Paint Shakers!!!! (Robarts Hobby Paint Shaker mini review)

[fhvn4d]

Being a somewhat lazy modeller I always found it frustrating to have to shake paint. I have bought paint stirrers and while I liked the way they mixed the paint, I more often then not found myself picking up spilled paint from tipping the bottle over or from paint flying off the stirrer after removal. It also required cleaning ( who does this thing?). Recently saw this little item in a Micro-Mark Catalog and figured Id give it a try. Its an AC powered shaker with a hard plastic bottle holder and a rubber strap to keep the bottle secure during shaking. I have tried two different bottle types sofar, Testors Model Master, and AV Model Colors 17 ML droppers. Both sat well in the shaker and didnt fall out when I operated it, with one exception where I had strapped the bottle down by the cover (on purpose, as expected the bottle fell out of the shaker). I experimented with different times of running, and found that a 30 second shake works good enough for all but the MOST seperated paints ( one was so bad that it didnt shake at all, Im guessing it was a couple years old) I found that the paints looked even better than if I had stirred them or shaken them myself, and for the most part Im happy with the purchase.!! If you find yourself aching in the arms... give one a try!


Paint clearly unused for a long period of time.

After 30 seconds of shaking there is definite aggitation! (I will be adding ballbearings to see if it does even better)

After applying the paint after shaking, I have noticed that the paints colors are more even and lay down even better than if I had shaken by hand... IMO

[Deleted]

[John Everett]

Instead of ball bearings, drop a clean 6/32 hex nut into the bottle. These are generally easier to find than small sized ball bearings and are cheaper if you buy them in the bulk-box from Home Depot.

[wbill76]

I have one and have used it for years. The rubber strap will wear out fairly quickly in my experience...but I live in a dry climate and that probably didn't help it survive long. I just hold the bottle down with my fingers for the good 20-30 seconds and it does what it needs to. I've never bothered with adding a ball bearing or anything inside the bottle. I will, however, give it a quick stir with a toothpick first and then let the agitation do its thing. It makes a big difference especially when airbrushing to avoid any clumps getting into the brush and clogging up the works.

[ironhand6]

cool! thanks for the heads up.

[mrversatile]

How does it work with the Vallejo brush paints? I find these to be the most difficult to agitate.