Testors Clear Coat

[Miatatom]

I bought some Testors Clear Coat Dullcoat by mistake (lack of attention to detail) and mixed it with some Testors Clear Coat Glosscote I already had. Since I'm building the Fireball Roberts 57 Ford, the less than glossy finish that resulted looks pretty realistic. Is the cap color the only way you can tell the difference between the two?

[High octane]

Tom, I usually have a can of Testors Dull-Cote handy for when I want aluminum wheels, aluminum bumpers, and of course Moon tanks too. I just spray these chrome plated pieces with one or two light coats or Dull-Core and they're "good to go." Moon tanks always come plated in the model kits, however 1:1 Moon tanks are made of spun aluminum. Also blowers come plated as well, but 1:1 blower casings are made of materials that can't be chrome plated, however they can be polished to look chrome plated. I sometimes use Dull-Cote on the blowers as well. I hope this helps.

[Miatatom]

Thanks Nick! Is the cap the only difference between the two? I couldn't find any numbers on the can I bought.

[tbill]

oddly enough, they have a few different clear coats. there is the dull coat you posted in 2 versions [different labels], then for the glossy stuff that is labeled like you posted, along with 'wet look' clear, 'ultra gloss' clear, and i think one more. 

[Miatatom]

Well, I'm really confused now. I dug around in the garbage and found the cap to the can I just bought. It says it's 1261 Glosscote. Would mixing that with MM Gloss Clear cause it to produce a semigloss finish?

[tbill]

for what it is worth, i have found that when spraying gloss coat, the initial coat [as in just sprayed] looks glossy, but as it dries, it 'flattens out', but after 4 or so coats, it starts to have a shine to it. again, just my experience.

i also usually put 4-7 coats of clear on, then wet sand it, and polish it.

[fseva]

Thanks Nick! Is the cap the only difference between the two? I couldn't find any numbers on the can I bought.

Most of the time, there is a label that identifies the contents - it's either on top of the cap, or somewhere on the side. This label is affixed over the generic main label, and it allows Testors to use one wrap-label instead of hundreds of special printings.

Edited December 4, 2015 by fseva

[peteski]

1. Spray each one on a plastic spoon, let them dry  and see which one is which. 

2. Look for a part number or at the UPC barcode on the label (they should be different on each can) and Google those numbers.

[Harry Joy]

1. Spray each one on a plastic spoon, let them dry  and see which one is which. 

2. Look for a part number or at the UPC barcode on the label (they should be different on each can) and Google those numbers.

Not the OP, but I was looking at some Testor's cans at a store a few weeks ago, and they were mixed up on the rack. I tried myself to figure out which was which to no avail. The cans had neither items codes or bar codes. There is the lot number on the bottom, but that's it. - - - Just looked at some cans I already had, no bar codes on them either. The only identifier on the cans at the store were the store's own stickers, and the numbers on them did not align with the Testor's numbers on the rack.

 

I think this is what the OP is speaking about.

[peteski]

I think that the UPC barcode labels have been around since at least the 1970s.  Unless the cans are *REALLY* old, I'm surprised that there aren't UPS barcodes on them.

 

In that case, go with the spoon test.

[Harry Joy]

UPC bar codes have been around that long, yes, but did not go into widespread use until the '90s. I know, because I worked on some whole store conversions in the 90s.

That being what it is - the Testor's One Coat paints do not have bar codes. Not the ones I have seen in stores, ranging from mom and pop hobby shops to Michaels and Hobby Lobby. And the cans are new.

[High octane]

I recently used a can of Dupli-Color paint that I had bought 'bout 17 years ago and it worked fine. While I don't use spoons, I did have a spare Corvette hood that I had used to test the paint on because of its age.

[peteski]

UPC bar codes have been around that long, yes, but did not go into widespread use until the '90s. I know, because I worked on some whole store conversions in the 90s.

That being what it is - the Testor's One Coat paints do not have bar codes. Not the ones I have seen in stores, ranging from mom and pop hobby shops to Michaels and Hobby Lobby. And the cans are new.

Interesting. No barcodes or part numbers?  That has not been my experience.  Here is a photo with some cans in my workshop (front and back of the labels).  Both One Coat Cans are fairly recent (bought in the last few years).  The other cans are much older (around 35 years old) They all have both barcodes and part numbers on the labels.

 

[Harry Joy]

As hard as this is for some people to seem to believe, I've checked several stores and none of the Testors cans had bar codes. The stores I've looked in range from Memphis to northern and central Mississippi. And on top of that, there was no correlation between manufacturer codes on the cans and store codes on the tag.

(I'm in retail, btw, and have been since about 1978. Hardware, lumber, grocery and records.)

[peteski]

As hard as this is for some people to seem to believe, I've checked several stores and none of the Testors cans had bar codes. The stores I've looked in range from Memphis to northern and central Mississippi. And on top of that, there was no correlation between manufacturer codes on the cans and store codes on the tag.

(I'm in retail, btw, and have been since about 1978. Hardware, lumber, grocery and records.)

I just went with what I have and see with my own eyes. I'm not denying existence of generic labels - I guess I just don't own any.  Maybe they came from a different production run?  I'm puzzled as to the reasons why some company would produce a can of spray paint in a metal can without any means of identifying the contents.

[Mike_G]

The part numbers are printed on the bottom of the cans