The Little World

I have just been given a conflicting story and am in the process of processing it. Pardon the odd sounds coming from my brain. Some of them are gas and some of them are suspicion.

The basic problem surfaced a few months ago when I went to my local hobby shop to get another bottle of Testor’s Dullcote lacquer. I had discovered it to be the finest matt finish final spray so far for the warplanes that I build. The assessment came after extensive tests and a patchwork of failures. But I was happy and wanted to continue.

No. The Testors stand at my local shop was being denuded of paint – no Dullcote at all – and there was a sign saying that the brand was ceasing production – discounts on all remaining unsalable colours. Well, Poop. This is just the sort of thing that always seems to be happening to me. Now the testing woulfd have to go to the next best product and I’d have to try to develop proficiency in its use.

Then last week I casually researched Testors’ decision on the internet and found that they are still making paints in the USA…as I would have expected. While there were some enquiries and reports that some lines would be dropped, these reports were anywhere from a year to three years old. And none of them seemed consistent.

Today I visited a hobby shop way over town and picked up some kits. I also noted that they had rattle cans of Testors Dullcote in stock so I bought a couple. The sales assistant said to get them while I could because the Testors company is going to refuse to supply Australia. Note the word ” refuse “.

This whole set of stories is an echo of the situation last year when the GSI Creos products became scarce on local shelves. We bought up stocks of what we needed and steeled ourselves for the need to change to another paint yet again. Then it surfaced that the problem lay with the importer going bust…and after a few months the GSI people got themselves a new agent and the shelves were full again. I applauded this as I cheerfully choose their products most of the time.

I suspect we are hearing stories thought up on the spur of the moment. Also known as shenanigans. I cannot help think that it is akin to toilet roll shortages, etc, but without a viral disease to blame.