Hi,

I know this is well known DIY technique, but here is one trick I found recently (not entirely my idea )

Many people are using food boxes for the wet palette, but they use the deep bottom, which is not very convenient for work, but...
just turn it upside down and use the lid
It has barrier, which makes a kind of shallow reservoir and is deep enough for using a kitchen sponge (5-6mm). Also it has silicone seal around the edge, which prevents air from entering and water from spilling out of the "palette". The bottom acts now as cover, which is tightly sealed and is clear, that way you can see if the paint is dried
I cut baking paper (or perchment paper), but you can use the refill commercial ones.
The working area is 19x13cm, which is quite enough for miniature painting.
The paint is fresh after several days, from left to right is AK 3rd gen, Scale75 regular, Scale75 artist heavy body.







I think this is good trick, which could be useful if you are on budget for commercial palette.

Cheers!

Thanks Venko, I might look into doing this, looks good.

I was surprised how good this food box is for palette, you need this type of box, the sealing is very nice. And I never thought before to flip it upside down and use the lid for palette, much more convenient
And the cheap baking paper from the local shop performs as good as the commercial one (and the rolls will last very long)
Probably I will buy only one of those hydrofoams, because of the white color, better visibility of the colors on the palette than the colored kitchen sponges. Their size fits exactly:

https://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/wet-palettes/1411-hydro-foams-sponge-for-wet-palette.html

Good idea
Steve

It beats the contraption I use hands down. Pretty sure we've got food boxes like this in the back of the cupboard. Thanks for the tip Venko - I'm on it

Phil

I have a similar set up and just use kitchen roll in the reservoir with baking parchment. This works for me.

Bill

To give the palette more "professional" look I cut a piece of white absorbing cardboard, or "beer cardboard" as we called it here, and put it over the sponge. Can be used multiple times
It will absorb the extra moisture from the sponge and will give white base for better seeing of the colors.

Hi,
The kitchen towel that many people use will break when wet, I tried this myself too
The beer cardboard will not break apart, if you don't rub it of course. It will not affect the paper, but absorbs part of the water from the sponge and let enough moisture to the baking paper. I noticed that the sponge absorbs too much water and the paints get runny after sitting for days. And of course gives white background and more level surface (the sponge is not very smooth).

Regards

I like large-ish areas, so my favorite wet palette has been this baby here

I would call this "sweet palette"

Nice, Venko! Much prettier than the one I made for myself, when I first tried out using a wet palette:



The bottle of Testor's paint was just in the picture, by the way, lest anyone think I put enamel paints on the palette.

I eventually graduated to a proper commercial palette from GreenGrass Games. But still, I find myself thinking back to my home-made palette. I think it was actually easier to work with than the commercial one.

Prost!
Brad

I use a plastic 5 Inch round plant pot drip tray/saucer type thingy me bob, it easy can be cleaned using hot water or even using wire wool to scrape old paint away.

W.

Going off on a slight tangent, how long does the paint stay usable? I find it stays wet for ages (weeks) but becomes very thin after a while. Am I using too much water in the tray or should I discard the paint after so long?

Bill

I have left paint on the palette for several weeks, too-not intentionally, but because I'll get fired up, paint for five nights straight, then stop for a while. With the Green Grass palette, I can still bring paints back by adding water, but ordinarily, I'll pitch it at that point. During a project, I find I have to add water at least once in the course of a single night's work.

I try to keep the sponge clean, so after a project, at least, I'll rinse it and refresh it. When I still used my homemade palette, the kitchen sponge did tend to get moldy after a while. And the material it was made of deteriorated over time, just as if I had used it to clean the kitchen sink. It developed a little bit of a bowl in its middle.

Prost!
Brad

Here is a palette I came across. Don't know if and when it will be available in the US or EU. It has it's own reservoir. https://www.dspiae.com/en/a/PRODUCTS/PRODUCTSE/71.html