Essential Kit

[matty1001]

Well with me packing up and heading off to Spain to live I\'v started sorting out hobby stuff to box up for the time being but I still want to take a selection of stuff with me so I can paint over there.

Obviously I can\'t take the lot, as the would be stupid, so I\'m trying to condense it to to a washbag sized kit (this includes prep tools, basing kit, paintbrushes and paint.)
Then Il be taking a few ready prepared minis over for painting. (Pre-preparing them as I want to airbrush prime them, and I won\'t be taking that over with me.)

So what would you have in an \'essential\' kit if you had to fit it all into a travel sized bag?

 

[alextheartist]

condoms, local phrase book (its always funny to see the local\'s expressions), food and a towel (i never leave the house without mine )

Alex

 

[Bignastyshark]

O great question Matty,

It depends on the situation really, if it was like yours then i would look at taking the following:

7-15 Minaitures
Roll of GS
1 Sculpting tool
3 Paint brushes (Detail, fine details and standard all purpose,
Sand
Flock
File
Exacto Knife
I would practise my sculpting on a few of the figs and perhaps practise sculpting faces while waiting for other stuff,

I would use old camera film cases for the sand, flock and GS to save space,

I would also limit the paints i took to perhaps at the most 20.

I think i could fit all of that in a small sandwich container the sort you get from tescos for about £2

You should take a picc of your essentials mate and post em here so we can all take a look :beer:

Cheers

Iain.

 

[War Griffon]

Matty, speaking from experience of one who is constantly travelling and taking this lot with me it all depends on what size wash bag you are going to try and squeeze it all into. I keep my travel kit in an approx 30cm x 30cm x 12cm camera box (the Aluminium type or if you have the GW paint box everything plus the kitchen sink fits in that if you take out the cheap plastic paint pot inserts) which has all my favourite paints and modelling tools as well as the note pad I use & colour wheel, I then use a seperate box for the mini\'s themselves to go in.

At the end of the day as I said it all depends on what you can live without or think you can leave behind but pick up or mail order when you get there. With me I am more isolated when I go away so I have to plan for stuff I might need.

 

[matty1001]

Yea thats the thing Martyn, I\'m just trying to whittle it down from what I have, e.g. I have about 12 sculpting tools, so Il just pick the most useful one and a clay shaper etc..

It\'s the paints I am going to have trouble picking.

Good list Iain. I don\'t think I will be taking many models out there. Just 2 or 3 pre-prepared ones. Then I can always order some when I am out there.

Plus all this is going in a back pack so I\'v gotta think about weight. I\'d prefer to try and keep everything under 1kg, 500grs would be great.

 

[Springbok]

@ bignastyshark, an exacto knife in your hand luggage might get you in a spot of bother with the local friendly armed police!

 

[War Griffon]

Matty, I think you might struggle to get a decent selection of paints together and keep everything at around 1Kg for wieght. The Plastic box of VJ\'s (72 pots) comes in at 6.5Lbs approx 3Kg.

 

[Einion]

Since you\'re taking pre-prepared minis do you need sculpting tools or cleanup tools?

But if I had to pare my toolset down to the bare minimum, he\'s what I\'m thinking:

Steel sculpting tool that I use the most (although bringing my other fav. won\'t take up much more room).
Few needles, sharp and blunt.
Three or four superglue-coated cocktail sticks.
One X-Acto handle plus spare blades in two styles.
One double-ended pin vice with a small container of drill bits.
Some paperclips and a roll of fine wire.
Half-round needle file.
Some sheets of abrasive film or wet-n-dry paper.
Two good chunks of GS or other epoxy putty.
On the off chance you can\'t get this where you\'re going, a 35mm film canister with PVA glue in it.
Three first-rank paintbrushes, plus one mid-size synthetic.

Superglue you\'re sure to be able to get locally, so no need to bring any. Probably the same with epoxy.
Grit/sand you can get locally.

For paints I\'d be bringing my entire current set of Jo Sonja (seven colours), which are in plastic tubes so bulky but light. Best of luck squeezing in a good selection of jars.

Einion

 

[matty1001]

Originally posted by Einion
Since you\'re taking pre-prepared minis do you need sculpting tools or cleanup tools?

Yea, I\'m taking them on the off chance that I will buy stuff when I am out there, I\'l only be taking 2 or 3 pre-prepped to be going on with. But even those should take me a good while to paint.

Wet&Dry paper, thats a good suggestion.

I reckon I\'v managed to get a kit sorted and it all weighs about 1.5kg, which includes about 30 paints.
And it all fits into a nice tiny package, about 1/2 the size of a loaf of bread.

Il get pics a little later on.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

If you\'re flying make sure the lids are on real good and tight.

 

[matty1001]

lol Yea, don\'t want any paint disasters!

Well here is all my gear condensed.

The first box, a mini maglite box, 17x8x3cm which holds clippers, 3 files, 2 sculpting tools, surgical knife and blades, superglue, tweezers, pin vice with 6 drill bits, and a small container with different thicknesses of wire for pinning.
Also holds 11 small baggies of basing bits, enough to do about 20 models.

And my paint bag is a wash bag, 21x15x9cm and holds 6 paintbrushes, (about) 30 paints, water dropper, tub of PVA glue and pallette.

So altogether the whole thing is just 21x15x13cm and weighs 1.2kg.
Not a bad size and weight I reckon.

And If I get by on this il wonder why I had so much extra crap kicking it\'s heels!

 

[evil tendencies]

I saw your plastic palette in the background. Are you going to be using that, or are you going to get one locally?

 

[matty1001]

Yea Il be taking that one, because it fits in to the paint bag.
No point in buying a new one.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Might want to check with the airline before you show up with a bunch of metal sharp\'s.

 

[Jazz is for losers]

Originally posted by Einion


For paints I\'d be bringing my entire current set of Jo Sonja (seven colours), which are in plastic tubes so bulky but light. Best of luck squeezing in a good selection of jars.

Einion

Seven colours? I don\'t think I could get by with that, even on basic jobs. Looking at the pic in my gallery (which is intentionall very basic for future replication, basically as simple as it gets tbh) I used 21 colours if I\'m counting right, and a few of them were ready-mixed.

I\'d say paints would be the most weight/space/hassle intensive part of a travelling kit. Most of the rest could probably fit into a small box, maybe 2.

 

[demonherald]

if need be matty just email me your address and I can post some stuff to ya.....just a thought...

it\'s amazing how similar a model building and a bomb building kit are....
now all ya need is a couple of lengths of copper wire a battery and a small alarm clock and that suitcase will get blown up by the customs guys.....:beer:

 

[demonherald]

btw personally I wouldn\'t put the superglue in there.. should be easy enough to pick up and one slip of the sharps on that nice squishy tube and that whole kit will be ruined....probably replace it with GS or something filler wise...

 

[Einion]

Lookin\' good Matty! Tweezers, forgot about them.

Originally posted by Shawn R. L.
Might want to check with the airline before you show up with a bunch of metal sharp\'s.

Definitely - extremely likely to be confiscated seeing as you can\'t get on with a nail file any more.

Originally posted by Jazz is for losers

Originally posted by Einion
For paints I\'d be bringing my entire current set of Jo Sonja (seven colours), which are in plastic tubes so bulky but light. Best of luck squeezing in a good selection of jars.

Seven colours? I don\'t think I could get by with that, even on basic jobs. Looking at the pic in my gallery (which is intentionall very basic for future replication, basically as simple as it gets tbh) I used 21 colours if I\'m counting right, and a few of them were ready-mixed.

I\'m used to having no convenience colours, having never really used any hobby paints, and I like mixing.

I could paint reasonably well with five tubes if I had to (primaries plus black and white). Wouldn\'t want to restrict it that much, but it\'s doable.

Einion

 

[jahminis]

woo hoo!!! matty\'s hittin\' the road...
i\'m stoked for ya mate...

my only suggestion is to change the whole idea here, and take along a gw figure case...paints fit right in the slot... brushes in a plastic bag go on top, and your figs will be protected...
the thing is, the rucksack always fills up way too fast...between clothes, a couple books, a sleeping bag, and some random stuff, space disappears quick...
i\'ve always had a figure case with me...that way i can leave it behind if i\'m gonna go off in the countryside to camp for a few days or whatever...you can keep your sharp stuff in the rucksack for flights, but carry your paints and figs on with ya...

i can tell ya right now, the most important thing is the sleepin\' bag, and a few changes of clothes(especially socks)...last priority should be the paints and figs...your off on an adventure, and don\'t know where it will lead...a change of socks, and a bag to lay out under the stars in is top priority!!!

best of luck...

cheers
jah

 

[Jike Ichi]

Woah, besides thinking about packing your bag for Europe there also must be many other stuff running through your brain, right? I hope you have a real good time in Spain and if you ever get the idea of going to the dark wild east of Europe, f.e. Austria. Just P.M. me and I can help you here.

As for taking colours. Most oft the best colour companies ARE in Spain, Vallejo, Molotov, Montana ...don\'t know why that is, but perhaps you can go to a factory and buy from company shop for half the price you would pay in Canada!? Or perhaps they are already cheap in Spanish shops.