Well it’s
certainly been a few weeks since I had time to update the blog. I’ve been busy with getting work done in
anticipation for my wedding which occurred a mere week ago and tomorrow I
leave for my honeymoon. For a week, I’ll
be enjoying the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
(I’m really hoping my Bolt Action V2 rulebook shows up tonight as the
flights to and from will be quite long).
In the
weeks leading up to my wedding and honeymoon, I haven’t been able to do much
painting. I did have time to completely
restructure my workstation. My new set
of Scale Color, by Scale 75, paints came in as well as my organizers. While I was going through all of my stuff, I
utilized a new application on my phone called “paintRack”. For someone who’s as OCD about keeping their
station somewhat organized, this application is a dream to work with as it
allows you to not only keep track of which paints you have, but also allows you
to view complimentary colors and similar colors across several different
ranges.
paintRack
is a great application by the company Courageous Octopus. It’s team of developers consists of gamers
and painters alike including a 1994 North American Golden Demon Winner.
As of
the most recent update, pR has a library of over 3,500 manufacturers from many
of the top manufacturers on the market currently.
The
supported manufactures are:
Vallejo, P3
(Privateer Press), Reaper, Citadel, Army
Painter (Warpaints),Tamiya, Scale75, Coat
d'Arms, Badger Minitaire, Warcolours, Humbrol, Andrea Color, AMMO
by MIG Jimenez, Battlefront (Colours of War), AK
Interactive, Abteilung 502, and Secret Weapon.
Starting
the application up, it allows you to browse across the whole menagerie of
manufacturers or to actually begin constructing your own collection of
paints. To create your own, you’re able
to launch a search for your color and claim it in your collection or, better
yet, utilize the bar scanner function to actually scan the paints in! There’s even a quick scan mode that allows
you to scan one paint after another to quickly rifle through your collection. I
ran my entire Vallejo Model Color, Scale 75, Ammo by Mig, and P3 paints through
the scanner in a little under 10 minutes (I have way too much paint.). The scanner was able to keep up and the
application never hiccupped through the entire process.
With my
collection scanned, I’ve been able to actually use my phone to assist me during
“paint runs” to my local hobby store by using the “Wish List” function. In the past I’ve actually bought duplicates
of certain paints because I had actually forgot about different colors that I
had in my collection at home but had failed to jot them down. Having my collection’s contents at hand has
been pretty nifty when I’m on the go.
Aside
from keeping track of my colors, the application shines with its ability to
cross reference different colors across different ranges. This is a very useful tool as, at times, my
local stores may or may not have the colors I’m looking for in a particular
range so I substitute to a different manufacturer. pR also allows me to create triads from
across different ranges as well as identify complimentary colors across
different ranges.
One
final bit that I’ll mention about this application is that it allows you to
create sets and subsets. This function is great as it allows you to keep track
of the different paints you’ve used to paint models and certain elements of a
model. In the past I’ve used a notebook
or a spreadsheet on my computer but having this ability on my phone, while
using the scanner, has been quick and painless and very organized. For the sets function for example, I’ll
assign a name/ category for an American USMC figure. For a subset, I’ll assign one for the boots,
the webbing, the skin, the face, and so on.
It’s a great way to keep things organized and it makes it easy to add or
change a list if necessary. I can see
this function of pR being great for commission painters or people, like me, who
have a horde of figures and armies to eventually paint.
pR is
available on your application store for your Android; the version for iPhone hasn't been released yet and I believe it's in the works. The app is free and you can use a majority of the
features, but you can unlock the entire version for only a few bucks. I tried out the free version for a bit and
then paid the $2.99 to unlock the entire application’s features. In my opinion it’s worth it.
For the
OCD painter in me, this application is worth its weight in gold. Feel free to check out paintRack by clicking
on the hyperlink. If you enjoyed the
review, feel free to leave a comment below as it really helps the site out.
Very
shortly, I’ll be posting my guide to how I painted Rubicon’s Sd.Kfz.250! Until next time, have a great one.
