"Do you date your stuff?" Topic

A lot of the materials we use in the hobby eventually expire. Paints dry up, glues lose their power, etc. Therefore, it can be useful to put the date on certain items when you purchase them, so your future self will know just how old that tube of cement actually is.

Do you write dates of purchase on relevant hobby items?

I'm afraid it never occurred to me, either. Perhaps it should have, since earlier this week I threw out a container of Gorilla glue which had turned yellow.

Grelber

Yes and no. On glue no because I rarely have it long enough to expire and with paint, it just kinda tells you when it's done. Epoxy I date it when I pierced the seal, same as the two part metal bonding agents and green stuff. Other than that I roll with it. Because . Sometime you buck the horse and sometimes the horse bucks you.

No, too much hassle.

No

No, Keep think I should but never do.

x42

No and wish I had every unit. At it for over 40 years shame I didn't.

Nope. I have GW paints that are 30 years old I guess that I still use.

Only food…

I haven't dated since I got married.

I try to put a date on my figures, on the bottom of their stand. Sometimes I take so long to finish them I put "c" for "circa," a la circa 2023 for something I started in 2021. Slow painter me.

Just for the heck of it I held on to some bottles of Testor's enamel I've had since I was a kid. They used to put the price on the cap. 15C. Those were the days.

It's not helpful to me. If the paint's not dead I use it, and if the paint is dead the sticker telling me it shouldn't be is no great comfort.

The way I tell paint is old, is if it is no longer produced.

I still have some old PollyS and even older Pactra in both the small and large bottles.

Old Testor enamel are pre 1985, any acrylic after that

The only items that I date are the single figures that I give away as gifts or to friends. I put my initials and the year on the bottom of the base.

I don't see the need.

No, I'm a married man.

LOL! I see I'm not the only person who thought the "dating" angle!

I'm with Rich Bliss and Old Glory on this.

I've still got Polly S bottles that claim they're non-toxic.

No for me too, maybe they should put a 'Paint by' date on our stuff?

I date glue packages when I bring them home from the store. That way I used the oldest ones first. But like paint, if it is still liquid, then I use it.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

Most of my figures are dated. 25mm Minifigs, Hinchcliffe, Lamming …

robert piepenbrink nailed it:

It's not helpful to me. If the paint's not dead I use it, and if the paint is dead the sticker telling me it shouldn't be is no great comfort.

Also, like Col Durnford, I still have PollyS and Pactra paints alive and in use. I must have bought the Pactra paints in the mid-1990s. I also have a lot of really old Model Master jars in historical colors, so I bought several more as they were being discontinued (in both enamel and acrylic), since I can expect to still be using those for many years to come.

- Ix

When I open a paint pot and find it's solidified, I usually regard this as a sufficient hint.

Paint and glue gone bad tends to be self-indicating, as others have noted. Not sure what else of hobby relevance is likely to expire?

I don't date my figs as that would be to depressing. Knowing how long they have been waiting for paint would just be sad.

I run out before it goes bad.

Glue, specifically, I have a system to know when I order a new six-pack of LocTite industrial adhesive or superglue.

Paint, I just run out then get mad that I have to go get paint right now to finish what I was doing. Not a great system, but it works for me…

Warranties on art supplies are pretty short, I imagine 30-90 days. So if I have any that go bad within their warranty period, I'll be able to dig up the original purchase receipt. Beyond that there wouldn't be any use in knowing the date of acquisition – either it's still effective as paint or media or whatever, or it's not and has to be replaced.

I put dates on things where the date is useful to me, like batteries in smoke detectors and computer UPS units – these do wear out, and if the date of last battery change is old enough, then I know the unit is probably fine and it just needs new batteries.

I wouldn't call it dating, but we go out a lot on Saturday mornings.

: 3

Nope. Although sometimes I look at the lead mountain and think, "I bought those figs 25+ years ago. Maybe I should get busy!"

I never have dated my paints and other materials. I just use it until I can't then get more if I need it.