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i was wondering if anyone has any advice on a good purchase for a desktop lamp to use for painting?
i got one from amazon £23 daylight craft lamp (will place link here if ayone wants to see it)
but it just doesnt give enough light.
so i went to argos and bought a bog standard desk lamp and it just dont cut the mustard
granted it only cost £3.
at the minute im using a LED head torch to paint, i didnt even finish a guard 10 man squad outta the
3 AAA battery life
(i got 8 and a sentinel and a meltagun for my special weapons squad, so i guess i did get
a 10 man squad)
but i really dont wanna be buyin batteries at that rate...

can any one point me towards a good lamp for painting please.


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the lamp i "DON'T" recommend

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00392TAPM/ref=oss_product

dont get me wrong, its a great little light, but not for painting, especially dark colours

Argos do a great cheapy flourecsent desk lamp for less than £20. 1 will do yer, but two of them and yer laughing. Can't be beat for cheap, bright and most of all, white light.

Edit - was gonna give you a link but I cant find the buggers now!

I use a floor lamp i got a target. The top light has 3 settings. The third bright enough that I can see details and does not produce any shadows.
You can find it on the target website.
Silver Fl Lamp Torch/Task-CA-BTCTR

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4308148/c_1/1|category_root|Home+and+furniture|14417894/c_2/3|14417894|Lighting|14418021/c_3/4|cat_14418021|Table+lamps|14418028.htm

Thats the one.

Base is a little iffy but other than that they do the job nicely.

Orki wrote:http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4308148/c_1/1|category_root|Home+and+furniture|14417894/c_2/3|14417894|Lighting|14418021/c_3/4|cat_14418021|Table+lamps|14418028.htm

Thats the one.

Base is a little iffy but other than that they do the job nicely.

I had that lamp at one point (Was a hand me down from my dad tbh) never got to use it for painting, the base gave way so replaced my lamp. The one iv got atm gives off a bit of a yellow glow but does fine when it comes to painting.

I will agree with orki though, that lamp is very bright and white lighting.

woooo 71cm's, thanks for the quick response guys.. awesome


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to be honest i already spent £30 on lamps, trying to find a workable light, gonna be so happy if this one sorts out my troubles

My brother uses a normal desk lamp but with a daylight bulb (one that looks like it should be blue)

however i just sit under a normal bulb (I can't paint good enough to make a difference :( )

The only problem i found with the lamp is that it was top heavy. Very awkward to steady. Had it rest upon my comp monitor.

Might want to invest in something to prop it up, even just a bit of wood holding up the curved end would do.

johnscott10 wrote:

Orki wrote:http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4308148/c_1/1|category_root|Home+and+furniture|14417894/c_2/3|14417894|Lighting|14418021/c_3/4|cat_14418021|Table+lamps|14418028.htm

Thats the one.

Base is a little iffy but other than that they do the job nicely.

I had that lamp at one point (Was a hand me down from my dad tbh) never got to use it for painting, the base gave way so replaced my lamp. The one iv got atm gives off a bit of a yellow glow but does fine when it comes to painting.

I will agree with orki though, that lamp is very bright and white lighting.

Yeah, one of mine broke at the base where I had it hyper-extended out to the side (cos I was to lazy to clear my desk). It was on for hours until the plastic warmed up and weakened before snapping.

Lesson - don't over extend them for hours at a time! They're fine otherwise though, and give a superb bright white light. Yellowish bulbs will cause you to overcompensate on how you percieve the warmth of your colours, and your minis will look very cold when you come back to them in the morning, or look at them under strip lights in your local.

I grabbed an LED one for about $30 Canadian at Walmart which can be plugged into a USB power source which works well since I paint mostly near my computer. I also have a little 3 battery LED lamp that I got for cheap if I need to move to a different location. They both kick off a pretty good light and have a bendable neck to adjust angles as needed.

johnscott10 wrote:The only problem i found with the lamp is that it was top heavy. Very awkward to steady. Had it rest upon my comp monitor.

Might want to invest in something to prop it up, even just a bit of wood holding up the curved end would do.

Same here, sort of. I just needed to tighten the locks further and they've been fine now for over a year of continuous use (like 10-20 hrs painting daily).

Edit - Oh and those 'daylight' incandescent bulbs really arn't very daylight at all (oldskool gas-tek). White striplights are dang close to 6400K, and unless you wanna invest in a stupidly expensive metal-halide, then they're as close as you can get to daylight.

hmm, that actually very helpful advice, as im currently painting on one of them breakfast trays, you know them trays with the legs, would paint here where i got a nice desk n stuff but if i spill water or paint i can possibly ruin a lot of money worth of pc (bit of a gamer) possibly time to invest in a second desk


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response to this is more than i ever expected, thanks guys especially in the time frame of the replies, can see this is a fantastic forum. gonna sleep on this and see what happens in the morning

again thanks for the advice

I have this great LED lamp with a bendy neck that I bought at - believe it or not - Wal-Mart and it's lasted me for well over a year now and still going strong. It's super bright, plugs into the wall, is quite compact so it doesn't fill up the desk and I just can't model without it. Dunno if the specific lamp is still available anymore, but long story short is I suggest an LED lamp of some sort.

I've never found one light to be enough. I wound up with a 150 watt room light, and then a pair of 100 watt desk lights set on either side of the desk, bent inward; All of which are 6500° daylight bulbs. They are CCFL's, so I'm not roasting, even though I think incandescent might be more accurate light.

The 2 most important investments every wargaming painter should take the time to invest wisely in at the beginning of his or her craft: A good chair and adequate lighting.

Orki wrote:http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4308148/c_1/1|category_root|Home+and+furniture|14417894/c_2/3|14417894|Lighting|14418021/c_3/4|cat_14418021|Table+lamps|14418028.htm

Thats the one.

Base is a little iffy but other than that they do the job nicely.

the problem I found with that one is that the transformer (the box at the bottom of the arm) is heavy and the plastic peg that fits onto the base is not that string - ie it snaps.




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Try and find one with the transformer in the plug itself.

I use a pair of cheapo gooseneck lamps. Once is clip-style and hangs from a pipe on the wall behind my desk with a CFL for general top-down lighting when I want a bit more brightness than my naked-bulb-in-the-ceiling-socket provides. The second lamp is a free-standing tabletop gooseneck with a white full spectrum bulb. This guy is what really lights up what I'm painting.

Honestly, you don't need to drop much money for decent lighting. My super-effective painting lamp is pretty bare-bones (disk base with on/off switch, 6" shaft before 6" gooseneck, half-dome shroud to direct light) and was garbage picked, so I spent a grand total of $6 for the bulb, which will last me years.

Walmart sells a nice desktop lamp with a daylight bulb for $22. It has a round base little over a foot tall with a swing arm top. It works really nice.

I use this light and am in love with it. Same light system as Ottlite and Naturalite lamps. Works wonders at about 1/4 the cost.

http://www.biglots.com/Furniture/item.aspx?cid=14&scid=44&iid=405

Just thought i would update this, after a few flops i ended up pretty happy. 2 lamps both from argos (UK)
main lamp light
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9258482/c_1/1|category_root|Home+and+furniture|14417894/c_2/3|15701239|Lighting|14418021/c_3/4|cat_14418021|Floor+lamps+and+uplighters|14418026.htm

and i am also using a clip on LED
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4328049/c_1/1|category_root|Home+and+furniture|14417894/c_2/3|15701239|Lighting|14418021/c_3/4|cat_14418021|Table+lamps|14418028.htm

which provides me with some white light and as i got a lamp on 2 sides also eliminates alot of shadow.