The Best Miniature Painting Handles
A handle stops your fingers rubbing paint off the model you just painted. That is the entire pitch, and it is enough.
The short answer
The Citadel Colour Painting Handle is the best handle for standard infantry: a spring-loaded clamp sized for a 25-32 mm base that lets you rotate the model without touching it. Use the XL version for cavalry and monsters, and the Redgrass handle if your model is not on a base yet.
The quick version
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Citadel Colour Painting HandleThe original spring-clip handle, sized for the 25 mm and 32 mm bases that make up most of an army. The one most painters actually need. | Standard infantry | 8.9 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | Citadel Colour Painting Handle XLA spring-loaded clip that grips bases from 50 mm up to 170 mm ovals, on a base weighted to sit in your palm. The handle for monsters and vehicles. | Large models and big bases | 8.8 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 | Redgrass Games Painter HandleA magnetic-and-putty handle that holds a part, a sub-assembly or an unbased model, which a spring clip cannot do at all. | Models with no base yet | 8.6 | Check price on Amazon |
Scores are our own editorial read against the criteria stated below — not a lab measurement and not a user rating. Tap a row for the full write-up.
Why a handle, when you have hands
Three reasons, and the third is the one that converts people.
You stop damaging wet paint. Holding a 32 mm model by its base means holding it by the one part you are least likely to smudge. Holding it by the torso means your thumb is on the cloak you just highlighted.
You can rotate freely. Painting the inside of an arm or the back of a cape is a matter of turning the handle, not re-gripping a model you are afraid to touch.
Your hand stops shaking. A handle is bulk, and bulk is stability. You can rest the base of the handle on the desk or against your other hand and brace. Fine lines get noticeably easier — which is also what steadying your hand is mostly about.
How we picked
- Does it grip the base you actually own? Most handles are sized around 25–32 mm round bases. Oval, 50 mm and vehicle bases are a different problem.
- Can it hold an unbased model? A lot of painting happens before the model meets a base, especially on resin or kit parts.
- Grip comfort over a long session. A handle you have to squeeze is a handle that makes your hand ache in 40 minutes.
- Stability as a brace. A flat-bottomed handle you can stand on the desk is more useful than a rounded one you cannot.
Match the handle to the model, not to the brand
The standard handle covers the majority of a tabletop army: infantry on 25, 28 and 32 mm rounds. Cavalry, large monsters and anything on a 50 mm+ base needs the XL version, and trying to make the small one work is how models get dropped.
Models with no base — kit parts, resin busts, Gunpla sub-assemblies — need a handle with an adjustable clamp or a flat top you can tack a part to. That is a real limitation of the base-clamp design and worth knowing before you buy.
Cork, bottle caps and poster tack
The free version genuinely works: a wine cork, an old paint pot or a 35 mm film canister, with a blob of poster tack on top. It gives you bulk and rotation, which is most of the benefit, for nothing.
What you give up is grip security. Poster tack lets go eventually, usually while you are leaning over a tile floor. For a first army it is a perfectly reasonable place to put zero money, and the upgrade is cheap when you want it.
Using one well
- Clamp the base, not the model. Pressure on a plastic leg or a resin cloak breaks things.
- Brace, do not float. Rest the handle base on the desk or your other hand for anything thinner than a line.
- Turn the model, not your wrist. Always paint toward yourself with the brush at a comfortable angle; rotate the handle to bring the next area into that position.
- Put it down between stages. A handle standing upright is a model not resting on its own wet paint.
The picks in full
Citadel Colour Painting Handle
The original spring-clip handle, sized for the 25 mm and 32 mm bases that make up most of an army. The one most painters actually need.
What it gets right
- Fits the bases you will actually be painting ninety percent of the time
- One-handed to load and unload once you have the knack
- Heavy enough to stand up on the desk without tipping
Who it is wrong for
- Will not take a 50 mm base, let alone a monster
- The clip can mar a painted rim if you reload a finished model
- Several times the cost of a wine cork that does the same job less comfortably
Scored against this page’s criteria
Specs from the manufacturer: Citadel product page
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
Citadel Colour Painting Handle XL
A spring-loaded clip that grips bases from 50 mm up to 170 mm ovals, on a base weighted to sit in your palm. The handle for monsters and vehicles.
What it gets right
- Takes the biggest standard base in the current range, which almost nothing else does
- Weighted, palm-shaped body means your wrist is not doing the holding
- Slots into the Assembly Stand so a part-built monster can be put down safely
Who it is wrong for
- Far too big for 25 mm and 32 mm infantry — the standard Painting Handle is the one for those
- The spring clip needs both hands to load, which is fiddly mid-session
- Priced as an accessory when a cork and some blu-tack costs nothing
Scored against this page’s criteria
Specs from the manufacturer: Citadel product page
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
Redgrass Games Painter Handle
A magnetic-and-putty handle that holds a part, a sub-assembly or an unbased model, which a spring clip cannot do at all.
What it gets right
- The only one of these that will hold a torso, an arm or a bare 3D print
- Magnetic tops let you swap models without unclamping anything
- Genuinely comfortable for long sessions
Who it is wrong for
- Putty needs re-seating as it picks up dust and loses grip
- A clip is faster for ordinary based infantry
- Costs more than the Citadel handle for a narrower everyday use case
Scored against this page’s criteria
Specs from the manufacturer: Redgrass Games product page
We do not publish prices. Amazon shows the current one, which is the only one that is ever right. #ad · how this is funded
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
Do I need a painting handle?
What size painting handle do I need?
Can I use a painting handle on a model with no base?
Is a cork and poster tack good enough?
More in Workspace, Lighting and Storage, or start from the beginning with what to buy first.
Sources
- Games Workshop / Citadel Colour — handles and paint rackchecked October 2026
- Redgrass Games — Everlasting wet palette and handle rangechecked October 2026