Storage of paint, glue, supplies - And being able to find it again!!

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Building Materials & Supplies
1

I’m an ocassasional “born again” modeler. I do a few models a year mainly as a winter hobby. In doing so, I must have many 100’s of paints (acylics, enamels, primers, spray, thinners, reducers, clear coats,etc). Add to that, many many glues, cements, epoxies, CA glues, putty, etc. And for each model I build, I add to my inventory of additional paints and products.

How the hell do you scale model enthuiasts store all your supplies in as small a footprint as possible and more importantly be able to find it again? Those little bottles of Testors don’t show the color except on the face of the bottle. I’m really curious how you all organize your supplies efficiently? Is it more efficient to simply toss paints you may never use again?

2

I store paint (primarily tins of Humbrol) in lasagna pans. The pans stack in a drawer in a standard filing cabinet. My workbench is a desk of sorts, made from an interior door spanning two three-drawer filing cabinets. The top drawer of each is a small drawer about 2 inches deep. In each of those is a kitchen drawer organizer of the kind used for holding tableware. I store miscellaneous tools in those.

There are all kinds of bench-top organizers on the market now especially designed for modelers. They’re made from thin plywood, and the parts are laser cut and easily assembled. You can buy modules of various sizes and configurations and create a custom organizer to fit your individual workspace. Here is one source, although there are others:

https://www.hobbyzone.biz/

(Note: I have no affiliation with the above vendor.)

3

I have 2 storage units one is a carosel that I bought from Micro Mark. I now use it to store my enamels

The other one I have mounted on the wall was a inexpensive display case for nail polish that I got from Amazon. I use it for my Acrylics. I think the wall mount saves a lot of space and makes it easy to find what you are looking for.

Another tip is to put a “dot” of paint on the top if the top is not colored to help identify the color faster.

4

For storage, my choice is a neat little 5-drawer unit available from office supply places and home centers; the one shown below (only about 28 inches tall, for scale) is from Staples, about 35 bucks. (There are also smaller 3-drawer desk- or bench-top versions available.)

https://www.staples.com/IRIS-Plastic-5-Drawer-Organizer-Black-and-Clear-116865/product_571771?ci_sku=571771&KPID=571771&cid=PS:GS:SBD:PLA:OS&gclid=Cj0KCQiAraSPBhDuARIsAM3Js4qVcTm6gRBawrQaWNz1z8dJ1Mqxv1N3M6YSwIIXwF-fGIrXxBqxQgEaAmelEALw_wcB

I cut down the bottoms of cereal or other boxes to use as organizer ‘trays’ in the drawers; depending on number and size of your paint jars and your preferred organizational scheme, you can ‘fiddle’ till it suits you…but the cardboard ‘trays’ make it easier to remove or rearrange bottles should it become necessary. [Y]

Like rob44, for those paint brands (like the old Testors ‘square bottle’ enamels) without colored caps, I just dab a bit of paint on the lid when I get the bottle…saves bootloads of time trying to pull bottles and read tiny labels (with ageing eyes [;)]), when I can just spot it with a quick glance, even if it should get put back ‘out of order.’

For the bench top itself, my most oft-used tools are in a rotating lazy-Susan-type carousel organizer, the same type used for pens & office supplies. Paint brushes, craft knives and such fit neatly in the pen holes, with larger-handled or bulkier items going in the center ‘well.’ Smaller glue and solvent containers fit in the outer tray areas. Keeps things easy to spot and very accessible.

Cheers

5

Thanks for all the suggestions. I picked up one of these. I think it’ll work out well. Lots of storage in a small footprint.

6

I’ve been modeling for over seventy years, and haven’t found the ideal solution. It is getting really bad these days with so many brands and so many colors in each brand.

7

I use a similar storage cabinet, a 3-drawer unit on casters, from Sterlite:

I still had the issue of being able to tell what color some bottles or jars of paint are.

As was mentioned above, I do mark my Testor enamels with a dot of the color. But I only have about 20 bottles, in a small range of colors. That includes “active” bottles, currently in use, and their backup supplies.

For small round jars, like Tamiya, the old Model Master paints, and Lifecolor, I use small gummed labels or price tags, and I write the designations on those. Whether in a drawer in the Sterlite cabinet or in the bottom of my tool box, I can tell right away what each one is:

For eyedropper bottles, like Andrea or Vallejo paints, or the craft store paints, I need to see the labels. Eyedropper bottles have tops that are too small for drops of paint to help, especially with colors in a range, like flesh colors, shades red or brown, etc. And the craft store paints have colored labels on top of their caps, but again, some are so close to one another, that I really need to read the lablels.

So I made a little rack out of scrap luan plywood, to hold the bottles at about a 45-degree angle. That way, I could read the label when reaching for the paints. Here’s a photo:

By happy accident, when I got a large toolbox to take my gear to club meetings or modeling meetups, the rack fit in the bottom of the toolbox:

8

If you are going to work little, for example, 1 or 2 times a month, you can consider preparing your work table with some wooden paint racks. The paint racks will allow you to have everything organized and most importantly, not to lose anything.

If you are going to work very little, for example, 1 or 2 times every 3 months, I recommend you to keep your paints in a Paint Carry Case where you will basically keep all your paints.