Like one of many herded sheep I confess that I have copied the example of Loki and others by making my own wet pallette, thereby following the current trend for such things.
My version cost me nothing aside from my dignity. Mrs J discovered one of her new and more expensive 'non pound shop' sponges and geaseproof paper missing from the kitchen drawer after I raided it. Unfortunately for me my pallette manufacturing process coincided with the 'death' of the old household sponge. Thus I was subjected to the wrath of my 'significant other' especially when I showed her how neatly the new sponge had been cut to size !
The container I used was a small one (chinese takeaway container). This was a conscious decision. I am a slow painter and it serves no real purpose having a huge pallette as I have no permanent painting table. However if it proves a success I may have to upsize.
As Salute approaches (which for me is the annual 'authorised' spend on figures) I am having to reign myself in and control knee jerk whims over new scales and periods. Mrs J referred to this as me behaving like a crack addict looking for the next fix. Very unfair and rather cruel but I understand where she is coming from.
Clearly the 'in thing' at the moment seems to be 'The Wild West' for want of a better term. A lot of blog and magazine articles appear to be devoted to this especially Dead Mans Hand.
As a small sized gamer there is real appeal in such skirmishes as the figure count is low. However having been bitten by the Saga bug two years ago, bought some figures and then never played it, I am very reluctant to get burnt again !
An article in WI about Gladiator gaming suggests there may now be a resurgence of this period. This is equally appealing as it is new/different/re-imagined/shiny and therefore appeals to the gaming magpie.
For this reason I am tempted to pre order sone of my figures leaving me less opportunity to impulse buy. This makes sense and will force me to make sensible decisions rather than buying on a whim but it will also take some of the fun out of the event.
On the other hand I ought to look for some 28mm sheep that will remind me of the perils of a lack of self disipline? (on pre order from Foundry of course)