Ian at The Dice Forge super kindly sent me out one of their Paint Forge Pro Set’s to put it through it’s paces and thrash it with some hardcore painting. It’s been about 4 weeks and has seen about 300 models pass through it, so let me tell you how it’s held up, and why you should absolutely give it a looksy!
Designed and produced entirely by Ian at Dice Forge, this has been incredibly well thought through and designed with the aim of having a compact and collapsable painting station that you can take it with you wherever you go, or if you have a temporary hobby space that you need to pack away once you’re done. Comprising of 22 components in total, including:
2× 8 brush holders, that keep your brushes safe and secure, plus a more ‘loose’ sleeve for a larger brush or two (think drybrushes).
4 Paint holders (Between 15-20 paint slots) that can vary dependant on what you brand you want to transport. The ones I’ve got carry my Pro Acryl, Citadel, Army Painter etc. So a nice spread.
Water Pot to wash your brushes in.
Several thin trays that are good to hold your clippers, files, scrapers and hobby accessories.
3 ‘dry’ palettes for mixing and thinning your paints.
A wet palette complete with sponge and papers.
The lid that keeps your wet palette secure doubles up as a drybrush texture palette.
The larger box compartments then double up as ‘active’ hobby storage or model trays that can also be great for keeping models safe if you’re a clumsy sod like I am.
All of this tidies away in to 9” x 7” x 6” box, in very fashionable matt black and orange. The top lid with the (if I do say myself) Unrelenting Hobby brand on it can be customized by yourself, if Ian can sort it for you, at an additional cost. A nice touch for the painters out there!
The entire product (bar the sponge and paper for the wet palette) are FDM 3D printed. Extremeley sturdy and it can take a good knock (I’ve accidentally dropped it twice with no breaks or blemishes to be seen), and it’s 00.1mm precision in it’s design to tidy it all away means everything inside will be safe and secure.
With all those details out, lets go over what works with the setup, and what in my opinion could do with looking at.
Pros:
Extraordinarily satisfying to work with in terms of assembling and disassembling, a very professionally executed setup!
Most projects I paint average between 15-20 paints. This having the capacity for that amount (Paint size depending) is superb for me and more than enough for any hobbyist on the go.
It comes with a tidy velcro strap the ensures it all stays together in transit and to help carry the whole lot in hand
The water pot is tall but thin, and this at first was a bit of a put off for me. But after using it, it’s made me realise there’s no need for us to be using huge jars/cups/pots when this is ideal, and great for desk real estate.
It’s a very jack-of-all-trades bit of kit. There’s something in here that almost any hobbyist will use and appreciate. One stop shop is the best term I can think to describe it!
The tray that the plastic palettes come in, once out, makes a great phone holder, for the videos you watch while painting!
Cons:
The main thing about this product is, there’s almost too much stuff! It can very quickly take over your desk once you’ve got everything out and for many of us, this working space is precious. There’s nothing stopping you from using select components to suit your individual needs and space but I am a messy bugger, and it’s something I always am aware of when it comes to a tidy desk.
The wet palette comes with a sponge and some paper which is a lovely touch. The sponge is grand but the paper seems very thick and doesn’t maintain moisture. I let Ian know about this and he was already aware and has already sourced a better replacement, top notch!
This is kind of a cheeky bit of criticism, but there’s no where to store models alongside everything to build/paint them. If there was another compartment to keep even just a small handful of models, then you have everything you need in a safe compact package that you can take with you anywhere and hobby delightfully, where as now it’s the Paint Forge Pro, and a case of models. Again, this is not an issue of the Paint Forge Pro, just an idea! But Ian has some excited bits in the works that could work amazingly with this… More to come!
The only other constructive recommendation I made was designing the water pot to have ribs/texture on the inside walls to help with brush cleaning. I mentioned this to Ian and he’s keen on this suggestion and will be looking in to this asap!
Retailing for for £69.99 directly from Dice Forge, the price does seem on the higher end when we think of hobby accessories. But the cost does cover an very strong, well designed and genuinely effective and efficient setup that works great for any hobbyist, and being able to organise everything in to a tidy box at the end of your session is worth it’s weight in peace of mind.
You have your chance to win your own Paint Forge Pro! Head over to the Dice Forge Instagram (click the image above) and enter their competition for your chance to win your own! Huge thanks to Ian for letting me collaberate with him for the launch of this wicked little box. I look forward to seeing others thoughts on this once it’s out in the wild.
You can see the absurd amount of hobby going on with me atm by heading to my Instagram, Facebook and Youtube! Where you’ll see my Paint Forge setup in full swing.
Peace!
Chris
