Product Review: Ironheart Artisans Paint Brush Rack

As some of you know I have friends all over the country, and recently one of my friends from MD, Dameon, asked if I wanted a Brush rack that he had one of his friends (Alex from Ironheart Artisans) to make. After looking how sad my Coffee Mug full of brushes looked I gladly said yes.

Not knowing exactly what to expect I soon got a package in the mail....That package that had 5 MDF laser cut parts in it that was SO WONDERFUL smelling It took me back in time to when I could smell wood burning stoves and fireplaces. Being in South East Alabama now I dont get the opportunity to smell those anymore. Anyway I quickly assembled the brush rack (5 mins tops) and started putting it to use. When I had finished and saw how awesome this thing was I asked myself... "this thing is ONLY $10??". Its an amazing deal.

The Following pictures were taken from Ironheart Artisans WEBSITE and are used without their knowledge or permission:

My rack was a "MK1" test model so mine looked a bit different:

SO I needed to make mine a little more..... "Munkey". So I started up and set out to make it Hot rod!!! I got busy with the Airbrush and made some cool effects and then went to my Vinyl Plotter and whipped up some custom Flaming dice Stencils and airbrushed them to a piece of black poster board that I then  glued to the supports. Here is what it looked like when I was done:

Yea... Something I was happy to put my brushes on!!! Anyway Back to the review, Here is the cut and dry of it...

Pros:

1. Price- At $10 you almost cant go wrong. Its a great deal.
2. Design- its made to be easily loaded and unloaded and there is room on the "hooks" for multiple brushes OR for bigger brushes like terrain brushes or the like.
3. Assembly- Its 5 parts and almost go together by themselves.... Easy to put together!!
4. Sturdiness- Its Laser cut MDF and its built to last a while. I did put 6 drops of superglue on mine to lock the joins but they may not be needed.
5. Smell- Laser cut MDF smells GREAT to me as I like the smell of a campfire and the great outdoors. This pleased me almost more than anything else...

Cons:

Long term storage- Someone mentioned that storing brushes horizontal for extended periods of time will cause the bristles to "bend"... While I don't know about this I will list it as a "con" because it was something someone on the internet wasn't happy with... and I needed ONE THING in the con section. ;) if you put your sheaths back on your brushes and actually use brush soap with them and take care of your brushes it should not be a problem

Overall I Love this holder and plan to purchase 2-3 more for other brushes I have I need to put up. Its a home run in my opinion and I am happy I got one. Its a great product and its easy on the wallet to boot.

Till next time 

Munkey!!

PS here are 2 more reviews from some of my buddies who recieved this product. check them out too if your not sold on what Im saying!!

My buddy Dameon who sent me mine- Khepri's Eternal Legion Blog

And my buddy Larry who had a good idea for an Alt use!! Djinn24 Youtube

Quicky paint panel, for holding your paints

OK Everyone!! I have been fighting with my paints since moving into my smaller Apartment. I like to have my paint where I can see them and have easy access. I made this simple paint panel to hold my paints out of the way and where I can see them. Here is how you can make one yourself if you wish and for less than $20.

$20 Paint Panel

First thing you will need are your supplies. For this project everything was purchased from my local Home Depot (They offer a 10% Military discount for me!!) and everything is Super easy to come by. So on to the list!!

Luan Panel, Hobby Panel. 

This can really be ANY type of paneling, I just used Luan because it was the cheapest. its NOT known for its great durability Nor its finish BUT its Light and cheap and will not be a problem for this project. I think I paid $8 for this piece and Its 2X4 foot. I cut it down with my Heavy Hobby knife (see heavy duty utility knife ALSO from Home depot) and then sanded down the rough edge with a block sander. I now have a 2X3 foot piece to work with and a 2X1 piece to use as a base for kick butt terrain project.

"J" Channel

"J" Channel can be either Vinyl or Aluminum and can be found in the siding department. Its made to form some sort of soffet or barrier around your home but for this it will form shelves. I purchased Aluminum because it was there and it was wide enought to hold my paints. this is VERY important to get a "J" deep enough to hold your paints, so do like I did and bring a bottle with you to test. Mine is about an Inch deep and accommodates 99%  of my paint. Mine also came in 10 foot length and I bought 2 of them at about $5-6 each. 

Stapler

This is a run of the mill electric stapler I have at the house. nothing fancy. This is used to attach your channel to your panel. You also can use screws, nails, Brads or even some sort of glue in a pinch. Whatever you feel will hold the channel with paint on it to the board. 

Assembly....

OK well easy is the key word here. I started at the bottom and placed my first piece to the board. I measured the shelf and cut it to fit on the board. As stated My sticks were 10 foot long so I had enought to make 3 shelves with a foot left over to form a "topper Shalf". I dropped the first shelf down to where it would be "hanging off" with only enough on the board to attach it to give me more shelf space. Once in place I stapled it to the panel. I then measured with a paint bottle the height I would need and placed my second shelf and stapled it into place. Follow on with the rest of the shelves ensuring you leave enough space to for your paints to stand up between shelves. And your really done at this point. All you need to do is screw it to the wall. I used Drywall anchors to do this and its very sturdy and secure.

Perfect?? No. I need some way to keep the paints from falling off of the ends as they are open. Also Since I used Aluminum I will need to be careful as it has sharp edges. Other than that I really am fairly happy with it and for the price, Im Very happy with it.

And there you go... a $20 paint shelf and it took me about 20 Mins to build. I hope someone can use this to build there own and improve upon the design.

Till next time, Serve the Emperor well.......

Munkey!

SO New paints Huh?? what you puttin them in??

Well with the NEW Citadel Paints (My review will be Monday afternoon), We come to the point now where we have HUGE amounts of stuff on our desks.... What to do?? Well ORGANIZE!!!

Aaron Cains  From Back2base-ix.com Has developed a cool stand for your tools and paints. Back2Base-IX is an Australian company and ships all over the world. Heres is the Newsletter Blurb on it.

It's all about work bench storage area at the moment. Whether you spend a little or a lot of time at your hobby desk, its always a good idea to keep things within easy reach, in a place you know it will always be when you need it, No matter if its paint, your trust hobby knife, your green stuff and sculpting tools, or even your rinse cup and hobby scenics.

So we've kicked things into overdrive here at B2B and have started producing a storage rack system that is not only a great way to keep organised, but then gives you your work space back, eliminating any clutter.

But that's only the beginning. The entire system has been designed so that it is modular, rare earth magnets holding one unit to the next. So if it's paints you want to store, or all your favorite tools, they can sit alongside each other right alongside your work space.

And yet there is still more choice... Colour. That's right, choose your colours. Custom pick your colours from our extensive range of acrylics to create a storage system that reflects your own personal style. Whether its minimalist black and clear, to bold green and yellow, the choice is yours, your own storage system to suit you.

But wait, you prefer MDF (Medium Density Fiber Board)? Not a problem. The entire range will also be available in this durable and less expensive material.

So we hope this new range of products gets you inspired to build and paint your models just like its helped inspire us to start creating the next piece to add to the range. Stay tuned...

I have been a long time customer and they always have good quality products.  You can also check out their FACEBOOK PAGE and get up to date with the current products.

And heres some pics