Time to stock up??

I just came across this letter on one of the Yahoo groups that I subscri be to and find the news somewhat disheartening. Seems like it might be eith er time to stock up on more paint, or start looking around for replacements . Thanks, Testors 8^P.....
    Folks, perhaps you have heard already that the Floquil brand of paints is going away. Recently Testors (the folks that currently manufacture Floquil paints) sent an announcement to its distributors. This is the contents of t hat announcement:
    Friday, May 17th, 2013
    Dear Valued Partner,     I am writing to inform you about changes that are taking place at the Test or Corporation. For over 80 years, we have provided premium paints and fini shing systems to the craft and hobby industry. Today, we announced that we are transforming our business in order to more effectively address the chan ging needs of our consumers and their interests.     We?ve made the decision to exit the following businesses within the Test or® Brand family - Pactra®, Floquil®, Polyscale®, and ColorArtz®. This will enable the Testor Corporation to return to our foundation of suc cess ? providing premium, innovative product that inspires creativity. We will continue to accept orders and ship product for a limited time based o n available quantities.     Going forward, the following brands will be critical to our success and de velopment ? Testor®, Model Master?, and Aztek®. These brands will b e 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 implementin g these changes, and the ability to leverage all of Rust-Oleum?s world cl ass services, we are more strongly poised to take your business to the next level through product and merchandising innovations, and increased custome r intimacy. Please contact me or your sales manager directly with any quest ions.     We appreciate your business!     Best Regards,    Kristin J. Schiro         Director of Sales & Marketing
Regards, John Btraungart

On Wed, 22 May 2013 08:17:47 -0700 (PDT), The Old Man
going away. Recently Testors (the folks that currently manufacture Floquil paints) sent an announcement to its distributors. This is the contents of that announcement:
  Quoted Text Here  
Another one bites the dust - I lucked out when they closed the Floquil Naval Line. A wholesale place in Florida sold out the remainig stock at 50 to 85 cents a bottle.
                    Val Kraut

Val Kraut wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
going away. Recently Testors (the folks that currently manufacture Floquil paints) sent an announcement to its distributors. This is the contents of that announcement:
  Quoted Text Here  
Soon, the only hobby acrylic paint left would be from the folk art manufacturers. They make hundreds of colors. What we would then need is the formulas for mixing military colors. Maybe we would be the ones who find the correct mixtures and then we each could make up a mixture chart in PDF format. My wife used to teach folk art and she bought hundreds of 'Americana' and 'FolkArt' colors for her classes, even an 'Americana' display case full. I even called on her to help me mix special colors for modeling. Unfortunately, for many reasons, she died in February. A.C.Moore, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels have a whole section of folk art paint.

  Quoted Text Here  
We have some world class miniature figure painters in our local club who are totally convinced that these acrylics are just as good as the expensive hobby brands

  Quoted Text Here  
This brings up the point of how do you keep paint long-term? Does unopened paint keep? I wouldn't think so, but I haven't any unopened bottles around a significant amount of time. Would vacuum packagin them, via e.g. a FoodSaver, allow them to be kept practically indefinitely or would that still have a shelf life?

On Wednesday, May 29, 2013 7:58:54 PM UTC-4, Pringles CheezUms wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
is going away...
  Quoted Text Here  
This depends on the type of paint and how it's stored. I have some Model Ma sters that are shot after a years and I have some Polly S that are good and approaching fifteen years old. Admittedly I don't open them much and I als o insert a rattle ball (from a spray can) on the first opening and then thi n them a bit each subsequent time that I open them again. The rattle ball i s the key, I think. And recycling is our friend.
Regards, John Braungart

Pringles CheezUms wrote:
  Quoted Text Here  
I have one that I've never opened that are at least a decade old and still seem good in the bottle.
Something else I've heard to do when storing paints is to get as much of the air out of the bottle before recapping them - supposedly exhaling into the bottle before you cap it will put CO2 in there and make the paint keep longer on the shelf. I suppose a short low-pressure shot of Propel might do the trick even better...
...I've heard something similar about recapping wine in the bottle as well, but I don't do this for either.

I still have functional bottles of Testors silver with prices on the cover of 10 cents and 25 cents. Figure the age....? No special conservation procedures. Have other much more recent Model Master colors that are "hockey pucks".
T2
"Pringles CheezUms" wrote in message
  Quoted Text Here  
This brings up the point of how do you keep paint long-term? Does unopened paint keep? I wouldn't think so, but I haven't any unopened bottles around a significant amount of time. Would vacuum packagin them, via e.g. a FoodSaver, allow them to be kept practically indefinitely or would that still have a shelf life?

On Wed, 29 May 2013 18:58:54 -0500, Pringles CheezUms
  Quoted Text Here  
I've got some unopen original Floquil from the late 1960 s - still good. Fine pigments and good chemistry.
I remember some of the "Offical Paints" from the late 60s that once stirred would turn into a gealtinous blob within days. Interesting chemical problem they didn't understand.