Have you ever wanted to be able to pack up all your paints and take them with you when going on holiday or for a last minute painting session before an event? We’ve all been there, and there are a couple of different options – however not all of them are ideal or are just messy. Chuck all your paints into a bag? Yeah sure, but it’s a pain to have to sort through them. Create a custom Really Useful Box? Yeah, that works too, but you’re going to more limited in how many you can fit in it. Frontier Wargaming however have a different solution in the form of The Paint Case 2.0 – this is a dedicated painting solution that not only stores you paints, but also works as a mobile painting station with painting area and lighting.

Frontier Wargaming very kindly sent us a free review copy, and so in this article we’ll be checking out and reviewing The Paint Case and seeing what it looks like, how much it can hold, what it’s like to use and most importantly is it worth the money?

If you would like to support the site then why not order your hobby goodies through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself some money too?

We have also filmed a full video review and unboxing which you can see just below or over on YouTube

So let’s dive right in and check out the Paint Case!

Frontier Wargaming The Paint Case 2.0

So before we get into the review itself, let’s talk a little about Frontier Wargaming. Based in Riga, Latvia, Frontier Wargaming are a company who produce paint storage solutions and both portable and desk based paint stations. As someone who has a lot of paints and get’s through a ton of painting every week, having a dedicated painting area is very important to me, but when I go away somewhere and still want to be able to paint then things are a little less straight forward. I tend to use a decent lamp in order to see what I’m painting, and I like to have the entire Two Thin Coats paint range on hand when working on models. Previously this meant me having to chuck paints in a box and drag along my brushes, cleaning products and lamp with me – which isnt exactly travelling light! When Frontier said they were going to send over a Paint Case for us to try out, I was very interested in seeing how it would perform both as a portable paint station, and as something a little more permanent in my hobby room.

The model we’re looking at is the Paint Case 2.0, this is a plywood case (W-460mm H-310mm D-115mm) that can be customised to fulfil a number of different uses. Base models start at €147 and come with a choice of 6 modules, along with some optional extras – we’ll take a look at what came in our one a little later

When ours arrived I was greeted with a gorgeous engraved Sprues & Brews design on the box which immediately put a massive grin on my face! This is an optional extra for the case and costs €29.50, but I do think this adds an extra bit of style to the case, and there’s some really cool things you can do with a custom design on these! Admittedly this isn’t for everyone, I suspect professional painters or creators would love to have a custom case with their own logo on it!

Inside, the lid folds down to create a painting surface, and there’s a nice wipe down protector over this to make sure that the case stays clean even after a vigorous painting session! A pair of sturdy brass clasps makes sure that the case stays shut when it is not in use, and they close with a satisfying click that sounds secure. You will find it takes a little pressure to close and open this, which is reassuring that the box will remain closed when you have it in the back of a car for example.

I mentioned earlier that there are a number of different modules that can be selected when creating the case – I was going to use this predominantly for storing and transporting paints, and so I opted for a load out of 5 paint trays and a pair of storage boxes. You can of course swap these out for other trays however, for example a full paint loadout could hold as many as 192 paints in dropper bottles or 180 Citadel bottles – which is a great assortment. Frontier also sell miniature holders and magnetic trays that can be used to store models that you are currently working on. The other module I opted for was the storage case, which can hold brushes or hobby tools.

There’s also a couple more things in the box, firstly a shoulder strap which makes moving the case when fully loaded a lot easier. We also got sent the optional lighting upgrade, this consists of a pair of LED strips and a whole host of cables to power these from a mains adapter to a USB plug meaning that you should be able to get this powered wherever you are, even if you are using a USB charge bank. The lights are attached to some wooden struts that support them above the case – what’s cool here is that there’s a number of different ways you can have the lights slotted into them so that you can get the light just right for the environment you are in. In a nice touch the light strips slot into a space at the top of the case for storage, though the supports to hold them and the cables will need to be either stored in a Tool Box module or stored seperately to the case itself.

So what is the box like in practice? I quickly went to work loading up the case and finding a home for it.

I was pleasantly surprised with just how much the case could hold within a relatively small footprint. I managed to fit both wave 1 and 2 of Two Thin Coats in here, and still had one and a half paint trays free in order to store some varnishes, washes and medium. Again, if I wanted to I could also pick up another paint tray and turn the entire box into paint storage, though the two Tool Boxes are very handy for holding hobby tools and paintbrushes.

It looks great on the desk, and while it is a little large, it doesn’t have a massive footprint while closed up, making it a good alternative to a bespoke paint storage solution for your desk. Obviously we have the advantage here that it is also portable, allowing you to take everything with you if you go away. Now I will say that fully loaded up it is quite heavy, and so I feel this is more suited for longer stretches away – going on holiday for a week for example, rather than something you are going to want to take back and forth somewhere every day. For painting on your lunch at work you are probably better with something smaller (And Frontier actually produce a half sized version that would be perfect for that). Likewise, if you are looking for something that doesnt need moving, Frontier also do a number of bespoke full desk options – something that I’m certainly going to investigate now that I’ve seen how good this case is.

I was also very impressed with the lighting rig – lighting is something that often gets in the way of painting while away because my massive daylight lamp isnt the easiest thing to take away with me, but the lighting in this case was surprisingly good and illuminated the painting area well meaning that this is something I could easily take down to the dining room and be just as happy painting there as I would at my desk.

In a post-covid world where people’s free desk space may have been taken up with computers and monitors, having all this set up in a case that I can take anywhere is a real boon and I wish I had one of these a long time ago when taking everything with me to go painting on holiday was a real chore. Now I can just close the case, pick it up and put it in the car – and have access to all my paints, brushes and a decent illuminated paint area on the other end of the journey.

So the big question is “Is it worth the price tag”?

I’m not going to lie, this is a premium piece and as such has a high price tag. The model we have reviewed here (Including the custom engraving and duel light bars) would cost €220 (Around £187) which isn’t cheap – but I do think it is well worth it. The case is sturdy and great quality and holds up just as well when filled with over 100 bottles of paint – Something that I think I would be concerned about carrying if it wasn’t for the good quality build and hardy handle and strap. The modular approach to the interior is a great idea too, as you can always pick up more modules to try out and swap and change as needed as your requirements change. The light gets a massive thumbs up from me too, and I think if you are thinking of buying the case then I think that is an upgrade that is well worth investing in. Engraving is a personal choice, and for most people they can probably quite happily save some money by giving it a miss, though having your own logo on it is something that will appeal to many to make it “yours”

The Paint Case is by far the best portable hobby solution I’ve had the pleasure of using, and I look forward to giving it a full run through away on holiday somewhere…

The Paint Case 2.0 is available from Frontier Wargaming.

Frontier Wargaming provided Sprues & Brews with a free copy for review purposes.

Published by Matt Crowther

View all posts by Matt Crowther