As an armor modeler, I’m constantly painting road wheels, return rollers, etc. Finding a good method of keeping them out of the way to dry was always an issue. I used sticks and florist foam, but the foam would break down and leave bits on the bench — and the stuff was getting harder for me to find.

However, I have a lot of empty coffee cans around my bench (comes of having a coffeemaker next to my bench). I was mixing sand for a diorama in one of the cans when I had a revelation. I put my road wheels on bamboo skewers, stuck them in the sand, and realized that I could put a whole panzer division’s running gear in there and it still wouldn’t tip over (also a problem with the foam). Voila! A no-tip drying stand for freshly painted parts. 

Tip submitted by:
Mike WarnerChilliwack, British Columbia, Canada