OK, this is my first post under my real name. My old account was not usable and I didn't know how to fix the problem so i re-registered. Old account was spiralcity.

As far as the paints and new lines are concerned, i really do not see a problem. It gives the modelers a variety to sample from, which I think is great. I would hate to see one kit manufacturer and that was it. I want variety.

Has anyone ever looked at the market for house paint or spray paint? How about craft paints? The number of competing lines is bewildering and many offer products that are identical. We have yet to reach market saturation with hobby paints considering how the last few new lines are very specific in color selection and formulation. Squeeze bottle acrylics have saturated the market, now we are getting sprayable acrylic and finally a line of lacquer to replace the long gone Floquil.

There is enough room as each of the lines are complimenting each other or creating a new market or filling a hole. If one fails or is bought out, that is the free market. Testors gobbled up my favorite line and I'm still having trouble finding a nice brushable acrylic in a jar.

And just what did Humbrol do to its formula? It dries in the tin. I have Humbrol 20 years old that is still good but recent purchases dry up in six months. And it's so thick. I feel like I could decant it into a huge bottle and thin it down.

Honestly I do not see the problem, the day that there really will be too many producers will start the natural selection, it seems to me that most of those who "complain" is not because the producers are too many but because some producers steal shelf space to their favorite manufacturer.

In addition, the fact that with the laws more and more restrictive in the importation of certain substances automatically create market niches for small producers, especially enamel and laquer in different parts of the world.

Then on the fact pre-thinned or not it's just a personal choice, I prefer not pre-thinned but it's just a choice not a rip-off, a choice of comfort and less waste of time that many do...i like MMP because is the best of both worlds...for me...is not pre-thinned but they find a way to make the thinning procedure faster and less a "Guessing job".

Let me ask you this: why do we have so many different types of model cement? All it does is melt the plastic to join two pieces together so why do we need all those choices? And look at CA's, dozens of brands and new brands keep popping up. Look at it this way, how many paint manufacturers are now gone? Polly Scale, Floquil, Pactra, bought out and killed off to stifle competition. That left us with Testors which, in my opinion, has gone down hill in quality the past several years. Yes the advent of the internet is killing the LHS but for modelers it opened up access to other products that are superior, different and gives us more choices that you won't see at a LHS that carries only 2 or 3 lines of paint. I never saw Gunze paint at my LHS but bought it online until it became difficult to get so I went to Tamiya while still using Testors. And I've been reading that Testors may be dropping it's military paints. If so then whats to fill that void? It's all about choice, why do we have so many colas to choose from when in your world we would only need one or two? Why do we have so many choices of beer? I've tried a lot of them and settled on a few that I really like and my brother has his favorites and they are not my brands which makes it inconvenient when I have to take my brand to his house. Now that I've gone to strictly acrylics I like having a choice, I've been trying different brands deciding what I like and I'm sure I will settle on a few preferred choices and I'm sure those choices will change as paints change. And pre mixed paint? Now you don't have to use their thinner so the costs offset each other. And why do we have pigment powders? They are unneeded as you can do the same with ground up chalk? It's because someone is thinking, trying things and innovating. And so he puts out his product and it deserves a chance to succeed for fail. And it gives modelers a choice of using ground up chalk or a ready mixed powder. If it's a hit than kudos for the guy who came up with it. If it fails, at least he tried and hopefully he won't give up. Choice drives an economy. And if someone comes up with a better product how would we know if they didn't try for their piece of the pie?

And remember this: NOBODY is making you use the new brands, that is strictly your choice. If you are having problems finding your paint brand, talk to a supplier/online shop and see if they can help. I've actually was referred to another shop while looking for parts. If a shop gets requests they will tend to start carrying a product, I've seen it happen. They need to know what their customers want and the only way they know is you have to talk to them.

My point is over saturation in all those cases. End result is that only the strong survive.

I must confess to being a gullible and wanting to try each new paint line. Usually I'm disappointed when trying to compare them against Tamiya when airbrushing. Getting ready to try the new AK line and see how they work.

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I must confess to being a gullible and wanting to try each new paint line. Usually I'm disappointed when trying to compare them against Tamiya when airbrushing. Getting ready to try the new AK line and see how they work.

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Chris,
Please post your results as I'm curious myself about the AK paints.


Joel