Hi everyone!
This review is sponsored by Scenery Workshop.
The past few weeks I was able to test the new Painter Grip from HobbyZone. This device is intended to by used as a holder during painting. In this post, I will tell you all about my experiences 🙂
First impressions:
What I really liked about the painter grip is that it comes pre-assembled. Although this is usually the case for holders, HobbyZone is known for producing some (excellent) storage systems that require a lot of assembly. Therefore, I had expected this would be the case for the holder as well, but everything is set to go after taking it out the box. The painter grip comes in two pieces: the grip and a stand for the grip. You can place the grip in the stand in two ways: straight and slightly slanted. The fit is quite tight to place it straight, so I preferred placing it slanted. The holder cannot stand up without the stand.
One thing I noticed immediately is that the grip is quite heavy. OK, perhaps heavy is not the correct word, as it only ways 120 grams, but it is significantly (3 times) heavier than the grips I have used so far. It’s also a lot bigger. For women’s standards, I do not have particularly small hands, but I did find that the holder is almost too big for me to hold comfortably. If you have very small hands, I could imagine that this holder is not for you.
What I liked:
The leather padding on the grip is very comfortable. Placing your wrist on the pad gives extra support and makes it easier to keep your hands steady. This kind of replaces the bar grip that is seen on other holders. I think the leather also looks pretty.
It is very easy to place the holder in the stand while you take a little break and it stands very solid. In the beginning, I really had to get used to the non-round shape of the holder, as turning the mini is a bit less smooth as it is with a round holder. However, you get used to it fast and the grip really lies well in your hand.
What I disliked:
I found it comfortable to hold the grip, but one thing I noticed is that I prefer to keep my fingers quite close to the tip of the brush and to the miniature. Even though I did not really experience problems during painting, I did sometimes paused my painting session to find out that the holder had strongly dented the skin on my fingers. This was mainly caused by the round emblem used to screw the mini in its place.
The holder is perfect for pinned miniatures, but sometimes you would prefer to paint a mini on its base instead. For this, there is very little room to secure the mini with blue tac for example. Of course, you could still pin the base to the holder…
One minor personal thing is that I cannot place the holder in my tiny display cabinet. It is simply too high for that. It’s a pity, but most people will not have this issue.
Overall:
This is a very nice product from HobbyZone. The fact that this grip is easily available, and that it comes in sturdy material certainly helps it to stand out. For smaller miniatures or gaming minis I do not think that this would be my first choice, as the holder is quite hefty in my opinion. This maybe different if you have large hands yourself. However, for larger miniatures I think it would be really great! As I typically work on several projects at a time, I will definitely keep this holder in my arsenal :).
