Useful small tips

[Mosch]

We all have those small things that make our painting life oh so much easier. I just discovered something really nice and want to share that with you.

I am a very lazy person. I am so lazy that I started putting all the drinks in my room instead of the fridge. I am so lazy that reading the ingredients of the apple juice I am drinking makes me sweat. I am so lazy that I only breathe when I really need to.
Well, more or less. But what I really hate is cleanung my palette - not as much as a paint-encrusted palette, though. Cleaning is also not too easy. My solution:

Aluminium foil.

I wrap aluminium foil around my mixing palette and use bottlecaps to create the wells. Now I can use the palette for some time and when it gets too dirty, I just peel off the aluminium foil and throw it away - ta da, no cleaning needed. That was pretty new to me, never saw it mentioned anywhere and I think it\'s a really neat trick.


And by the way, painting rigs are mentioned not nearly enough. Dragonsreach said I should use one, and it is one of the best tips I ever got. So, using something to hold your mini would be another nice thing not mentioned too often.


Any more tips you pros out there might want to share with the world?

 

[supervike]

well, I;m no pro...

I tried that aluminum foil before, but the paint would always seem to dry up so soon. The \"wells\" idea is great.

For a painting rig, I use plain plastic bottle caps (from a soft drink) And tack the mini in place with a bit of poster putty.

If you find this is too small to handle, just screw the lid back onto the plastic soft drink bottle. Fill the bottom of the bottle with sand, so it isn\'t so tippy. Cheap and effective.

 

[Mungo Zen]

Ceramic Tiles for pallettes are cheap and easy. I bought 3 different tiles and they work wonders. I paid about 50 cents Candian for the 3. They are all pure white so I can see the colours clearly.

At the cost I could throw them out, but it takes literally 1 minute to soak and 1 minute to wash them clean, no matter how long you have left paint on them.

Another tip that I am sure is used alot is eye dropper bottles. I went to my local drug store and got 3 glass eye dropper bottles for 1 buck each. I have 1 for water, 1 for mixed flow agent and 1 for mixed retarder. The flow and retarder ones make sense, as unless you are going to mix it up on the fly all the time.

The water though is sometimes overlooked (at least it was by me). Since I used to use the same water to clean my brushes and thin paints. Then I went to 2 pots and even then there was a small transfer of colours from the thinning pot to the pallette. So now I get fresh water from the eye dropper each time I need water to thin.

The last one here is just cause I always forget everything. I have a book which I write down paint combo\'s so that I can remember each step for a certain mini. This allows me to recreate it if I need that colour again. I also tape notes to the wall if I am doing a unit up so that I have the colours right infront of me.

This also helps in that it allows me to keep the colours I may be using in my mind and think about changing them before I start sometimes.

I hope these are useful to someone....I actually like seeing these kinda tips as they can come in handy.

 

[supervike]

me too

Originally posted by Mungo Zen
Ceramic Tiles for pallettes are cheap and easy. I bought 3 different tiles and they work wonders. I paid about 50 cents Candian for the 3. They are all pure white so I can see the colours clearly.

We recently did some replacing tile work in my bath room and I ended up with about 20 left over. I started using them for palattes as well. Another good thing (at least about the ones I have) is that it takes a long time for paint to dry on the surface, giving me much longer work times.

 

[finn17]

My tip...

Buy distilled water for mixing. Its cheap and lasts for ages. Tap water can be good, but IMO mostly it\'s crap.
Why spend all that money on a mini and nice paints when you are gonna then add a nice mixture of lime , chlorine, etc to the mix?
Go on!!! buy a dollars worth of distilled water and then tell me you don\'t feel a lot better already

 

[Mungo Zen]

On the ceramic tile thing....try putting them in the fridge and cooling them down a bit. Someone suggested that the paint may last longer as it wont be evaporating as fast...

 

[Cerridwyn1st]

Toothpicks

I love toothpicks with little bends in the end. They are like tiny pallet knives. 100 of them cost a buck. I\'ve also gotten some with a little brush on the bottom.

I used to use these a lot for dipping paint from the pots, but since I switched to Vallejos it isn\'t such a big deal. They are still great for spreading glue on a mini base.

I\'ve tried painting rigs, but they are kind of counterproductive for me. I tend to work on a group of figs at once, so it isn\'t practicle to have them all on rigs. Little enough space on my desk as it is.

I will use things like clips to hold minis with slottabases. I\'ve got some inexpensive clips that I stuck on the end of dowels with hot glue and those work great.

Another great place for dropper bottles is an art store. Vallejo type plastic bottles for about 80 cents.

 

[Nelson]

Glowy crap! Get under the covers!

Hmm....I\'ve found a trick for doing a light source effect like Victoria\'s stuff, or if I just wanna know how to paint something with the sun coming from, say, the minis right side.. I take a watch with indiglo, or some sort of glow in the dark thing, and get under my covers where it\'s nice and dark. Just put the watch next to the mini (bare metal is best, but primed is okay too) and turn the glow on! Instant glow/light help!

 

[Valander]

Originally posted by supervike
For a painting rig, I use plain plastic bottle caps (from a soft drink) And tack the mini in place with a bit of poster putty.

If you find this is too small to handle, just screw the lid back onto the plastic soft drink bottle. Fill the bottom of the bottle with sand, so it isn\'t so tippy. Cheap and effective.

Yay! I was starting to think I was the only freak who did this.

An added bonus of this is that if you use the larger, 1L pop bottles (not the 2L, that\'s too big), then you can easily prime and seal the suckers. Tack to bottlecap, screw cap on bottle, prime, let dry, unscrew cap and paint, screw back on cap and seal. This one has saved me a lot of time and hassle.

 

[Nailpainter2003]

Free and easy....

....I also get alot out of my local drug store. They save empty film holders that people bring their rolls of film in for development. Complete with tight fitting lids! Some are black, grey or clear. I glue my minis to the bottom so I never have to handle a wip AND, with so many, I can premix colors, snap on the lid and they stay fresh for days! I also use them for my primer to touch up what the spray has missed, one for distilled water and one for magic wash. All handy within reach and they\'re so small it doesn\'t crowd my work space!

For the sculptors out there, I\'ve found some wonderful tools and gadgets in the nail care department! Believe it or not, one tool makes the perfect nipple and the opposite end of the same tool creates the perfect eye socket and eyeball at the same time!

Happy painting,
Faye

 

[Gypsy]

A nipple sculpting tool....Mmh.

When I base a mini and cut off that metal thingy which you are supposed to stick in the base(does it have a name?), I don\'t throw it away but clean it and then put it in one of those Vallejo Model Colour bottles. While shaking it shows the same effect as the balls in spray cans, it helps mixing the colour and you won\'t dislocate your shoulder shaking like crazy anymore.

 

[Calavera]

It\'s called a slotta tab. Or just a tab.

But I don\'t have any good tips at the mo...

 

[Cerridwyn1st]

Originally posted by Nailpainter2003

For the sculptors out there, I\'ve found some wonderful tools and gadgets in the nail care department! Believe it or not, one tool makes the perfect nipple and the opposite end of the same tool creates the perfect eye socket and eyeball at the same time!

Happy painting,
Faye

And waht tool is that, pray tell?

I also get stuff at the flea market. Dental tools, tiny drill bits, clips, baggies, you name it.

I keep Plaid brush cleaner in a GW Mixing Pot. The flip top makes the stuff easy to get to, and it\'s the perfect size to clean the brushes I use.

I cut up my slotta bases and greenstuff them to the bottom of minis for added weight. I use glass pony beads as paint shakers.