Review of the P3 Wet Palette
Being newer to the hobby, I am always looking for new techniques and products to help speed the painting process and help me save time and money. P3’s Wet Palette looked like it would do both. It retails for $20.00 and was suggested to me by Matthew at Games and Stuff as a good tool for hobbiest.
It does a great job of keeping the paint damp, and extending the drying time, but it does not hit the mark for a couple of the critical points.
- For long term painting I find that the paper ends up curling in the corners as the paper dries unevenly and ends up mixing the paint, which is a major failing in my book.
- Storage, again, since the paper is not secure, a little vibration (for example the drive back from my local game store) the paint runs everywhere. Just from carrying it out of the game store into my car, then into the house, I had paint on the top of the palette.
Overall I would rate it as an average product (2), great if you’re at home, but less effective if you’re traveling.
However, for less then an additional $2.00 you can turn this into a great product!
Looking inside it under the foam there are 6 mold marks, and my mind immediately went to my favorite tool, magnets!
Using six 1/4" Disks on the bottom and six 3/8th" rectangles I was able to total fix the curling issue, and turned it into a product I am growing to love.
Step 1
Glue 6 of the 1/4" Disks to the mold marks on the bottom of the wet palette
Step 2
Place the paper down and test the magnets. Using the 3/8th" rectangles make sure the bond is strong but not so strong it’s pulling the paper down into the foam, which would cause pooling paint.
Step 3
Wet the whole thing, test it and you’re done!!
If in the end you find your paper is still curling (basically the curl factor is stronger then the magnet bonds) just double the number of disk magnets below the foam, and glue a second magnet on top of the ones already mounted. That will greatly increase the strength of the pull between the disks and the rectangles.
~Dameon
