For decades, One Shot paints were the standard by which all others were evaluated. I used them for years and was one of their most avid supporters. In the mid 80's Steve Bermann came along and started making paints that were rivals of One Shot and he did some things that One Shot was either incapable of or unwilling to do. His Chromatic Paints were the best that I had seen. His company was later merged with someone else and the last of Chromatic was seen.
The quality of One Shot began to go downhill. They began to chalk and fade and there were drying issues with some colors. What we heard from the Mother Company was that nothing had changed, but we knew better. That's when I went looking for something else.
Gary Anderson introduced me to Porter and I was hooked. No more stink, no more sticky fingers, not more cleaning everything with solvents and trying to keep my hands clean. I was sold on waterbased paints, especially Porter because their deep colors did not have a transparent base and they actually covered. In addition, they didn't clump up over time and the last thimble full at the bottom of the gallon was as smooth and fresh as the first brush load when the can was new.
Then PPG came along and things began to change again. The reds didn't cover and the purple wasn't as purple as before. Even white was different.
Along the way, Sherwin Williams' Super Paint was a good alternative, but you had to buy a gallon instead of a pint or quart, and the deep colors were not as bright.
So now it looks as if this new stuff is going to be on the shelf around here. I hope that it is as color fast as folks say. The group of signfolks called Walldogs are using it more and more.
I suppose that the pin stripers will still use One Shot, although many are going to other paints.
To those sign guys that still swear by One Shot - you must know something that I don't.
One Shot has been good to our profession and donated tons of paint to various gatherings - for which I am grateful. I just can't endorse them any longer.
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