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So since 1999 I've always used spare plastic plates or movement trays as palettes. A while back I moved to the plastic palettes you can buy at Wal Mart. But I was always unhappy with wasted paint that dried up. I felt like I was wasting it if I walked away from it for more than a minute.

2 weeks ago I was painting at a GW store and a guy there had a Masterson's Sta-Wet Handy Palette. He told me he got it from Michaels, so I figured I'd go have a look at one.

The palette itself is $13.99, comes with a sponge, 5 pages of parchment paper(they call it acrylic sheet) and a basin with lid. For about $4 you can also get a 30 pack of papers the right size for it.

So the entire rig runs under $20 for 35 sheets, which can be used front and back, and are 8.5"x7". Based on the fact you can use both sides(the pigment supposedly doesn't bleed thru, haven't tested that yet) I would imagine that 35 sheets should last me quite a few projects.

An average single paint with a few drops takes up about 2 square inches, meaning you can get a good number of colors on a single sheet before needing to flip it or replace it.

I haven't yet tried blending on it, but I imagine that it works well for that.

My few drops of precious OOP Calthan Brown have stayed wet for 3 hours now, and not a drop has been wasted. It stays wet for me to use it all, which I love as I don't enjoy replacing paints often, especially OOP ones that I have to search the internet for.

So, if you paint with a palette(which every should be doing) then you absolutely NEED one of these(or any wet palette, this one happens to be cheap and easy to find in the US).

You can get it cheaper online, but of course shipping will likely offset the discount, if not make it pricier.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/masterson-handy-palette/

good spot! i didnt know these things where on the market.
too bad i just started airbrushing

DijnsK wrote:good spot! i didnt know these things where on the market.
too bad i just started airbrushing

I airbrush as much as I can, but every model I do still requires paint by hand to finish and detail them.

With the lid on it will stay wet for days before drying out. I've actually washed the paper off and started again as well. Even though there is some pigment on the paper it doesn't really impact your painting.

Aerethan wrote:

DijnsK wrote:good spot! i didnt know these things where on the market.
too bad i just started airbrushing

I airbrush as much as I can, but every model I do still requires paint by hand to finish and detail them.

yeah but for me thats liquid gold, some washes and maybe some grays and blacks i can paint out of the bottle

I just use a plastic container with a few sheets of folded damp paper towel with a sheet of baking paper on top. Cost about $3 to set up, and with the lid on paint stays wet for anything up to a few weeks.

Or just put some baking paper on a wet GW packaging sponge and put in half a blister pack. Cost - £1 for 30m x 400mm of palette.
I win!

Bubber, Thais what I use . You copy cheat
Also paper plates ! those cheap crap you get at parties

Yeah, its a nice idea but there is no reason to spend even that much money. As insaniak and Bubber said, there are much cheaper ways. I just use wet paper towels wrapped in parchment, inside the small plastic container that comes in some of the old GW boxed sets. That's what, two cents for the sheet of kitchen paper and parchment?

insaniak wrote:I just use a plastic container with a few sheets of folded damp paper towel with a sheet of baking paper on top. Cost about $3 to set up, and with the lid on paint stays wet for anything up to a few weeks.

Same here. Tupperware (or other generic brand) is just as good IMO.

I use wax paper on a kitchen sponge in an cleaned-up deli container. I've often wondered if the paper sold for wet palettes works any better, but I certainly see no good reason to spring for the whole kit.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather spend a whopping $20 versus rummaging around my kitchen for the supplies and then customizing them to fit my specific needs.

I suppose if you are absolutely strapped for cash that is fine, but $20 shouldn't be so outrageous to manage.

I use wax paper on a kitchen sponge in an cleaned-up deli container.

This exactly what I use.

I have some abaddon black for about two weeks on there still wet.

The only draw back to wax paper is after about two weeks moist, it will rip when remixing your colors.

But wax paper is 1$ so who cares.

Question is wax paper and parchment paper, and baking paper all the same?

Parchment paper is not wax paper. Not sure what baking paper is though.

according to Wiki, parchement paper is baking paper -
'Parchment paper and bakery release paper are cellulose-based papers that are used in baking as a disposable non-stick surface. Both are also called bakery paper.'
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parchment_paper_(baking))

I agree with Aerethan that I think I'd rather spend just a bit of money to get the wet pallette than making my own. One, I find it hard to find a container shallow enough that won't destroy my wrists when using it, and two, the overall thing with the parchment paper just doesn't feel as effective as the real one. Hence, I'm going to try the real one out and see how that differs from a home made one.

Besides, the price isn't that terrible for something that useful on saving paints and I don't see anyone here complaining about spending the amount of money that we do on the paints we get. I think the price comparison is about similar when comparing art store cheap paints to Vallejo/Reaper/GW paint.

A few hobby shops will sell these tear off palletes - Hobbycraft and Ken Bromley in the UK do them I think.

Like the others, If I need a wet pallette I use baking parchment and sponge in an old tub with a lid. I tend to just put a drop at a time in a standard plastic pallette most of the time though.

I've found the hard way that changing or washing the sponge if you are going to leave painting for a while is a good idea though as mold can form if you forget about it for more than a couple of weeks!

I have an old soap dish, some craft foam sheets and baking paper. It works a treat. Covered with cling film after a session and it will last quite a few days.

Now I think of it the craft foam (£1 for about 50 2mm A5 coloured sheets from Hobbycraft) may work as well on their own as they are rubberised. I'll give it a go.

I'm still not sure how getting someting from the kitchen and cutting it to size is a hassle?

notprop wrote:I have an old soap dish, some craft foam sheets and baking paper. It works a treat. Covered with cling film after a session and it will last quite a few days.

Now I think of it the craft foam (£1 for about 50 2mm A5 coloured sheets from Hobbycraft) may work as well on their own as they are rubberised. I'll give it a go.

I'm still not sure how getting someting from the kitchen and cutting it to size is a hassle?

Judging by the number of posts by people who have severely bloodied themselves with small craft knives I think the less time the average dakkite spends with a pair of scissors in his/her hands the longer they’ll live.

True, but I have invented in conjunction with Games Workshop: "HHHobby scissors" that make that a thing of the past. They're like normal scissors but with GW on the handle.

For only £45 (£105 if in Austrailia or Canadia) you can have these sent to you anywhere in the world.

Say good bye to minor wounds the GW way.....

That is the exact paint pallet I use and it's fantastic. You can even get replacement sponges for it as they do go bad after a while.
It's worth it at least I think so.