Does anyone have an idea how long model paints are good for? I have several different brands of model paints, both bottles and spray cans, that have been in storage for about 7 to 8 years. They've been in closed boxes, out of the sunlight and a few that I shook looked like they might still be okay to use. I think some of them are even unopened. Thanks in advance!
I've had Floquil solvent paints go 15 to 20 years and they were still good. Too bad they were all discontinued. I've had Scalecoat II paint that I had about 5 years, but then they were lost in flooding by hurricane Katrina. I'm sure they would have lasted longer.
That's good to know. Mine are Testors, Model Master, Floquil and Tamiya paints. I'm hoping that they are for the most part still okay, because like Kiz said, I can't get them anymore.
I was just looking in my paint bottle drawer. Yikes! As noted earlier, I put a date purchased tag on each bottle. (Who knows how old it was when bought?) I found one showing 1979, and several from 1980, 1981! All still shake up just fine. One I used last Fall. About six months ago.
You have done everything correctly as far as storage. UV was the worst for Polly S and Poly Scale. The original Floquil is about bullet proof and I still have one bottle from when it was produced in Mohawk NY, so it dates from the 1980's at least. It's still good. The Testor Floquil enamel is okay if you keep it out of the sunlight in a moderate temperature. Both Polly Scale and Floquil were tested to have a freeze / thaw cycle of five times before any performance was lost. That was the results of a test we conducted when I worked with Floquil / Testors. Yes they are gone, but in all seriousness, the Tru-Color brand of paints are much better and their color line up is much better in selection than Floquil and Polly scale combined. I started painting with Tru-Color four years ago when I threw out my last bottle of Polly Scale due to the serious lack of quality control up there at Testors. For weathering, Testors still makes a few colors in their Model Master line with the same names as the former Floquil line, however Tamiya makes many weathering colors also and once again, I find the Tamiya brand superior and lately, easier to find.
Thanks, Jim. All of my paints have been stored in my apartment, so no issues with cold. One of my other hobbies is building model cars and I use Tamiya a lot for that. I have spray can of partially used Model Master Boyd Coddington "Black and Blue Metallic" that I'll probably never find again!
