthers and Great Planes. So unfortunately this is no joke. I also recommend both the Badger Model Flex, Williams Scale Coat both I and II. Scale Coat I is for metals and such and can be used with plastics if you have a barrier coat on the plastic, Scale Coat II is for plastics. I have never used Tru-color but I did have very good results with AccuPaint.

There were two formulas for Badger the first was Accu Flex and that is the one that they had problems with, the second formula is Model Flex which has been a very good paint. Both of these clean up with soap and water and may be thinned with distilled water or alcohol, *never* use tap water due to the chemicals that get add to it not to mention the ones that it starts with.

Andre Anderson


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Man this sucks









Floquil was my favorite paint to use. PollyScale a close second. Scalecoat will be my go to paint now I guess.

Badger Modelflex is way too thin to brush paint with. So not a good replacement for PollyScale in my opinion.


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## backyardRR (Aug 14, 2012)

Ah yes, I love the smell of Floquil in the morning! Just about bathed in the stuff in my early model RR days. Never gave much thought to the fumes (Xylol, etc.). Young and foolish. During my college days I was taking a Histology course and the lab went to extremes to vent the Xylene used for tissue fixation. Switched to Polyscale soon after that. Still have old bottles of Floquil laying around but I haven't used it in nearly 30 years. Sad to see Polyscale go. I guess I will have to find a substitute. I have used straight Modelflex for airbrushing and found it excellent for that but I can see how it may be too thing for brushing.

Wayne

Knackered Valley Railroad


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## Jonnychuffchuff (Dec 24, 2010)

Nothing against Floquil, but we will get by fine without it. 

I haven't bought paint made exclusively for model builders since a few pots of Humbrol oils when I was a kid, and that was a bad experience. 

I have an airbrush, but I don't use it. I brush on all my paints and washes, and have no problems. I have used artists' acrylics exclusively for 30-40 years. It certainly helps to have had a lot of experience and to have given this a great deal of study and practise, but I think every modeller ought to know that it is possible, even easy once one has got a few knacks, learned a few facts, mastered a few tricks. 

When I was younger I didn't get as good results as I do today, which I believe are second to none. You can too.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Jonny, sounds like you owe us some pictures. I'd love to see your models.


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## K27_463 (Jan 2, 2008)

My problem is the naming used. Sure , ther are other good paints, but i cannot tell my race car airplane hobby guy i need depot buff, because he will not find it in Modelflex or whatever. What About SP lark dark and light grey, or the weathering colors. i have spent 30 plus years learning what works and now need to use my color sense or lack thereof to match a new name in most cases. Bummer 
I do not think Tamiya has mud or dust paint! 

jonathan 
ww.rctrains.com


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

I was always a Floquil fan! loved using it on my HO scale trains when I was a teenager back in the 80's.. 
(I always loved how you could brush it on, and it would still dry incredibly "thin" showing all detail! 
an amazingly thin paint..they somehow manufactured super-fine and tiny pigment particles..loved it!) 

Although I always found their color matching to be pretty poor.. 
Their LV Cornell Red was terrible..kind of a dull maroon, way off.. 
that Floquil paint alone has probably helped generations of LV modelers to be very confused about what proper LV red 
is supposed to look like!  

Scot


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