So I have two of these now. I love the size and portability. I’m getting used to mixing on the aluminum panels. I have some plastic ones that really show the paint while I’m mixing but I’m sure it’s like because all of that is sinking into the plastic pores and that’s less paint I’m actually getting on paper.Great value, keeps my watercolors organized, gives me a portable pallette and mixing area.

We are avid collectors of watercolor paints in tubes. We pour half-pans from our collection and assemble travel palettes with them. We've tried a variety of metal tins & palettes specifically for this purpose and several not meant for it. The Meeden palettes are by far the best quality for the money.Watercolor Tin Palettes:Meeden's tin palettes are more durable and better constructed than any other brand we've tried around their price range. Other similar palettes are flimsier, get dinged up and/or bent out of shape and the paint scratches or wears off readily.My teen is not kind (unintentionally) to the things he carries in his art bag. The Meeden palettes fare his daily abuses (love) the best. He doesn't leave home without a palette and small arsenal of art supplies in tow.We've had a Meeden 48 half-pan palette (pictured in blue) in regular circulation for 2 years and it's only suffered a minor ding and some paint scuffing on the corners of the lid. Also, the thumb ring is still firmly attached and stays collapsed when not in use. By comparison, we had another 48 half-pan palette (pictured in black) from a different manufacturer, which we bought for $1-$2 cheaper, but it got bent out of shape, dinged and scratched, and the thumb ring fell off within 6-9 months of regular use. It really wasn't worth the couple $ saved.The enameled mixing wells of the Meeden palette clean up pretty well. The other palettes tended to stain more easily and permanently. The coating on the mixing wells is a bit aquaphobic, but that's common among most enameled and plastic palettes. My understanding is that light scuffing with a scouring pad helps resolve the issue, though we haven't tried it. We haven't experienced any rusting issues with the Meeden palettes, either. On occasion, we've had to fully submerge or hose down a palette due to paint spills (M. Graham paints melt in hot, humid climates), but rust hasn't developed as a result. I haven't detected any rust on other palettes, but I thought others might want the assurance, so I figured it was worth a mention.The Pans:We've bought half-pans from half a dozen sellers on Amazon, and the Meeden pans are the best all-around. They're a great size to fit in practically any palette or tin. They never have any rough edges to file down, as most other brands we've tried. They also have smooth, flat bottoms with a recessed logo which allows adhesives to make good contact when attaching magnetic strips. Many other pans we've tried have raised edges and/or raised logos on the bottoms which don't allow the magnetic strips to stay put even with various glues, glue dots, or tapes. We've had a constant battle with reattaching magnets to pans from other makers.One last plus of the Meeden half-pans and tin palettes combined is the ability to fit more half-pans than other comparably sized & priced palettes.Pictures:The 12 Half-pan Tin fits 19 half-pans total: 7 pans in each row, plus 5 turned sideways down the center* (it's a tight fit in the center). Pack of playing cards shown for size comparison.The 24 Half-pan Tin fits 37 half-pans total: 13 in each row, plus 11 turned sideways down the center*The 48 Half-pan Tin fits 52 half-pans total: 13 side-by-side in each row (or 11 end-to-end per row; if you don't want to carry as many pans or want to remove them more easily). You could also leave a row empty to hold paintbrushes or water brushes.Understand that you may not fit as many half-pans in the Meeden palettes with half-pans from other manufacturers. Some will fit as well and some won't. It's pretty hit and miss!A couple pictures contain a blue Meeden palette and a black look-alike from another manufacturer on Amazon. Both were used regularly for 2 years. The black non-Meeden palette didn't do well by comparison. The blue Meeden palette is still in great shape!*Secured with adhesive magnetic strips on the base of each pan. You may have to push the metal clips out slightly to squeeze everything in and/or make room for the height of the pans with magnets.The clips in the Meeden palettes keep the half-pans in place while closed or held still when open. However, pans can pop out or move around when jostled or dropped if not secured by other means.Temporary glue dots on the bottoms of the pans work well to secure them if you don't want to hassle with magnets. We've recently read that dots of poster/sticky tack also work, however we haven't tested the idea yet.We prefer the magnetic strips because it allows us to pull out the pans we want to use and stick them to the mixing section of the tins/palettes for easier access. For my part, I don't like to contaminate colors next to each other, so being able to pull the pans out and separate them in the mixing area is really handy.You can easily place a folded piece of paper napkin, paper towel or other such cloth under the removable tray that holds the half-pans inside the Meeden palettes and still get the lid closed without a problem.We prefer reusable bamboo paper towels to blot off excess water, clean brushes, etc. When they're full of paint, we just rinse them out until the water runs clear, let them air dry and put them back in our palettes. They're thicker, softer, and more absorbant than regular paper towels. We fold them into 2-3 layers and cut to fit each palette.Using Meeden half-pans in Altoids tins:You can fit 15 half-pans (with magnetic strips attached) in a regular Altoids tin, and 5 half-pans in the small Altoids tins. There is enough height in both tins to accommodate the pans, plus magnetic strips, plus paper towel and/or swatch card and still securely close the lids. However, an elastic hair band or rubber band will help secure a tin with a weak close. Photos included for reference.Finally, if you're looking for a tin that will hold even more half-pans, we highly recommend the Derwent pencil tin (last photo) with the removable tray. You can fit up to 44 Meeden half-pans per tray for a total of 88 half pans (with magnetic strips attached). The lid shuts without a problem but can pop open if dropped. Again, an elastic hair band or rubber band will secure it when not in use. The downside to the Derwent pencil tin is that there are no mixing wells, but the inside of the lid can be used for mixing. Same goes for Altoids tins.

Great and easy case!

Well built. Plenty of mixing areas. Closes tightly.However, the pan holder is a tiny bit too short for 12 pans in the row to sit flat. See photo. Each pan sits at an angle. Add water and it will just run into the other pans, mixing your colors up. I removed one pan out of each row. So now I have a palette of 44 pans instead of 48. I'm a little dissapointed about this. But overall it's a well made palette.

I've been doing watercolor painting regularly for about nine months now. Used to do it when I was younger as well for a few years, but not as seriously. Main problem I have is that I move around a lot between work, home, and wherever my family needs to go, so this was the perfect size to carry around with me along with my water brushes and sketchbook. I normally use a foldable larger "airtight" plastic palette but even that I feel is a bit bulky. What initially surprised me was how heavy this watercolor palette was--but then I realized, it's metal, and the metal insert that latches the pans into place actually lifts out, which is extremely convenient when you want to remove and re-insert the pans. The insert does wiggle around in the palette when you're transporting the palette, though, but it's not a problem when you're painting as long as you don't suddenly turn it over while it's open.Regarding some of the things I've read in other reviews here:1. The pan walls aren't as thick as I thought they would be. They seem to be of a standard size (see picture) and fit a decent amount of paint. Don't know if the manufacturers had simply changed the kind of pans they were using and I don't have any other metal palettes/pans to compare them to, but I'm satisfied as they are.2. It's not hard to snap the pans into place; remove the metal insert, place one edge of the pan under the clip, and then just push it into place. It'll snap right in.One other tip I'd like to mention is that when you are refilling the pans with tube paint, there's an easy way to make the surface smooth and flat before snapping the pans in: after squeezing in the paint, hold the sides of the pan with your thumb and index finger, and then aggressively smack the bottom of the pan against a flat surface several times to get the paint to settled into all of the edges. It's kind of like when you put something on a moving table in a lab to get the contents to settle, except much more crude.

Quality product

Buen material. Con suficiente rigidez y buen cierre. Buen tamaño y ligero.En las fotos da a entender que viene con godets grandes y mitad, pero no es así, todos eran pequeños (mitad).Buen encaje de los godets.

La qualité est là

également utilisable avec des godets de 3,2 ml rangés dans le sens de la longueur. Pratique et efficace.

Used for gouache , 14 pannes if sorted correctly fit! ( 14 instead of 12 ) 😀