Floral foam blocks. I use them to hold items to be painted. Items are attached to a tooth pick with a minuscule drop of superglue, then pushed into the block.
I use fidget poppers as a palette for mixing small amounts of paint.
When I’m finished, clean up is easy….allow the paint to dry, then just pop the bubble the other way. The paint will peel right off (water based, I haven’t tried enamel or lacquer yet). They are available in all kinds of colours, but I find the white or very light grey is best for mixing colours and having a good idea of the true colour in the popper.
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I use a scrap block of wood and an old coat hanger for a “hi-tech” airbrush holder.
I really should go out and get a proper one. But after nearly 40 years of use, I kinda like it. Maybe I should see if the LHS has an airbrush stand and give them some business.
I also have a broken piece of window jalousie that I use as a cutting board and CA glue palette.
Oh, and the “magic pot”, which is just an old Goodwill stew pot that I use for wet sanding. But recently it’s been used to carry my airbrush and paint stuff outside to the patio.
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I use different size sewing needles for CA glue applicators where needed for precision. The loop ends of the different sizes works great for holding the glue and they’re easy to clean the dried glue off with the back side of a hobby knife.
Do you have a link for it?
It is made for people who work on nails but works great for our needs. I love that it is cordless. I keep it under the desk until I need it and it is large enough for medium sized parts.
Thanks for the link. Built a home made one using a cookie tin, some used spray booth filter, and a small shop vac; unfortunately it is noise as can be. So would like to get something quieter.
Old toothbrushes. Good for using when removing paint, and for other cleaning tasks. And when dipped in a little paint, you can use the “spatter” technique for things like mud, oil, other kinds of schmutz on a vehicle or figure.
And related to toothbrushes, a previous owner of my house left a ceramic toothbrush caddy behind. Ceramic, about 5 inches high, with a couple of small holes and one large one in the top. That serves to hold some brushes on my bench.
I have a couple of those round tins from those Danish butter cookies, and I used those tins to store paint jars, till I got more than I could store in them and got a big toolbox.
If you have access to a costco they usually have square ones around holiday time.
I’ve learned to use diapers and just water to clean finger prints off of vitrines from when I used to work at a museum. I also shop the the aisle with nail polishing sticks, eye shadow brushes, and makeup sponges.
This one is fairly quiet, especially if you dial the speed down a bit.
Idk how unusual it is but I save my containers that my daily contact lenses come in. Mix paint in them, super glue, etc. I use masking tape a lot as well, stick it to my table and put putty or glue on it and what ever is left I just peel the tape up and toss it. I save my paint jars, I use the Tamiya x20 jug for storing my brushes in upright.