Wet Palette advice wanted

[lawnor 25939xp 0]

I’ve been painting for 7-ish years now.  When I started I heard about the wonder of wet palettes and how I should make my own, so I did, out of an old blister pack and some grease proof paper.  I worked with it for a month or two, didn’t really notice any advantage, but had a few instances where it went horribly wrong, so I gave up and went back to regular palettes again.

Anyway, skip forwards a few years and everyone is talking about the Redgrass one, and Army Painter have one dropping in December and I’m thinking I should give them another try, but remove my own design fallibility from the equation by buying a pre-made one.  The Redgrass one is expensive (I’ve seen the starter version.  No idea how long 15 papers will last, but if I’m going to have to pay postage and possible import duties I should maximise each order, especially with Brexit ruining everything.

So the question: If I’m buying and I live in the UK, taking cost and availability of refills in to account, which one should I buy, and where from?  Redgrass is pricey, but I’ve had some bad experiences with some Army Painter tools before.  They haven’t been built very well.  Perhaps I just got unlucky?  Has anyone got to test the AP one yet?  Is there another alternative I should consider?

[sundancer 42976xp 3]

I have used a DIY wet pallet for some time now. It’s an old plastic tub, 4 pieces of kitchen paper and on top is backing paper. It’s the same way as Darren Latham is describing here:

The only thing I had to learn was a) not thin paints as much because they tend to suck water from the pallet a bit and b) some paints tend to “break up” over night and need a good stirring the next day.

I haven’t had the chance to test the Redgrass one (mainly because it’s to pricey) but I will pick up the Army Painter one when it launches in December.

[chaoshead87 2443xp 1]

I use the Masterson sta-wet pallet, Have for many years, love it.  You can get it off of amazon for US$29 with a lot of extra paper and foam inserts to boot.

How fast you go through paper depends on how much you paint, how long you let it sit, how rough you are with it…lots of factors.

I will say that I have found that using parchment paper, probably what is known as grease proof paper in the UK, works better for me and is cheaper.

[Anonymous 0xp 1]

The best wet palette I have ever used, in terms of being air tight, is a Daler-Rowney Stay Wet Palette – the only problem with it is that it is rather big and square and takes up too much space for a messy person like myself.  The paper they sell is decent, but you aren’t really going to notice the difference over using baking paper from the supermarket.  The sponge is grand as well.

The Redgrass one I have isn’t that air-tight.  I don’t put the elastic band on it (not sure where it even is), maybe that would make a difference.  It is a nice size though, but again, you aren’t really going to notice the difference from a homemade one.  The main advantage is you don’t have to cut your own to size.

Really what you are paying for is a handy shaped/sized “air-tight” container.

 

[lawnor 25939xp 1]

The air tight factor is one of my concerns with the AP one.  I don’t have the best faith in their plastics production.  I’ve had two of their tape measures and both failed very quickly and with no good reason.  Meanwhile I’ve had others survive being abused in a tool box, dropped from heights etc and work fine for decades.

Size is also a concern as I paint at my computer desk and I do have a keyboard, paint racks, and other stuff everywhere.  There’s also a toddler with inquisitive hands I need to be wary of.

Is all baking paper the same? Is it treated the same on both sides, or would I have to buy the right stuff and be sure to put it the right way up?  I have vague memories of not being sure I was buying the right stuff last time.  Would this also work fine for refills for big name palettes?

[sundancer 42976xp 1]

Is all baking paper the same?

No, there is brown and white, cheap and expensive. I use the cheap brown stuff an it works just fine.

Is it treated the same on both sides, or would I have to buy the right stuff and be sure to put it the right way up? I have vague memories of not being sure I was buying the right stuff last time.

I don’t think the side matters. I have used both sides with same results.

Would this also work fine for refills for big name palettes?

I’d guess yes. But there is no telling if it works as good or better/worse than the originals it comes with.

 

[clansmen 3212xp 2]

i’m with you on wet palettes.  built my own and just fell out of using it.  so have been looking at premade options.

i know that there are stockists of the redgrass in the uk ( firestorm games are 1) so i’m tempted to get the starter kit as i know i can get stock from same place i get my paints and brushes ( like vallejo so can’t get from OTT 🙂 )   but i’m going to wait to see what the army painter one looks like and reviews before i decide which to get.   did look at the Masterson sta-wet palette didn’t seem much of a upgrade from what i made and cost not much less than the redgrass which look better .

[lawnor 25939xp 1]

I’m hoping someone out there has been given a review copy of the AP one and will speak up soon.

[sundancer 42976xp 1]

Wouldn’t hold my breath for it at 19,90€ 😉

[collins 16358xp 3]

I use the redgrass one and I haven’t had any problems with it. was much better than my home made attempt.

[guillotine 16039xp 2]

I have two Redgrass ones, the small and the big. They are excellent. The foam holds a lot of water, combined with the airtight cover the palette stays wet incredibly long. I was just traveling for two weeks, came back home, opened the palette and continued painting (I did have to add more paint, but not more water).

One sheet of the hydration paper lasts for me as long as I have space for my colours, I’ve probably gone close to two months on one sheet — and I paint a lot, usually on 4-5 days a week.

[lawnor 25939xp 0]

I am always confuded they call it “everlasting” but the papers run out and it comes with a spare foam for when that dies.  Not exactly everlasting.

[guillotine 16039xp 3]

Yeah. The original design for the Kickstart campaign was going to be “everlasting”. The foam and the hydration sheet was supposed to be one piece which you could wash and reuse. During the campaign they ran into production issues with this design and reverted to more traditional style wet palette, but kept the name.

[mattpbrownParticipant 1553xp 3]

I’ve had homemade ones, the privateer press one and the red grass one.

The privateer press version dried up pretty quickly but the redgrass palette is excellent. It stays wet and keeps my paints ‘active’ for as long as I need them. Like someone else said, the papers last for as long as you have room for paint 🙂

[lawnor 25939xp 3]

Thanks for the help, guys.  I’ve caved and ordered the Redgrass painter set.  It’s just enough to qualify for free delivery.  I was following an online painting lesson last night and if i want to survive the next class I really think I’m going to benefit from a wet palette so theres no waiting for the AP one, which I wasn’t too sure on anyway.

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