New portable painting kit WIP (many pics follow)

[Bedwyr]

So I'd like to put together a little portable tool I can use to take painting equipment around and work on minis. I got inspired when I saw a few kits people put together and thought I'd experiment.

Current supplies:
- A Reaper paint kit
- Army Painter wet palette
- Brush tube
- Pluck foam
- Foam core sheet
- Small magnets
- Clear tape (maybe)
- Hot glue


So this is the Reaper kit. When it came, the bottle tray was loose. I have it held down temporarily by a bunch of sticky tack. I'm probably going to get it down permanently with hot glue; I don't think I'll need to remove it for anything as I can always store flat stuff in the lid.

Likely what I'm going to do is store basics like water cup, brushes, and brush soap on the top third of the tray.




Like so. I can put sheets of what-have-you underneath the foam insert here.




Serendipity: The Army Painter palette bottom fits very well into the top lid of the case.




So I'm thinking of cutting out part of the case lid and using a couple elastic straps to hold the palette against the case.




I like the palette itself. It's functional and small. It's not air-tight or water-tight, though. So overnight the blotting paper dried out a fair bit even as the sponge was moist. I pressed down and got enough moisture to re-wet the surface. I probably would like to fix this as I'd like to take the palette and transport it sideways sometimes.




I'm thinking a small bead of Sugru all around the edge of the red lid here. With the elastic band as tension, that might get a better seal if I'm careful to spread the Sugru carefully and evenly on the lid indent.




The red lid has space to put brushes and such, but I can't really use it as the Army Painter brush handles are triangular and wider than my own brushes. Possibly Sugru again could help here? We shall see.

[Daryk]

Best of luck with the project! 

[Bedwyr]

Here's the new water seal I shaped using sugru on the red lid:

[Daryk]

How's it working?

[Bedwyr]

How's it working?

We shall see. I only applied the glue a few hours ago so I'll try testing it tomorrow. In the meantime, I need to make a mini storage box for that center cutout. I was going to make it out of foamcore, but I'm having second thoughts as foamcore thickness might remove a lot of usable space. So maybe make it out of matboard. Idea: close the box using an adhesive and clear tape and make a lid that closes using small magnets of the sort we use on Mech minis.

[Daryk]

Any thought of being able to move works in progress?  Or will you only transport dry minis?

[Bedwyr]

Any thought of being able to move works in progress?  Or will you only transport dry minis?

Only "dry" minis. But I matte varnish so frequently it's kind of a distinction without a difference?

[Daryk]

All good... definitely simplifies transport! 

[Bedwyr]

I got some new components for my kit. I'm planning on laying things out this way:



I'm also thinking of 3D printing some kind of insert that will accommodate these bits and hold them in place at the same time.

If I can somehow cram it in, I'd like to see if a portable LED lamp will fit:

[Daryk]

The cord looks like the biggest challenge there...

[Bedwyr]

The cord looks like the biggest challenge there...

We'll see. It's an iPhone style USB charger, so the cord and small adapter can fit in pretty much anywhere.

[Bedwyr]

WIP update. I'm almost 85-90% done. Pics:


I now have the wet palette strapped down well enough to carry:






The interior:


In the top lid I have spare wet palette sheets, cutting mat, mini q-tips, decals, and grass tufts.

In the top base I have a brush case containing:
Several brushes, shaper, scraper, pin vise, files, small pipette, glue brush, dry brush (makeup brush), and some dental tools.

Next to the brush case are: water jar, CA glue, handle, and clay (for making bases).

In the recess at the bottom I have: brush soap, static grass, 2 kinds of ballast, decal set.

In the paint bottle areas I have: mostly Vallejo Game Color, a couple primers, and brush-on matte varnish

And I still have enough for some minis I could maybe wrap in foam or paper. Or possibly make a small flat box for them. I tried to fit my portable LED lamp there, but I just couldn't make it fit. Almost. If it weren't for the cutting mat in the lid...

[Daryk]

Looking good! 

Maybe find a smaller LED lamp?

[Bedwyr]

Looking good! 

Maybe find a smaller LED lamp?

I've looked and I can find flatter but too long. This thing is too tall by about 0.25" but perfect every other direction.

[Daryk]

Bummer!  SOOOO close! 

[Bedwyr]

Bummer!  SOOOO close! 

And I found one just a hair taller with a magnifier but it turned out to be really crappy. One of the AA batteries won't fit.

[Daryk]

That's just wrong... how on earth can they sell something the batteries won't fit into!? 

[Bedwyr]

That's just wrong... how on earth can they sell something the batteries won't fit into!? 

Cheap junk from Ali Baba most likely. What's weird is that the metal contact strip and the bump isn't wrong. It's the design of the plastic case itself.

I actually found a way to cram the light in, though. Just move the cutting mat to the outside webbing underneath the wet palette and there's enough give in the foam to barely close the lid. However, I'm rethinking the light anyhow. A reading light with a clip might fold into place with room to spare (don't know about brightness) and a head-lamp like you'd use hiking. That might bounce around too much, but it's a thought.

[Daryk]

THAT should be a crime against humanity! 

Sounds like you found a work around (or two), though!