The loss of model railroad paint manufacturers like Floquil may actually be one of the best things to happen to this hobby. When our crusty bottles of Grimy Black and Boxcar Red ran dry, the creaking was almost audible as we collectively raised our heads to see how other modellers coloured their miniatures. We found we were far from the experts in the field. Indeed, we still have a lot to learn!
When painting with acrylics, I typically made a little puddle of paint on a palette, and dipped my brush in. When the puddle started to dry and became unusable, I made another puddle and carried on.
At some point I heard about wet palettes, but they sounded complicated and I always assumed they were for actual artists. But then a miniature-painting friend mentioned them, and I took a second look. A quick search yielded myriad videos to help understand why they’re useful and took the edge away from making one.
My first iteration consisted of a food container, the sponge from one of my soldering stations, and a scrap of cooking parchment. It worked exactly as advertised!
The wet palette transforms painting with acrylics from a hurried dip and slap to a more controlled process. It is much easier to manage the amount of moisture in the paint, and you can even maintain different levels of moisture within the puddle of paint. Best of all, you can keep that puddle going for a day, or maybe even longer!
The food container wet palette was so good, in fact, that I started to think about buying a pukka palette, like the real modellers have. Maybe I should have done that because I wound up printing one I found on Thingiverse, and now I’m on the hunt for an appropriate sponge. In any event, the hobby has changed once again for me.
Pembroke:87 