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Friday Quick Tip: Model Holder
By: grey_death



There are a lot of ways to go about painting a model. For the past 10 years, I've been of the school to just pick him up by the base and get to painting. Unfortunately, that method tends to end with you rubbing away detail on the model inadvertently and leads to clean ups as you realize far too late that you have black paint on your hands. To circumvent this, many people use some sort of hand hold to keep a grip on their models. And today I'm using Games-Workshop paint pot to do just this.

The break down is simple. Find a paint pot and stick your model to it! But there are some things you might think about as you go to securing your model.

Weight of your model: If you are painting a light plastic model, try using some sticky tack as I have in the photo above. If your model is heavy, don't use sticky tack!! You might think to super glue him to the top of a flat pot instead. I would only suggest using the smallest amount needed to really secure the model to the pot. You don't want to be ripping the base apart just to get your model off!

Use an old dead pot: Don't use a paint pot you always use!! This one should be a no brainer.

I've found that the GW pot is about the right size for me to work around and manipulate without being cumbersome and heavy.



Don't have a pot you can sacrifice for this? Try using a bottle cork! I've seen many a painter using these over the years to hold their precious work aloft and out of their grubby mitt while they work on them. Pinning being the method I've seen used most to secure them.

Find an object that works for you and your hands best and run with it! Special points for anyone using a Hockey stick!

Any other suggestions? Ideas? Tips of use? As always, we want to know!

ps. As of this post we've broken 200 followers. Thanks to all those that support what we do here!

I also find that large cork screws work great aswell, but the blu-tack has a hard time gripping it, just gives it a nicer hold imo

I now swear by the cheap paint bottles from the craft stores. Delta Creamcoat and apple barrel type paints. It's about the same diameter of the paint pots, but at twice as long it's easier to hold in your hand, and keeps your hand from cramping because you can hold it in the palm, not just by the fingers. Heck, for $.99, if you don't have any already, just buy a couple.

At the last convention, some Reaper reps did a paint-and-take with the models being glued to a soda bottle cap. It gave you just enough to hold onto and had nice traction to prevent accidental droppage.

jester1525 wrote:I now swear by the cheap paint bottles from the craft stores. Delta Creamcoat and apple barrel type paints. It's about the same diameter of the paint pots, but at twice as long it's easier to hold in your hand, and keeps your hand from cramping because you can hold it in the palm, not just by the fingers. Heck, for $.99, if you don't have any already, just buy a couple.

If you get lucky enough to walk in on the day they are on sale, they go for 50 cents.

I use an old Exacto knife handle... the kind that has the collet cross cut. Pin the model to be held in one foot and stick the pin into the collet and tighten.

Now you have a nice long handle that can be conveniently stuck into a pencil holder, tool stand or a hole drilled into your workbench.

The Green Git wrote:I use an old Exacto knife handle... the kind that has the collet cross cut. Pin the model to be held in one foot and stick the pin into the collet and tighten.

Now you have a nice long handle that can be conveniently stuck into a pencil holder, tool stand or a hole drilled into your workbench.

That's a pretty good one I'll have to try that

I need to get some dropper bottles and transfer the GW paint to those. I saw someone with 2 paint pots glued together for a larger hand hold. That is probably what I'll end up doing. I realized I have a death grip on models some times. I hope this helps

I just use yellow or blue tack and a long pill bottle. I had to take some anti-biotics that were huge and had the left over pill bottle. It's about 1/4 inch in diameter and about as long as my hand. So it's perfect.

I have found that having a hot envoiremnt(im talking hot in iceland , so yeah ..) really "melts" the bluetac to a stage where it does'nt hold aswsell . Try having cold air from a vent or window to cool it down , and dont have that hot lamp right over you model .

Also try taking the blue tac off from time to time , store it in the fridge and use another round . Then the other way around.