Looking for suggestions on a portable storage rack for paint. I currently have all my Citadel paints in a 3 drawer plastic bin thingie. The problem is a full drawer easily holds 30+ jars and the tops are all black. Looking for a jar of paint (I think I have) usually results in the last jar I pick up. I have an old dining room table I work on in the basement, but when I’m done I want to be able to clear off the table to use it for other things (thus the portability factor). I was thinking of something along the lines of a lazy susan, also referred to as a turntable cabinet organizer (by the PC folks). This way I could bring over all my paints to the table, spin the thing around looking for what I need and when I’m done, put everything away.
Besides a toolbox, plastic containers or building my own (as if…) what other options are there?
Deluxe Paint Caddy
How convenient—a storage box and work station all in one! Deluxe holds 96 2-oz. bottles. Deluxe’s hinged table-top design makes the caddy compact and easy to store, plus the handle slots on the sides make your caddy easy to move. Accessible from both sides too. Sturdy hardwood construction—paint it to suit your style. Paints not included. Deluxe-71/4x181/2”.
Dave, I have all of mine in an old kit box. I had the same problem as you with finding the color I was looking for so I went through and made labels and taped them to the lids. Works pretty good for me, I to have to move them constantly.
Why not store the paint bottles upside down so that you can see the color? This also extends shelf life as the paint solvent can’t evaporate out of the lid with the bottles upside down. At least that is what I have read. [;)]
i bought some 1x2’s and ripped them in half, and made shelves out of them,… i used thin paper baord for the backing, i will be installing it soon in my hobby room, i justb stained it …
Thanks for that link James. I haven’t been to that site for a long time. I love their stuff over there – the huge castles and fortresses, the keeps, the buildings, etc. [bow]
I was looking at the Paintier 80 Carousel Organizer that’s available. I think that would work, looks nice too. I just don’t want to spend that much though seeing as it’s more of a “convenience” item.
The label idea sounds good. Painting an X wouldn’t work-- if the X’s weren’t all the same, it would drive me nuts and I would feel compelled to redo them.
Ron, totally not an option. Carpentry and I just don’t belong in the same statement. [;)]
I am lucky quiet a few of the local Hobby shops at times tend to sell colour racks, i.e. the same ones as used in the shops (incl. labels).
I got myself 2 where each shelf/layer is a removable plastic tray, the racks sit on a shelf and I simply load up a tray with the currently used colours and carry it around.
This way when I am finished I simply slot the tray into the rack till next time.
I also store my paints in a three-drawer plastic thingie. I bought a package of self-stick labels & wrote the name of each color on them. They’re separated by nationality in the drawers, since I only build WW II aircraft. There’s a section for each country, a metallic section, and a common “generic” one. Works well for me.
Hope this helps.
Sometimes the obvious is the hardest to see. Thanks Pixilater.
I don’t know why I never thought of it as an option – buy another 3 drawer plastic thingie. The one I have now, for two of the shelves, I lined with foam and use it to store some miniatures. The third shelf, I managed to squeeze in 60 jars of paint which really makes it hard to move them around and look through. Then I have extras in another drawer (thanks to a 40% off sale [:)]) and Tamiya and Model Master scattered between a box and a drawer. So duh! I could buy another one, dedicated for paints, spread them out – separate metallic and inks into their own drawer and all will be well in the world. [:)]
The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of labeling. Once they’re labeled, next time I use the jar of paint I could always put a dot of paint on the label to help visualize what the color looks like.
Haha. [:D] I kind of like it. You just put all the grays in the same area, and the greens in another, etc. It is easy to find them although a label on the bottom would help find the specific color you need.
That last one is rather unique! and Cheap too…heres what I use for now as well as boxes…tackle boxes and shimano tackle trays!
I keep my most used/common colors here…quick swivel of the chair from the work bench and I have what I need. I also have about 75 of the old Pactra Acrylics(which are un-opened) stored in a decent cigar box…I also have a small roughneck tote under my work bench full of paint jars…as well as a small rubbermaid tool box
LOL David…well the Warrington FD Asst Chief lives right behind my house…but I do have a fire extinguisher in the room…close by just in case. Actually we have 1 in there 1 in the kitchen and 2 in the garage…I highly recomend at least one ABC rated one in the house especially with the upcoming holiday season and all those overstuffed electrical outlets and lights on the Christmas tree!
David,
i use the extra bits of label sheet from my CD label pages.
since i use mostly Tamiya paint, i just write the numbers on the label and cut out a square. i use the Tamiya code since it matches the directions of their kits.
i suppose if i put the name on (like i do w/ MM & Testors it would shorten the search.
but i have a drawer of Tamiya flat, a drawer of Tamiya gloss, and a drawer of the others.
in a cheap 3 drawer plastic organizer thing i got at Dollar General for about $5
(much cheaper than identical item at K-mart!)
i cut scrap cardboard to make dividers, and put the jars in numerical order.
i double or triple stacked the organizers by removing the top of all but the ‘top’ unit.
(it pops right off)
then the others snap on.
some drawers have tools, some airbrush nozzles, some sandpaper, some metal foil.
if the darn drawers were an inch deeper, i could put my styrene strip, rod & tube in too!
I use tackle boxes. I lay the paint on their sides in order. I can easily see the color and the label through the clear plastic at a glance. Enamel in one. Acrylic in the other. They fit fairly snug(I use testors and MM). I can simply turn the boxes periodically to keep it mixed even if I’m not working. The seal of the box lessens the evaporation still. Some of the bottles are from the original color set I got at seven and it’s as good as the newer bottles. I’ve never had a bottle go bad in 12 years. Spilled, yes. Cracked a bottle, yes. Went bad, no.
