Thursday, October 17, 2013

Home made Wet Palette

Hi all, after reading Paradox0n's post here and generally having trouble with paint drying too rapidly here in Phoenix, I decided to go ahead and make my own wet palette.

I was one about the size of a 15" laptop for sale at JoAnn for about $34, but as usual thought I could do just as well at the grocery store. Store Brand Parchment Paper $2.50 on sale, Store Brand Tupperware $3.99 on sale and Brand name Sponge cloth $2.99. So essentially enough for two wet palettes for $9.48 excluding tax.

So far it has worked like a charm, my paint on the palette stays wet. Who'd have thunk it? I left some paint in it for about an hour and a half while I did other things and it stayed wet. Perhaps the paint sucked up a little too much water in that time but not too bad. So a big thank you to Paradox0n and I think you'll see some more output from me as I don't have to struggle with the paint as much.


The parchment has lifted away from the sponge after an hour of painting.
Welcome to new follower Attila13, I'm not familiar with your avatar and don't see a blog listed for you. Let me know if you have one.

26 comments:

  1. so we will see more painting will we.... remember no pictures then it didn't happen :)
    Peace James
    never got the hang of a wet pallet myself, just started painting quicker

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    1. Hi James, I'll put up some more pics I just didn't want to bombard you all with yet more wip pictures. I do need to paint quicker but the paint really seems to dry fast here, making painting more frustrating.

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    2. It's slightly more humid in Cheshire than in Arizona! ;D

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    3. Hi Edwin, a quick check of humidity Phoenix 51%, New York City 66% (where I lived when I last painted), London 84%.

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  2. My wet pallete needs an update, this one looks good. Thanks Sean.

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    1. No problem Dreamfish. It was easy to make and use. I could probably go for a smaller tupperware and more water in the sponge. But so far so good.

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  3. I've always been slow to integrate new stuff but the wet palette is definitely someting I'm about to try. If it can keep a mix for log enough to make a batch of models, then I'm compelled to using one. The time one can waste to always make the same mix when you ar ebatch painting is time not spent on actually putting paint on models...
    I guess it's time to kiss my CD case goodbye...

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    1. Hi Asslessman, I would definitely try it out. One thing to consider is that the paint left in there does suck up water so you need to mix it a little after it has sat.

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  4. Huh, I've not come across a wet palette before. Interesting idea...

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    1. Hi Colgar, I've known about them for awhile but reading about it the other day actually got me to try it.

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  5. I have a mixed feelings towards a wet palette. I made one but it didn't really work as it should :D

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    1. Hi Mathyoo, you may not really need it. It appears that getting the hydration of the wet palette right can be tricky. The benefits for me right now outweigh the hassle.

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  6. Cheers, Sean. Good idea to use the baking paper. I use a little foam, wet it, and put the paint directly onto the foam but waste a lot of paint this way so might try making one in a soap container or something.

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    1. HI Prufrock, I thought about using wax paper but thought that the wax might get in the way of wicking the moisture. Parchment (for baking) is a little more expensive but seems to do the trick. The foam can be anything soft that holds water.

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    1. Hi Emilio, let me know how it works out. At worst you have some extra kitchen items.

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  8. Interesting post !
    In fact I don't need really a wet palette because I don't have time to paint a lot so the paint don't dry before I've finished .... except when I paint difficult figures with mixing colors.... I must thing about that..

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    1. Hi Sam, I will do follow up post tomorrow. The paint is still wet 24+ hours later, just a little thin as it draws water.

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  9. I don't have problems with dry paint as I use bottles from GW and Revell. But it's a good tip for who works with the Vallejo paints. Thanks for sharing!

    Greetings
    Peter

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    1. Hi Peter, I am using some GW as well, everything gets very sticky very quickly here. And if you spread it out on a palette to mix or thin, it's even worse.

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  10. I keep meaning to try this, but as I only paint a couple miniatures at a time I haven't got round to it yet. That said I could definitely have done with it during the summer months!

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    1. Hi Michael, it may be less useful in the winter months. I also tend to batch paint one color so drying can be an issue. For me the investment in time and materials has been worth it.

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  11. Great how much response you got to this post :) See I said you should do it!
    But you should definitely use a bit more water and take care that the paper lies flat on your sponge. Otherwise it is most likely that the paint will separate even more.

    So many questions about all this stuff, really great that this spreads so far. Everyone should give it a try since it really helps (and be it only for thinning your paints through the permeating water).

    Keep it rollin and thanks for the backlink :)

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    1. HI Paradox0n, yes this was a rather popular post. I think I've over used my one piece of paper and haven't gotten the sponge wet enough generally speaking. Right now I can't get the parchment to lay flat any more so the paint is just drying on the paper. Still the wet palette has gotten me painting much more than previously. And no problem for the link back. I try to give credit where it is due.

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