It was a relatively risky move for Testor, who began his career as a stockroom boy in Woolworth's Chicago store on State Street.

Coming to the conclusion that the only way to save his new acquisition was to sell the product to additional markets, Testor renamed the adhesive "Crystal Clear Household Cement" and began marketing it to households as a general-purpose repair product, while continuing to sell a large quantity to shoemakers.

Staying true to its status as a chemical corporation, hobbyist model cement and butyrate dope were introduced to the public.

These scale models proved enormously popular, and enabled Testor Corporation to survive, despite its inability to produce its flagship chemical products in any significant quantity.

In addition to totally destroying the upper two floors of the four-story brick building, production lines and equipment suffered severe damage from both the fire itself and from the water used to douse the flames.

With the end of the war, the company was able to resume production of its trademark glues and paints, including adhesives for the plastics that were quickly becoming popular.

[5] From the late 80s through today, Testors partnered up with diecast brands such as Bburago, Jouef, Racing Champions, Lincoln Mint, Maisto, etc.

In January 1986 Testors released a model kit of a hypothetical F-19 Stealth Fighter, designed using open source intelligence[6][7] before the real F-117 Nighthawk was introduced.