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I recently got back into the hobby, but mainly the painting aspect of it.
Since I am a college student, I spend roughly 3 hours on the train every day to get to my campus and back.
During this time I can't get any real work done, but 1.5 hours is plenty of time to paint!

My problem is however, I would have to bring some wip models, the required paints (let's say 10 or so but probably less), brushes and a way to wash them.
I'm having trouble thinking of ways I could accomplish this on the go. I know there's the Citadel Project Box, but I honestly think it's a waste of money considering the cost
and the fact that it's still way too big to carry with me (seeing how it's too large to properly fit in any bag).

Anybody have any experience making the needed things for the hobby compact enough to have them on the road? Any advice welcome!

I wouldn't try painting on a train. I tried to do simple pencil sketches on a train once and it was a waste of time. If you want to use it for hobby time, get some BL Novels or other gaming literature and soak that in. Can get all sorts of inspiration

A small tackle or Plano box for storing paints would work wonders.

Consider getting/making a wet palette too; preloading the wet palette with the colors you would need before your journey means you don't have to carry around all the paints you'd need, and they'll stay moist and workable throughout the day. The only downside to a wet-palette is that you have to store it flat, otherwise the water will leak out and/or the paints will just slide around the palette and make a mess. But if you have a backpack, just put it flat on the bottom or something and you should be good to go (just don't top the backpack!)

Brushes with caps can be stored in a pencil-case, and a mason-jar with a lid makes for a great water pot that you can seal up when you're done.

As for carrying your models, there's a variety of ways to do this. Realistically, just a small carry case or box with foam inside would do the trick, although bigger models might require alternative methods.

Chessex makes a great range of small miniature boxes that are very portable and can be tucked into a backpack without taking up too much space either.

Yeah, you might be able to get away with base-coating large areas if you don't mind going back and correcting your mistakes later, but if you can do anything more than that on a jolting train then you're a better painter than me.

As for actually answering your question... A small toolbox with a carry handle - e.g. something like this:
https://www.diy.com/departments/12-5-toolbox/1518915_BQ.prd

Fill with paints, models, brushes as required; some paper towels and a jar of water with a lid.

EDIT: Sorry, got interrupted and grabbed the wrong link. Regardless, any portable paint station that is going to carry enough paints, etc. to make it worthwhile is going to be roughly the same size as the Citadel Project Box (i.e., roughly the size of a briefcase).

 Ghaz wrote:

The user already addressed this in his original post, if you've read it?