I've heard this mentioned before by other modelers and maybe read it someplace that enamels will be no longer available in the US. This was two or three years ago. Since then I've rat-holed a considerable amount of enamels for the day when they are no longer available. What I want to know is this, when will they truly be unavailable here? Or, has something changed or was this just some rumor that never came to pass?

Until then, I'll continue to add to my hoard.

Isn't nail polish enamel? If so, are 'they' getting rid of those as well? Doesn't sound right, but if true...I'm sure it's from some 'wacky' law out of California.

:-)

Never heard about it. Think it is one of those Urban Legends, Myths, or Big Rumor. There is no reason to ban enamel paints, even in California. Sounds crazy to me.

Sort of what I thought, that perhaps it was a rumor. I became sort of suspicious when Alclad became available.

Thanks for the info!

Enamels will become scarce if people "rathole" them.For the love of all things plastic,STOP! :-)

Slightly

Do you mean hording? Because to me a rat hole is another thing altogether, and it would be kinda painfull to stick a bunch of those bottles in there, let alone just one!

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Well the "Urban Fable" has taken place to some extent. Enamels are not going to go away, but they have changed over the years. First they reformulated them to eliminate lead, some of you may not even remember lead based enamels. Most of the lead based enamels were taken off the market in the 70's and 80's. They again reformulated enamels to use "less toxic thinners" in the 80's and 90's, a good example you can see everyday is the number of early 90's automobiles with "skin cancer" (extreme paint wear and fading). California is more strict on this than most (go figure). If you mix the "old formula" enamels with the new thinners it will turn to something the consistantcy of cottage cheese. The thinner enamels that many on the site have commented about are a result of the new formulations.
I have experienced this change first hand, as my step father owned a small Paint shop that serviced the auto and computer industry which had to shutdown, because you just can't use that kind of paint here anymore, without the EPA breathing down your neck every minute, and very expensive enviromental protection filter systems.

No enamels are not going away, but they have and probably will change from time to time.

Personally speaking, and apart from metallics, enamels have,with me,become a thing of the past. With what is happening with acrylics, enamels will eventually 'phase' themselves out as more and more people 'convert' to acrylics...Just a thought, EPA not withstanding,...Jim