Now that non-essential shops are open again, Sue and I took the opportunity to go to the retail outlet centre in the Chatham Maritime area. It is located close to the entrance to the Historic Dockyard in Chatham, and besides a large branch of THE RANGE and numerous smaller outlet stores, it has a very well-stocked branch of THE WORKS.
I 'celebrated' being able to go out shopping relatively normally by buying an acrylic painting 'kit' for the princely sum of £5.00.
As you can see, the kit contains twelve tubes of paint, a small palette, three brushes, a pencil, pencil sharpener, and an eraser, as well as a small plastic palette knife. Initially, I will try to keep everything in its storage tray ... but I suspect that over time. some bits will get misplaced!
I don't actually need these paints at present, but they will be ideal when I begin work again on renovating, varnishing, and basing the rest of my pre-painted Del Prado 25/28mm Napoleonic figures. I can use the paint straight out of the tube to cover the worst damage the figures might have suffered in storage, and when diluted with water, they make excellent washes for the skin of horses.
Hello there Bob,
ReplyDeleteThat is a bargain and as I am in town tomorrow (and Rayleigh has its own branch of the Works) I will certainly take a look at this. My plan is to use cheaper acrylics for things like terrain or similar whilst the Vallejos will be for more detailed work.
Certainly a good and inexpensive find!
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteI’ve been using acrylic paints from THE WORKS since I began my Napoleonic figure renovation project. The colours in their sets seem to cover most of my needs ... and they are a lot cheaper than hobby paints.
I also use paintbrushes from THE WORKS because they are good enough for the sort of work that I do ... and when they lose their points, I just throw them away and buy another pack for £2.00.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good find- not often we find such bargains. Over the years I've gone from Humbrols to Acrylic Vallejo for painting figures- I tend to use tube Artists Acrylics for model buildings and such. Thank you for commenting on my Doctor WHO post recently- I appreciate the thoughts and value your comments. Stay well and safe there in London. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteTHE WORKS always seems to have lots of craft and art materials on sale at bargain prices alongside the books and toys that they sell. The paints seem to have quite a high pigment content and to be quite thick, and can be watered down with ease to achieve reasonable coverage.
All the best,
Bon
PS. I’ve been a fan of DR WHO ever since I watched the first episode on the day after JFK was assassinated. I like the figures, and can see why people want to collect and use them.
Although the coverage often isn't as good as Vallejo or similar acrylics, I use a lot of the 'Anitas/Crafters' acyrlics (I habve seen them under various names) that comes in 60ml plastic bottles for anything from £1 to £2-50
ReplyDeleteIan Dury,
DeleteI’ve not heard of Anitas or Crafters acrylic paints before, but I’ll lookout for them in future, I tend to use Humbrol paints because I can buy them in Hobbycraft or online from Airfix,
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob - they sell them in 'The Works' sometimes - though I originally bought most of mine in the craft section of a local garden centre. Just so you can see the range I mean, I found a link to an (American) e-Bay seller that has them: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Anitas-Acrylic-Craft-Paint-8-fl-oz-Various-Colors-New-Price-Per-Bottle-/323434490972
DeleteIan Dury,
DeleteThanks very much for the link. I’ll look out for them online and in branches of THE WORKS.
All the best,
Bob
Just to add to my previous comment that my local 'Craft Works' in Leamington (apparently a subsidiary of 'The Works') has those Crafters acrylics in stock for £1 per bottle at the moment
DeleteIan Dury,
DeleteThat sounds as if it is excellent value. I have not heard of CRAFT WORKS before, and I’m going to see where their closest branch is.
All the best,
Bob
Jeez, £5.00 will buy quite a bit! $6.94 will only get 5 bottles of low quality acrylic and a bit of barber shop sweepings tied to a stick here in NJ.
ReplyDeleteMr, Pavone,
DeleteI don’t know how they do it, but they manage to sell reasonable products at discounted prices. They seem to specialise in remaindered books, boxed games, jigsaw puzzles, and crafting bits and pieces. I’m surprised that there isn’t an equivalent chain of stores in the US.
All the best,
Bob
Now that I look at the website for The Works, it looks a lot like a discount chain I always enjoy visiting. It goes by the name of Five Below. Guess how their pricing works out.
DeleteThen there's the $.99 store here on Central Ave. They tend to sell very cheap and shoddy merchandise but the real kicker is the sign reads, quite literally, "All items $.99 or more or less."
;/
Mr. Pavone,
DeleteFIVE BELOW sounds very similar to THE WORKS.
One of the growth areas of retailing in the UK are retail chains like POUNDLAND, where almost everything on sale is priced at £1.00. They have flourished during the pandemic, especially the larger branches that have been able to stock basic food supplies.
All the best,
Bob
That's very good value and a shame that my local Works is smack bang in the centre of Bristol, opposite Primarks and hence about the busiest place in Bristol at present:(
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteI must have walked past the branch and never realised it was there! Mind you, the centre of Bristol always seems as crowded as the centre of London.
All the best,
Bob