Starfix Vs Lindberg Vs Hawk

Guys, you know you're getting old when you cry because your very last bottle of Official Paints just now dried out.

Tom

A contest winner? If you're talking about a present-day contest, I think that you're asking a bit too much of *any* modeler with the criteria you've stated. A Lindberg kit built within the above criteria *might* have had a chance (however slim) in a mid-'60s-to-early-'70s era contest.

Personally, if stranded under the circumstances described, I wouldn't mind being stranded with a crate that contained several each of all of Lindberg's aircraft kits (current *and* OOP!) and (since the *brand* of "old small square bottles of paint in generic colors" isn't explicitly specified) a nice (if "generic") selection of Pactra International Colors paints. They might not turn out contest quality, but it would give me something to do while awaiting rescue...

Yes the Testors kit is the Hawk model. BTW I have some Pactra paints as well as Testors PLA from when I was a kid, that are a good 25 years old! They are still useable! Cheers, Max Bryant

I used to try to buy the large bottles for two reasons. One, is you got more paint for the allowance money. Two, when the jar was empty it was not thrown away. Instead these were added to the airbrush supplies as the bottles were a perfect fit for my Paasche H3 bottle caps. Cheers, Max Bryant

Ooohhh Man! Are you ever giving away your age! I've got two or three bottles down stair that I keep just for curiosity sake. One is still good, German Green 71. The bottle of Japanese grey and U.S. Zinc Chromate have solidified. Do you also remember His-Air-Dec?

Bill Shuey

Don't have any official left - chucked it when it hardened or gooped up. But I do still have some original floquil from those days - its still good and until the enamels the colors never changed. One of our cats got the last model I did with Official - Revel Me-109 winter camo.

Val Kraut

Good Lord, Bill, haven't recalled HISAIRDEC for years! I remember the excitement of getting a book with what were then great references and a decal sheet six times a years!

I still have two jars of Pactra Artillery Olive which are supposedly the closest match to WWII British Army Green and use them for that. Still work, and only found the last one about a year ago on the shelves of a train shop in Berlin, Maryland.

Cookie Sewell

Those jars were made of plastic.

I had a good batch of Official Paints not too many years ago. They were used as part of the set decorations for a movie that I worked on called "Radio Flyer".

We did a '60s period hobby shop with every tiny detail perfect.

Got cut from the final release :-(

Made a hell of a lot of money, though :-)

Tom

Not only remember, I have most of the magazines and a great many of the decals. Still use them on occasion.

Thursday night IPMS Santa Rosa had a short stack of magazines that went for a few dollars, decals intact.

Tom

I see I wasn't the only one to do that. ;)

Bill Banaszak, MFE

I thought they were sold dried out.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

I not only remember them, I still occasionally use them. They sure are thick compared to today's decals. No wonder Solvaset was created!

Bill Banaszak, MFE

I remember that...weren't they a soft plastic?Or was that another brand?

They were, and still are, hard plastic. However, after several days with Floquil thinner inside they become very soft. I say 'still are' because there are still several downstairs that I'm using yet.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Pactra made their jars and the little square bottles in glass in the beginning and later went to plastic. I still have a fair supply of Pactra enamels in both types. The glass bottled paints are in fine shape but the plastic bottled paints are deteriorating. I wish I could find a source of small bottles at a reasonable price, i would re-package a lot of what I have. Any suggestions??

Bill Shuey

you could get the emtpy 1/2 ounce jars testors sells,I assume to use for airbrushing (I'm a handpainter)...a bit big but better then nothing.A pack of 6 runs @$5 in my area

I know about the Testor's packs. But at 6/$5, the quantity I would need would run to a considerable amount of cash.

Bill Shuey

How many did you need?Perhaps you could ask for a volume discount? I order them from the testors website