Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Review of the P3 Wet Palette




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.



  1.  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.
  2. 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

12 comments:

  1. Okay, now THAT is a great little tip. I've been using a slapdash homemade palette for a while, but might pick one of these up just for this. It's an elegant solution.

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  2. Thanks!! I am a very very slow painter, and this is turning into a lifesaver for me, both in paint costs and just time spent dipping from the bottle

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  3. I've been looking for something like this for a while. Based on your recommendation, I just ordered one. :)

    So... here's my silly question: Does it come with instructions?

    -Reece

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  4. It does come with instructions, which are pretty good.

    The only comment I have over and above what they list is to add additional water to the palette every so often if your enviroment is "dry" (as many are in the winter). I just use a dropper bottle to add some clean water to the sides of the foam and it works pretty well.

    For $12 - $20 it does a decient job!

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  5. Got it. Thanks. Right now, I'm in Western Turkey on the Aegean Cost. It's not too dry here, but it probably doesn't hurt to add some anyway.

    Thanks again.

    -Reece

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  6. I use another brand of wet palette, and I think it's in the paper... I have no problem with it curling at all or paint mixing (I drive from seattle to portland often). Though I love wet palettes they're awesome :)

    The brand is Masterson's and it's usually $10-$15...

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  7. I use the same wet pallet at NC and i don't have any problems with curling. Also the times i've found my wet pallet paper to curl is when the paper or pad isn't moist enough.
    Make sure you soak your paper in warm-hot water for a few minutes before adding it to your wet pallet. I like my paper to be semi translucent. (although some brands don't do that)
    I also make a mess of my wet pallet and change paper out often as well as clean the sponge out often.

    http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_product.cfm?item=41057

    http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_product.cfm?item=41056

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  8. One other quick tip. If you are not going to be using your wet pallet for a while, but still want the paint to keep, try sticking it in the fridge.

    While this may cause some funny things (slight discoloration of some pigments) it keeps the paint for much longer than normal.

    As always your mileage may vary.

    Good luck,
    Happy Painting

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  9. I bought one of these from Mind Games in Melbourne, Australia, its around $30AUD I believe, and in all honesty, its brilliant. I went pallette hunting and there was a choice between either the P3 Wet Pallette or the Third-of-the-cost GW pallette, but this one is A)Bigger and B)Better

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  10. Picked on up yesterday after talking to Matt on Friday :)
    His tip about putting a layer of paper towel between the sponge and paper is probably what sold me. That really seems to stick the paper down nicely and so far so good. Also the directions say to put the paper down one side, then flip it over which creates a curl in the paper, then counteracts it. So far I've not seen it curl back the other way.

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  11. Another little tip, if you rinse the vellum (sp?) off with a little dish or hand soup (takes about 30 seconds) 95% of the paint will come right off, and allows you to reuse the paper.. being a bit frugal I am finding it makes it even a bigger bargin.

    I tried what the directions listed to counter curl and I ran into problems after a moderate amount of use (couple hours of painting) which is why I went the magnet route.

    I have been using the paper towel method reciently as well (also suggested by Matthew) and it's working great! One of the guys is using a microfiber cloth vs the foam and he swears by it.

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