Am I nuts, my imagination, or what? Yesterday , I found an old tube (never used) of Goo before Hobsco sold out to Wathers with the orange, blue and whtie graphics on the tube. The tube was the same size as the current Goo marketed by Walthers…but the contents? Being that this tube was over 20 years old, I was reluctant to use it, so I thought I’d compare the contents to the recent product…not so much the sticking power, but the amount. I emptied both new and old on a sheet of paper. Guess which tube held more glue?? (a lot more)
I’m also a bit unhappy (actually ticked off beyond all reason) over Testors/ Floquil spray cans and the ridulous prices being charged for a tiny little can which is hardly enough to complete one project of modest size. With prudent shopping one can find just about any color needed for scale model railroading in Krylon or in Wal-Mart /Color Place except possibly “Grimy Black” These cans are 11 oz vs. 3 oz for Floquil sprays. The prices vary from around $1.29 to around $3. for 11 oz cans vs. $6.25 (current retail price) for the 3 0z Floquil can. This is literally over three times the price for less than 1/3 of the product.
There are several other brands of 11 oz (312g) paint and around the same under $3 prices. These 11 oz paints also are better quality with fewer clogging problems and much better spray patterns. If one does not like the satin finish just apply a flat spray after drying, and also, many colors are available in flat.
For the record, I go back to the 410m paint days, then became an ardent fan of Floquil in the early 60’s. I love Scalecoat, but I do not have enough years left to wait for proper drying.
My rant for the day…actually it is my first real rant as usually I’m supportive of just about everything in the hobby.
Sir, you are supportive even when you’re ranting. I never realized that Testors made Grimy Black in a spray can. I don’t own an airbrush. Suddenly, dismantling my Hudson to see why it won’t move becomes much more attractive if I can weather it at the same time.
I opened a cardboard box the other night while I was looking for some parts, it was full of old Floquil paint that I had never used. Guess what the price sticker on it was …99 cents!!!
I’ve been playing with Rustoleum in the pint cans lately, you can get just about any color you want and when it’s thinned properly it goes on beautifully. They have a black called “Wrought Iron Black” that is a really nice “satin” black. I did an old NWSL DM&IR 2-8-2 with it a couple of weeks ago, baked it and the stuff is like it’s “plated” on there, very hard to scratch or chip.
You might give it a try as it’s a lot cheaper than “hobby paint” is anymore and it gives a beautiful finish, for a heck of a lot less than $6.25 per ounce!! I get mine from Ace Hardware but I would imagine that there are several outlets that carry it.
Not a Goo user either although I have some. I seem to reach for the clear silicone instead. I think it works equally well. Maybe I’m missing something.
I have seen consumer articles over the past few years saying it is a trend to down-size the volume in the food industry and to keep prices the same, or even slip in a slightly higher prices. I suspect it is pervasive in all industries retailing volumes of consumables in containers of all kinds.
Filtered rustoleum should be a great way to go…sounds like it.
Actually Goo is a wonderful product. I have built just about everything with this stuff during the last 50 years. Like any other product or tool, it takes a learning curve to achieve a comfort level, but when you learn how to use it, it is invaluable. Unlike other glues such as ACC or white/yellow glue, it is forgiving…meaning you can always take apart what you have glued, yet have incredible strength. I’ll still use it even though Walthers has raised prices and cut back the quanity…but not the quality. It is still excellent!
The trend, especially lately with the economy, is to downsize the product and raise the price.
We use Clorox II color safe bleach additive for our laundry that is not actually bleached with regular bleach. Keeps the colors safe and lasting. I bought a bottle for the same price as the one before it, but something seemed odd about it. WHen I got home, I checked. The old bottle was something like 40 oz in a large bottle. Yep the new bottle was somehting like 35.8 oz in a smaller sized bottle. {I could go look now for the exact amount, but i wont}. The next bottle I bought was the same odd 35.8 oz but was higher in price. SO they down sized it AND raised the price!!!
The niche-hobby oriented scenic stuff is way overpriced in my opinion. If you shop around, even at the oddest places like Wally World or the auto store or even the dollar stores, sometimes you can get what you need in large quantities and at great prices that will do the job just as well.
I think some hobby-specific orientated product manufacturers are pricing themselves out of the business, and in order to raise profits, they raise prices. If they offered a fair price for a fair amount of product, they may find themselves in better standing. BUt instead they just go out of business and wonder why.
There used to be 6 thighs in a package of Perduce chicken thighs. For a long time now, there have been only 5. ANd the price goes up. Next will only be 4 in a package, you watch!
Many products now on the shelves of stores are smaller in size, in fancier packaging hoping you won’t notice and higher in price. Bad economy always brings higher prices when people can ill afford it. That is the lay of the land. If you want the product, you will pay the price and suffer the loss of product qauntity.
And people wonder why I use latex paints for my model painting. I look at $1.20 something for three meager ounces of paint to be akin to $4.50 for a gallon of gasoline. I need the gasoline. I can easily do without the overpriced paint. I pick up my latex paint as mis-tints for $1 for 8 ounces. It may not look quite as good or may not be able to be thinned enough for airbrushing but I find it preferable to paying the price for the way over-priced model paints on the market.
I’m not going to go so cheap that the quality of the modeling suffers jeffrey, but there are plenty of alternatives to the model paints, craft paints from Walmart for instance are quite economical. For clear coating my models I use Minwax Polyurathane. It’s essentially the same thing as Polyscale and Modelflex clear; it’s all acrylic. I bought a quart each of flat and gloss almost 10 years ago and I still have plenty left for another few years. You do have to screen all the lumps out but you can thin it a lot to stretch it out as I have.
Upon getting back into trains once again back in December I became distraught seeing the price of paints as they are now, but do I buy them? I use cheap art-store acrylics, like Ceramcoat, to paint details and only go for the model paints when I feel nothing else will suffice.
Howard, I to am a fan of Goo, even if not cheap, the stuff is great when used properly. I’m now using it to attach paper brick sheets to the styrene walls on a model I’m scratch-building. It hadn’t been my first choice, my first choice had been Elmers glue but that didn’t hold.