Review: HobbyZone Painting Station

 I've been in the market for a painting station for a while. I don't have a permanent painting area, usually when I paint, I'm on my sofa with my minis and paints on a lap desk. Useful enough to get the job done, but not terribly practical. There's no where to keep my brushes from rolling away, or to keep my paint cup from sliding around.

 I don't like GW's current plastic one (even at half price, I wouldn't buy it) and haven't seen much I'm fond of. The old one that GW used to make- out of particle board I believe- I really do like. Hubs has one, and uses it constantly. After some internet searching, I found some from HobbyZone that I liked which is similar, but with them being in Poland, I was a little hesitant to purchase something I couldn't see and touch.

Hesitation- totally unfounded.

 But a Twitter pal recently took the plunge and was so pleased with his that I had no excuse (he blogged about it, too). I ordered the small one, as I didn't want something very large. Space is, as always, a concern. For $20, the one I picked up was very reasonably priced, although the shipping was a bit steep ($17). It only took 9 days to arrive, so I can't be too upset about the shipping charges.

You can choose between two bottle sizes, I opted for the 35 mm size since I use mostly Citadel paints. You can see in the photo that my Citadel paint cup fits into the station. But this is a bit of a lie. As ordered, the paint cup does not fit. When I opened the package, I was incredibly disappointed to find that out. It was close, though, so I took it to my parent's and used my father's woodworking tools to make the hole larger (about 5/16th of an inch larger) and shave down the flare at the bottom of the cup before I assembled the station. After some fiddling, it fit.

Other than my paint cup not fitting, I'm pretty pleased with this station. It went together quickly and easily with just a little wood glue, no adjustments necessary. It's sturdy, too, even when it's filled with paint pots. I built it Saturday afternoon and was using it on Sunday. It fits plenty of paint and brushes and has a few oblong holes for your knives and clippers.

I am very happy it arrived when it did, because we already had the trip up to my parent's house planned and the weather was perfect for some outdoor painting. I live in a bit of a hobbit-hole (in that I'm underground) so I like taking advantage of their patio.

Overall, I certainly recommend picking up one of these HobbyZone painting stations if you're looking for one. It's a very fair price for a good quality product.