Well folks, This past week has taught me another LITTLE thing about paint's that up until now I really had not paid any attention to. It seem that while making a run to the local hobby shop, (My wife in tow, She likes to tag along some times) for some new paints. And while I was trying top select the correct colors. She was tryinmg to point out to me something about the Dates vs the Prices of each bottle that I was looking at. And ME being the EXPERT........LOL "Yeah Right" in model stuff, for the most part pretty much igored her.
Well after I found out that she was right "THE HARD WAY" replacing them was no big deal
BUT heres my point. Did anyone else know about this?? I had never even though to check for out dated paint. I thought that only counted with food. "GO FIGURE"

DAGGER: A weapon with a short pointed Blade: " THE CUTTING EDGE"

I've got some paints that I've had for over a decade with little or no degradation.

I haven't used them yet to be sure but I have some 14-16 year vintage paint. They look ok anyway.

Jim

Silly me - I didn't know there were dates on my paint bottles - now I've gotta go look

Gunnie

"THAT FIGURES" i'm the only one that has had this problem??!! MAN I must be buying from either the wron source OR I need to start buying the Polly Scale stuff. Because I've run into this problem with MM paints.


DAGGER: A weapon with a short pointed Blade: "THE CUTTING EDGE"

I don't see any dates on my MM paints. (hey, that rhymes...) I haven't really had any problems with old paint. The only thing that's happened to me is having the pigments separate. A quick shake of the bottle and it's fixed.
Now, those 12 year old square Testors paint bottles......

YodaMan
Go Red Wings!!!

are better used to prop-up uneven table legs...

Gunnie

Hey Dagger, I have never had a problem with my paints getting old (I didn't even know there were dates on them). My Enamels (Model Masters and Humbrol) have been on my shelf for quite some time. I usually keep 2 bottles of each color in reserve. As for my Acrylics (Tamiya, Poly S, and Vallejo), as long as they are sealed tight, they shouldn't dry up. Jeez, Vallejo paint are in dropper bottles and one bottle can last a long time.

Well Actually the dates were on the price tag that the local shop( Hobby Maker or Petes Hobby Shop for those of you who saw us on this site about a week ago. i.e. the British IFV display ) sell. Last night when I went to buy some more MM acrylic paint I got it home and tried to use it direct from the bottle, And it pretty much turned out to be nothing more than watered down paint. Everything was set properly. i.e. Compressor and Airbrush. This is only about the second or Maybe third time I've run into this. But never noticed anything regarding the dates. I simply chalked it up to a bad bottle of paint, tossed it and replaced it
But since my wife had brought the date issue to my attention. I just figure that she might be right. "I DON'T KNOW" Anyway I just replaced it with some MM Enamel and finished the touch up job that I needed it for. Anyway I guess it will be something to keep in mind.

DAGGER: A weapon with a short pointed Blade:" THE CUTTING EDGE"

Hmmmm....I've rarely seen a bad bottle right from the store shelves, however old. Often the pigments stettle out and require serious stirring to reconstitute, but usually not "bad". I HAVE had my own paints go bad, usually because I have been sloppy with the cap threads and the bottle didn't seal properly. When this happens, over times the volatile solvents evaporate and that's all she wrote. To combat this, I've taken to wiping the lid clean and also wiping the sealing threads on the bottle. Also, if the paint is not likely to be used for a while--say, a lot of grays used on aircraft while I'm doing green tanks--I will store it upside down in little snap-lid tackle boxes. Upside-down bottles don't let air leak in, it can't get past the fluids. HTH,
Greg

"HOLY COW" I'M A LUEY NOW".....Man I think I like this rank thing. "Thanks Jim"



DAGGER-1

Dagger,
Actually most of my "Polly S" (as the label said back then) paints were the ones to go bad. Acryllics probably dry-out easier once opened. My Testors MM paints were the ones that held up the best.

Congrats on the promotion. Now where are those orders for which platoon you are leading...hmm....must have misplaced them. hehe

Jim

I've only had Acrylic paints "dry" out because I didn't clean the threads.
I have some OLD testors square bottles......


Matt

I have never looked nor known about dates on the bottles till today. None of my MM have em as was stated earlier. BUT, I was at the hobby store today and noticed the new (at least to me) Tamiya Mini paint bottles - 10ml. On the side of the little label they have printed
"14 years +".
Sort of like the born on dates, just need to know from when???

when is a good thing...