U.S. Modellers and TS paints

The following paints have been discontinued according to Tamiya America;
TS-no number listed-Lime Green(Kawasaki Green)
TS-82-Black Rubber
TS-80-Flat Clear
TS-42-Light Gun Metal
TS-40-Metallic Black
TS-30-Silver Leaf
TS-20-Metallic Green
TS-18-Metallic Red
TS-13-Gloss Clear

Was just discussing this with a couple modelers today.

LHS's are saying paint orders are beginning to catch up again since the tsunami, I guess we'll see what comes in.

I'm inclined to think that designating those items as 'discontinued' was just easier than fielding questions and letting backorders mount up when the resumption of production was unclear. That may just be my wishful thinking that I'll stick to until the story has unfolded.

BTW, a couple of those clears are rather new items, would be odd to arbitrarily kill them off so soon IMO.

The following paints have been discontinued according to Tamiya America;
TS-no number listed-Lime Green(Kawasaki Green)
TS-82-Black Rubber
TS-80-Flat Clear
TS-42-Light Gun Metal
TS-40-Metallic Black
TS-30-Silver Leaf
TS-20-Metallic Green
TS-18-Metallic Red
TS-13-Gloss Clear
Boy, that sucks about the Flat and Black Rubber. Those two were quickly becoming my favs...jeez. I guess that is if I could find them...:runaround:

Orders are also way behind b/c the state of California passed legislation stating that all safety information on product labels had to be in English, so that has slowed production & order fulfillment as well.

Orders are also way behind b/c the state of California passed legislation stating that all safety information on product labels had to be in English, so that has slowed production & order fulfillment as well.
*THIS* much? Really? I know English is hard and all but...:confused:

Really makes me wonder what is really going on. The Light Gun Metal is a major interior cage color for several of their kits. I also don't see them not having a silver, or gloss or flat clear in their line. Makes me wonder if there isn't a huge issue with the chemicals in those paints causing formulation problems. I bet (hope??!?!?!) that we will see most if not some of these colors again...someday.

Rob

Really makes me wonder what is really going on. The Light Gun Metal is a major interior cage color for several of their kits. I also don't see them not having a silver, or gloss or flat clear in their line. Makes me wonder if there isn't a huge issue with the chemicals in those paints causing formulation problems. I bet (hope??!?!?!) that we will see most if not some of these colors again...someday.

Rob
One of their AS (aircraft) paints is a bare metal silver, so that may be duplication from their POV.

Other than that, the decision making from some of these companies really baffles me...:confused:

EDIT: I didn't notice TS13 is getting the axe. Wow. That *IS* nuts...

I would also tend to think along the line that Veyron has suggested. My goodness ts13 I feel is absolutely one of their best sellers so I don't see how they could even begin to kill it off. Gunmetal and silver leaf can't be too far behind either. I'm not ready to press the panic button yet, but i'd love to bang on the enough already and just release our paint button !!!

One of their AS (aircraft) paints is a bare metal silver, so that may be duplication from their POV.

Other than that, the decision making from some of these companies really baffles me...:confused:

EDIT: I didn't notice TS13 is getting the axe. Wow. That *IS* nuts...

AS-12 is a wonderful Bare Metal Silver and I do prefer it to TS30. I ususally use it for chassis parts where aluminum is called for. However, it seems like the AS12 has been hard to find since it was released...even before the reformulations.

I checked the Tamiya Japan site for some of these paints last night and it looked like all of them were still listed there and not discontinued. Most of the Asian/European Tamiya dealers showed most of the TS as out of stock so it's hard to tell if they will still be avialable elsewhere. This may be a US (CALIFORNIA) issue and not Tamiya dropping the colors all together.

Rob

For what it's worth here is the link to Tamiya America and the TS paint list. There are many colors listed as not in stock but these 9 are listed as discontinued.http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/category.php?sub-id=61500

I think they might be struggling to meet all kinds of new enviromental regs. They would like to sell a product into many markets with all kinds of different standards. I know Canada has outlawed all products over certain VOC levels for commercial products whereas the US allows them to be sold with a fine built into the price. This gives manufacturers time and incentive to come up with new products. And it takes time. In Canada the last cans of oil based primers, stain blockers, hardwood floor finishes and so on flew off the shelves. There is nothing to replace them that works in spite of the manufacturers claims. It is hard when your products are outlawed. Maybe they are having some problems like this.

The UK market had around three years where no Tamiya spray was available, due to "labelling issues". We now have them easily available again so I'm sure the US problem will solve itself soon.