COMMON QUESTIONS
John Bristow, of Deluxe Materials,
tells us more about his company
By Jay Smith
jays@modelaircraft.org
Photo provided by Deluxe Materials
Will you tell us a little about Deluxe Materials?
Deluxe Materials started in 1973 and, with no particular plan, it has evolved to become a company creating innovative and safer modeling products. Our 50-year anniversary is in 2023! As modelers and chemists, we know what modelers want and we can make them. Since our beginnings, we have expanded both internationally and in the scope of the products we produce, including adhesives, finishing products, lubricants, and most recently, tissue paper.
What do you take pride in?
We are proud that we still serve some of the customers who were our first distributors in the United Kingdom and our loyalty continues with our U.K., Sweden, and Denmark distributors. We now have many worldwide customers. When we received an order from Mongolia, we had to get the map out to check where it was! In 2010, we were proud when Horizon Hobby approached us to become a valued distributor.
Tell us about some of the challenges you face.
Developing products from scratch is often challenging. For example, we developed an environmentally friendly turbine oil: PowerModel Jet oil. We saw the dangers of the misuse of normal turbine oils and knew that we could make the right product for jet modelers. We had to evaluate and test many synthetic fluids, develop the right additives, and make our product easy to use.
Two more products are Eze Dope and Eze Kote. We had to develop the right chemistry that was safe and easy to use. These products have resins that crosslink, making Eze Kote a coating resin that wicks effortlessly into fiberglass and dries rapidly. We worked hard to develop a tough, lightweight filler that sands well and holds its edge when sanding corners. Model Lite has a specific gravity of 0.25.
Another challenge is finding new applications for our existing products. For example, our Super’Phatic! Glue was designed for balsa but also bonds plastic, so it is perfect for hinges and offers easy water cleanup.
Other challenges include labeling to comply with the constant flow of legislation. We spend a lot of time on label design for easy recognition and understanding, ideally to help our consumers find the right product in their local hobby store and show them how to use it.
We have been asked to present our products in varied ways and situations, including local model clubs and interesting venues worldwide. We were asked to join a sales promotion in Singapore and found ourselves demonstrating our products in the middle of a shopping center.
We learned that plastic modeling is a big thing in Asia and realized the importance of having low-odor products for work in limited indoor space.
What does success look like from your perspective?
We take great pride in being a company whose products are held in high regard in the modeling community—being talked about by modelers wherever they gather in a positive way.
Tell us about a thrill you have recently had.
Having Gravity Industries, a maker of human flying suits, use our PowerModel Jet oil for the military and for rapid mountain-rescue work has been exciting; however, we always get a thrill when modelers tell us how they like our products.
What differences do you see in customer requirements when comparing markets in the US, Japan, and Europe?
I really don’t know the answers to that, but I suspect there is really not a lot of difference. Maybe building techniques, modeling tools, and sometimes subject matters, are different. On the other hand, there was only one World War II and the subject matter will be the same.
Japanese modelers might not know our products so well because we don’t advertise in Japanese magazines. We would love to have some Japanese modelers with whom we could work closely, so we are throwing out an invitation!
How have you had to adapt the business during the pandemic?
The pandemic increased the demand for our products remarkably, as people turned to their hobbies in newly found spare time. We have expanded during the past two years and have had to invest more to help and serve the growing number of modeling customers.
What brings you a little bit of joy in your work week?
When we receive nice letters such as the following, we feel we have helped modelers enjoy their hobby.
“Good Morning, John
“I have used your Eze tissue for covering a Vic Smeed ‘Lola’ sport Free Flight power model. The tissue shrank evenly and makes a good base to commence using Eze Dope. Many thanks for developing this new product, for which my wife will be eternally grateful, with no smells emanating from my model room!”
What values do you admire in yourself and your staff?
I am passionate about wanting to use my skills and knowledge to constantly improve the quality of products that are available to modelers. That is how we started, by making a metal-filled silicone rubber composite that would not burn away on a model airplane exhaust system. Nobody had that drive to do it, and it’s what we did in 1973. I’m proud of my staff and its commitment to ensuring that quality standards are adhered to at all times.
What is the one thing that you are most proud of in relation to the company?
We have grown organically throughout the past 49 years and sell in more than 45 countries from the U.K., the US, and China.
What do you see as the Deluxe Materials journey for the next 5 to 10 years?
We want to expand into new product categories—lubricants, where we are already; new modeling materials, where we are just starting with tissue; and perhaps novel modeling tools. These are only a few ideas, but most importantly, we want to make a difference. That’s what it is all about.
What decisions are you making now that might help people and the planet in the future?
We are minimizing or replacing volatile, harmful solvents with less harmful ones or often water, improving working environments, and safety. We are reducing the packaging in all of our products and replacing plastic with paper and cardboard.
SOURCES:
Deluxe Materials
sales@deluxematerials.co.uk
www.deluxematerials.com
