Alas, Mr. Color, I knew him well...
Giuliano Moschini
Things have come to the point where I will no longer be able to obtain the Mr. Color paints from Japan, due to shipping issues.
The basic problem is this:
The Japanese Postal Service will not ship paints or thinners, and the alternatives (private shipping companies - UPS, etc) are too
expensive.
Some items I can obtain from a US distributor, such as the thinner, primer, retarder, but not (currently) paints.
I have written a letter to the US distributor to find out if they can obtain Mr. Color in either bottle or spray-can form, but I
do not expect the results to be positive.
So, what I currently have in stock is *IT* as far as inventory goes, and chances are I will not be able to get more stock in hand
in the near future.
So if you need a particular color, grab it before it goes out. ;-)
Once the stock of paints runs out, chances are I might close the web-store, but I haven't completely settled on that decision - I
might choose to refocus the store on handling non-hazardous option parts, for example.
Questions / Comments? Feel free to respond here, or e-mail me privately if you wish.
Thanks for all your support!
-Giuliano
--
Giuliano Moschini
Mail: giul...@moschini.org
Moschini's Modelshop:
http://www.moschini.org/modelshop/
Your US source for Mr. Color! (while it lasts)
George Caswell
> Well, I have some bad news, folks.
>
> Things have come to the point where I will no longer be able to obtain the Mr. Color paints from Japan, due to shipping issues.
>
Aw, man... just when I was planning to start using them again, too... :(
> Questions / Comments? Feel free to respond here, or e-mail me privately if you wish.
>
Could we contract the underpants gnomes to deliver them via the poo choo
train? I understand they accept underpants as a form of payment..
Did you try the Jedi mind trick? "You don't -need- to see the MSDS."
---GEC
New projects page: http://home.attbi.com/~sieg_haro/
(M-x depeche-mode)
Building a small army of Nichimos, one Destroid at a time.
Giuliano Moschini
> On 13 Dec 2002, Giuliano Moschini wrote:
>> Questions / Comments? Feel free to respond here, or e-mail me privately if you wish.
>>
> Could we contract the underpants gnomes to deliver them via the poo choo
> train? I understand they accept underpants as a form of payment..
I think perhaps that is one of the more bizarre things I've heard (sic) you say..
Although, not necessarily THE most bizarre...
And note, I did not say to e-mail my privates.
That would involve a piece of electronics in a location that they really shouldn't be in..
> Did you try the Jedi mind trick? "You don't -need- to see the MSDS."
Wish I could... It's a postal service (Japanese & US) prohibition.
By the way... You can still get the paints, but you have to do so from Japan - Rainbow Ten has the bottles, and HLJ has the
spray-cans (for now).
I can still obtain the thinners, primers, and surfacers relatively easily, from the US distributor, so at least one half of the
mix is available..
-Giuliano
George Caswell
> George Caswell <sieg...@attbi.com> wrote:
> > On 13 Dec 2002, Giuliano Moschini wrote:
> >> Questions / Comments? Feel free to respond here, or e-mail me privately if you wish.
> >>
> > Could we contract the underpants gnomes to deliver them via the poo choo
> > train? I understand they accept underpants as a form of payment..
>
> I think perhaps that is one of the more bizarre things I've heard (sic) you say..
>
> Although, not necessarily THE most bizarre...
>
Eh, just a little South Park mind contamination... I loved their Christmas
special this year. :) Santa Claus getting shot down over Iraq, Jesus leading
a commando operation to get him out... Nothing beats the original, though,
"Spirit of Christmas". :)
So did the Japanese post office handle in-Japan shipping, or overseas, or
what?
> By the way... You can still get the paints, but you have to do so from Japan - Rainbow Ten has the bottles, and HLJ has the
> spray-cans (for now).
>
Hrm.... Do you know how much it'd cost?
The Gundam Color sets are Mr. Color as well, right?
> I can still obtain the thinners, primers, and surfacers relatively easily, from the US distributor, so at least one half of the
> mix is available..
>
The primers are what I use most - whatever the project is, whatever paint
I'm putting on top of it, I like to start with Mr. Surfacer. So if your
shop's gonna continue and keep carrying those supplies, that's good news for
me. :) If not, it might be time to stockpile...
---GEC
New projects page: http://home.attbi.com/~sieg_haro/
(M-x depeche-mode)
"Courtney Cox, I love you, you're so hot, on that show."
Giuliano Moschini
> So did the Japanese post office handle in-Japan shipping, or overseas, or
> what?
Well, the previous method I used was either EMS or SAL, both of which are services of the postal service in Japan and the United
States.
The last shipment (the Leveling Thinner), got inspected and stopped in Japan by the Japanese postal service.
>> By the way... You can still get the paints, but you have to do so from Japan - Rainbow Ten has
>> the bottles, and HLJ has the spray-cans (for now).
>>
> Hrm.... Do you know how much it'd cost?
The spray-cans are 500 yen ($4.08), for 100ml cans, and weigh 140 grams.
According to HLJ, UPS shipping cost is 580 yen for 1 can.. probably a lot less if you get a handful or more.
Re:
http://www.hlj.com/cgi-local/hljlist.cgi?Series=Mr.+Color+Spray&Dis=2
The cost to ship the bottles will probably be around 50% of the cost of the paints themselves.
And that's assuming they make it through the postal service and / or customs.
> The Gundam Color sets are Mr. Color as well, right?
Yes... Oddly enough, I can get some of the older Gundam Color sets from my US distributor.
> The primers are what I use most - whatever the project is, whatever paint
> I'm putting on top of it, I like to start with Mr. Surfacer. So if your
> shop's gonna continue and keep carrying those supplies, that's good news for
> me. :) If not, it might be time to stockpile...
Mr. Surfacer is something I can readily get, in spray-can and bottle forms, from my US distributor.
Here's what I can get from the US distributors:
http://www.marcopoloimport.com/gunz.htm
http://www.marcopoloimport.com/gunz1.htm
Interesting notes, they have the Auto Color spray cans, and now the larger 400ml bottles of (regular) Mr. Color thinner.
If we're really lucky, my letter might convince them to stock the Mr. Color line, in either spray-can or bottle...
So, yes, I will most likely continue to stock the primer and finishing supplies for some time, since I can easily obtain most of
them.
Futari-G
Jeff
ps-for those that this makes no sense to, see 5 posts
up
--
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Thus do we refute entropy."
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Mark Wilson
On 13 Dec 2002 15:01:51 GMT, "Giuliano Moschini"
<giul...@moschini.org> wrote:
Mark Wilson
Change .org to .net to reply by e-mail
"If we lose the war in the air, we lose the war, and we lose it quickly."
--Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
http://home.earthlink.net/~mmwilson2/
RAAM FAQ:
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Giuliano Moschini
I've written a letter to GSI Europe Import/Export in Germany, to see if they might be able to ship the Mr. Color from Europe /
Germany instead of from Japan.
Their name is on an english/french/german Gunze-Sangyo catalog, so perhaps they might be able to help - if they respond...
In other news, I heard from a friend, that has a friend in Hong Kong that might be able to obtain Mr. Color for me in Hong Kong.
Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the name of that friend.
If you are that friend in Hong Kong, please contact me. ;-)
E-mail is fine, but I can also be contacted on Yahoo Messenger as gmoschin, and on AOL IM as gmoschini.
Thanks. :-)
-Giuliano
--
Giuliano Moschini
Mail: giul...@moschini.org
Moschini's Modelshop:
http://www.moschini.org/modelshop/
Your US source for Mr. Color!
Moot (Mike)
news:atchik$e...@dispatch.concentric.net:
> Things have come to the point where I will no longer be able to obtain
> the Mr. Color paints from Japan, due to shipping issues.
<snip>
That sucks... a /lot/. Esoecially as my only other sources for Mr Colour
(in HK) seem to be disappearing... Mayhap I'll be making a large order
from you soon..
Mike
Giuliano Moschini
Yeah, it's not the best situation...
Oh, I can order the paints - they're available.. I just can't use the common-carrier (postal service) to ship them.
I can use other shipping services, like UPS, or a private shipping company, but the additional shipping costs would be enourmous -
somewhere around 4 times what it cost me before.
If I can't get Mr. Color for certain, I will consider carrying standard water-based acrylics, most likely the Gunze Aqueous Hobby,
or perhaps Tamiya - I can get both wholesale from my US distributor.
I know how the Tamiya acrylic behaves, but I haven't looked at the Gunze acrylic in a while.. have to revisit it and see how it
is.
-Giuliano
Moot (Mike)
> Yeah, it's not the best situation...
> Oh, I can order the paints - they're available.. I just can't use the
> common-carrier (postal service) to ship them.
What caused this to change?
> If I can't get Mr. Color for certain, I will consider carrying
> standard water-based acrylics, most likely the Gunze Aqueous Hobby,
> or perhaps Tamiya - I can get both wholesale from my US distributor.
Tamiya paints are fairly easy to get hold of from what I'm aware of. The
Gunze paint would probably have quite a market, they're good paints, they
also chip and smudge less easilly than their Tamiya equivalents.
Mike
Giuliano Moschini
> "Giuliano Moschini" <giul...@moschini.org> wrote in
> news:atgqhj$a...@dispatch.concentric.net:
>
>> Yeah, it's not the best situation...
>> Oh, I can order the paints - they're available.. I just can't use the
>> common-carrier (postal service) to ship them.
>
> What caused this to change?
A large order of Leveling Thinner that I had placed, got stopped and inspected by the Japanese post office, and was subsequently
returned to the source.
The postal rules prohibit such things as thinner and paints... and since the postal service is an international thing, the rules
apply to both the Japanese and US postal service.
>> If I can't get Mr. Color for certain, I will consider carrying
>> standard water-based acrylics, most likely the Gunze Aqueous Hobby,
>> or perhaps Tamiya - I can get both wholesale from my US distributor.
>
> Tamiya paints are fairly easy to get hold of from what I'm aware of. The
> Gunze paint would probably have quite a market, they're good paints, they
> also chip and smudge less easilly than their Tamiya equivalents.
The Gunze Aqeous Hobby acrylic paints also have the convenient factor of being in the same colors as Mr. Color, and even have
cross-reference numbers between the two.
The Tamiya paints also come in two sizes (23ml and 10-13ml), making stock-keeping a bit more difficult.
I believe they are/were in the process of phasing out the larger bottles for the smaller Mini bottles, which are about the same
size as the Gunze ones.
-Giuliano
Thomas Hamann
<snip>
>The Tamiya paints also come in two sizes (23ml and 10-13ml), making stock-keeping a bit more difficult.
>I believe they are/were in the process of phasing out the larger bottles for the smaller Mini bottles, which are about the same
>size as the Gunze ones.
>
each of the two sizes, too.
Thomas Hamann
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Giuliano Moschini
> "Giuliano Moschini" <giul...@moschini.org> typo'ed:
> <snip>
>> The Tamiya paints also come in two sizes (23ml and 10-13ml), making stock-keeping a bit more
>> difficult. I believe they are/were in the process of phasing out the larger bottles for the
>> smaller Mini bottles, which are about the same size as the Gunze ones.
>>
> They sell them in both bottle sizes. The colors are *all* available in
> each of the two sizes, too.
I wasn't completely sure on this point - why did they produce them in two sizes?
When I had asked a local shop some time ago, they said that it was because Tamiya was phasing out the larger bottles.
-Giuliano
Thomas Hamann
>Thomas Hamann <SP...@BLOCK.compost> wrote:
>> "Giuliano Moschini" <giul...@moschini.org> typo'ed:
>> <snip>
>>> The Tamiya paints also come in two sizes (23ml and 10-13ml), making stock-keeping a bit more
>>> difficult. I believe they are/were in the process of phasing out the larger bottles for the
>>> smaller Mini bottles, which are about the same size as the Gunze ones.
>>>
>> They sell them in both bottle sizes. The colors are *all* available in
>> each of the two sizes, too.
>
>I wasn't completely sure on this point - why did they produce them in two sizes?
>
>When I had asked a local shop some time ago, they said that it was because Tamiya was phasing out the larger bottles.
>
As far as I've noticed, some shops here have switched to the small
bottles, but most still get in new shipments of the large ones. I even
know of a shop that seemed to have switched to small bottles, only to
switch back to the large ones.
Maybe a shipping issue?
Another points could be that the shops stocking the small ones have
less clients than the ones stocking the large ones.