Držák barvy Tamiya

Order above the bench

Anyone who builds regularly knows that a worse enemy than a shortage of paints is the mess around the mat. Bottles get mixed in among the tools, hunting for a particular shade holds you up, and one tipped-over bottle can ruin the result of a whole evening. This small accessory is made on a three-dimensional printer and addresses exactly that situation: the paints stand in their place, within reach of your hand and off the surface you are working on.

What it is built for

The cradle matches the shape of the bottles of the Japanese brand Tamiya, that is, low bottles with a square cross-section and a screw cap. The mounting is designed for a perforated hanging board of the kind workshops and modeling corners are commonly fitted with, so the part hangs vertically above the bench and does not take up a single centimeter of working surface. Anyone who mixes shades in the bottle itself will appreciate that the bottles do not have to be moved from a box to the bench and back every time you reach for one; that also shortens the time the paint spends open and needlessly thickening.

What to expect from it

You get a permanent place for the shades you reach for most often. Several pieces side by side form a continuous row, so the arrangement can be extended step by step as the palette grows. Turn the bottles with their labels toward you and the choice is then made without lifting them and puzzling over caps. The printed plastic stands up to being wiped with a cloth dampened in water, but aggressive thinners do not belong on it, because they dull the surface and can attack the layers of the print. Wipe spilled paint away at once, as dried acrylic is far harder to get out of the grooves.