WET PALETTE

Wet Palette, a wet palette from Hobby Zone

A wet palette is an aid for painting, not a paint. It works on a simple principle: under the working layer there is a soaked pad from which moisture rises through a permeable paper into the acrylic laid on top. The paint therefore does not dry within a few minutes but stays fluid and mixable for a longer time. For a modeler that means less topping up, a steadier shade during the work and the chance to blend transitions smoothly right on the palette.

Use

• Painting figures, where you work with thinned acrylics and smooth transitions
• Mixing your own shades, which need to stay the same throughout the work
• Layering and glazing, where the paint has to stay workable for a long time
• Interrupted work, when you come back to a palette you have already set up

How to handle the palette

Saturate the pad with water, but pour off the excess, otherwise the paint runs on the paper and thins itself. Lay the paint down in small drops and mix it to one side of the working area, so that you do not clog the whole surface. Change the paper after the work, or at least rinse it, because once dry the pigment residues on it get released into the next shades. For a longer break the palette is kept closed and cool, which considerably delays the growth of mold. If the palette smells or spots appear on the paper, it is time to replace the consumables.

Who it is for

Figure painters and modelers who paint with a brush and mix their own shades will get the most out of it. The palette is built for water-thinnable paints, that is acrylics. It does not suit solvent-based enamels and varnishes, because their thinners will not be taken by the paper and the pad and the paint will not combine with water.

Paints, brushes and models are not included in the package. The consumable papers and the pad wear out with use; the manufacturer has a separate refill for them.