Painting Handle vs Cork vs Bottle
Every painter starts by holding the base with two fingers, and every painter eventually stops. These are the three things they switch to, and they are not interchangeable.
The short answer
A weighted painting handle is worth it if you paint regularly: the clip holds any standard base, the weight steadies your hand, and nothing touches the model. Cork and a weighted old paint bottle cost nothing and work well for sub-assemblies and loose parts, but neither grips a finished base without putty or glue.
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. | Best handle for standard infantry | 8.9 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | 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. | Best for unbased parts and sub-assemblies | 8.6 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 | 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. | Best for large models and oval bases | 8.8 | 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.
What a grip is actually fixing
Three separate problems, and knowing which one is yours decides the answer.
Contact. Fingers on a painted model lift paint, leave oil that later coats will not stick to, and smear wet varnish. Anything that puts distance between skin and model fixes this.
Stability. A 32 mm figure pinched between finger and thumb has nothing to brace against. A heavier object in a full grip gives your hand something to rest on and your wrist something to pivot around. This is a bigger accuracy gain than most painters expect — see how to get a steady hand.
Access. Painting the inside of a cloak or under a chin means rotating the model to a strange angle and holding it there. A grip you can turn freely is the only comfortable way to do it.
The bought handle
A painting handle is a weighted body with a spring-loaded clip that grips the rim of a base. The Citadel Colour Painting Handle takes 25, 28 and 32 mm rounds; the XL version opens to 170 mm for ovals and monsters. Redgrass Games builds its handle around a magnet and putty mount instead, so it holds bases, loose parts and sub-assemblies that have no base yet.
What it does well. Instant in, instant out, no glue, no residue, no waiting. The weight is deliberate — it is the part that steadies the hand, and it is the part a cork cannot replicate. The palm shape means you can hold it for two hours without cramping.
Where it falls down. A clip grips a base, so a model that is not on a base yet needs the magnet-and-putty approach instead. A clip can also mark a finished base rim, which matters if you based and painted the base before the figure. And it costs real money for a piece of molded plastic.
The cork
A wine cork, a blob of poster putty or a dot of super glue on top, model pressed on. Free, and it has held parts for scale modelers for decades.
What it does well. It holds anything, based or not, because you are sticking rather than clipping. It is the natural answer for sub-assemblies — torso, arms, backpack and cape each on their own cork so you can prime and paint where a brush can actually reach. It is disposable, so gluing something to it permanently is fine.
Where it falls down. No weight. A cork is a light, narrow cylinder you pinch rather than grip, which solves contact but barely helps stability. Putty leaves residue that has to come off before priming, and super glue leaves a mark you have to clean up. Tall models on a cork are top-heavy and tip.
The old paint bottle
An empty dropper bottle or a 12 ml pot, weighted with a few coins, sand or water, model stuck to the cap with putty. The most common home-made answer and the one most people underrate.
What it does well. The one thing a cork cannot do: weight. Fill a bottle and it has the heft of a bought handle for nothing. The flat cap is a bigger mounting surface than a cork, so tall models are more stable. Bottles also stand up on their own between sessions, which corks do not.
Where it falls down. Grip shape. A straight-sided cylinder is not contoured to a palm, so your fingers do the work a handle’s shape would do. Putty still has to be cleaned off, and a water-filled bottle leaks if you knock it over.
Side by side
| Bought handle | Cork | Weighted bottle | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Paid | Free | Free |
| Holds a based model | Clip, instant | Putty or glue | Putty |
| Holds unbased parts | Putty-mount models only | Yes | Yes |
| Adds weight for stability | Yes, by design | No | Yes, if filled |
| Leaves residue | No | Putty or glue residue | Putty residue |
| Swap speed between models | Seconds | Slow | Slow |
The verdict
Buy a handle if you paint most weeks and you paint based models. The clip-in speed is what you are actually paying for: a handle you can load in two seconds gets used, and a cork you have to putty up gets skipped on a quick session.
Keep corks and bottles anyway. Nobody who paints multi-part models works without a few — priming arms and torsos separately is the only way to get paint behind a cloak, and no clip holds a loose arm. The handle and the cork are not competing; the cork is for before assembly and the handle is for after.
If you are deciding which handle, the handle roundup ranks them by grip range and comfort. If your real problem is that the model moves because your hands do, the posture and bracing fixes in the painting station setup are worth reading first — they are free.
A fourth option worth knowing about
Assembly stands and magnetic trays sit outside the three-way comparison but solve an adjacent problem. A stand holds a model upright at a fixed angle so both hands are free, which matters for airbrushing, for photographing, and for any step where you are holding a tool in each hand.
A magnetic tray does the same for small parts. Glue a washer or a rare-earth magnet to the base of a handle and the model clicks on and off without a clip touching anything; the same magnet in a tray keeps sub-assemblies from rolling off the desk while they dry.
Neither replaces a grip while you are painting — you still need something in your hand — but if the problem you are trying to solve is “where do I put this while the primer cures” rather than “what do I hold it with”, a tray is the cheaper answer than a second handle.
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
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
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
FAQ
Questions people actually ask
Is a miniature painting handle worth it?
What can I use instead of a painting handle?
Will a painting handle damage the base?
How do you hold a miniature that is not on a base yet?
What holds a large model or an oval base?
More in Workspace, Lighting and Storage, or start from the beginning with what to buy first.
Sources
- Games Workshop — Citadel Colour Painting Handle and Handle XLchecked October 2026
- Redgrass Games — Everlasting wet palette and Painter handle specificationschecked October 2026