Twin Daylight Tube Lamp Review

Back at the Baccus open day we were discussing the use of a head held magnifying glass and the relevant benefits against drawbacks. The following day I re-learnt all about the help of extra light, as in LOTS of extra light! This was at Dr. Mikes painting display. He was using twin tubes daylight lamps which knocked the socks off my single bulb daylight lamp. The detail on the figures literally leaped out and made painting so much easier and helped in speeding up the painting. In short in had all of the advantages (and more) of the head magnifiers without any of the set backs. Though in reality it comes with it's own disadvantage, that of cost. One of these babies will set you back between £80 - £110 in the UK. That's a lot of lead. But for anyone painting 6mm figures with any regularity you either need to paint in good daylight or very good artificial light so I started to look for a bargain.

 

I found this baby on e-bay, it's not the brand that Dr. Mike was using but it clearly is a copy of it. So close a copy that clearly an original was sent out to China and all but the badge is a direct rip of the original. My only negative point about this lamp is that the flex is rather short. No issue for me as it is right next to the extension lead and plug socket but if it's not, you will need that extension cable. Well at £55 plus £8 post it's a significant saving.

 

On receiving the lamp though I found an Invoice to the person I bought the lamp off on e-bay. It seems the guy I bought it off does not stock these lamps, he just sells the item and orders it direct from the supplier! Rather a smart move I thought. So I now have the details of his supplier and after doing a little following up I know how you can get one of these lamps for just £37.68 INCLUDING POSTAGE! Yes for about a third of the badged version you could have a great lamp. I honestly would not be without this lamp now. I paint faster and better than before and whilst I got it mostly for my 6mm I have found the same results in larger scales. More detail (and flash etc) and easier and faster to paint and all to a better standard. The lamp comes with a clamp for the desk which needs padding to protect from damage to the table and is fully assembled. You just need to fix on the clamp and angle to your best position. Th hood only gets touch warm and I have it a few inches from my forehead without any discomfort or strain, it has to be used to believe it.

 

Here is the link to the supplier CPC, which goes straight to the lamp itself, but in case of difficulty it's code is la0400387 and it's called Pro-Elec HT8011 - Task Lamp and cost is £25.45 with a handling charge of £5.95 for post and VAT on the top making it the £37.68 mentioned. If you visit them on facebook they say they will give a further discount! They are based in Preston for anyone who may want to try and collect. The lamp was well packaged in the white foam like inner inside a sturdy box and wrapped with the large bubble wrap and delivered by UPS the day after payment!

 

Honestly I can not recommend this enough, I was happy paying £65 but this is is a fantastic price. You do need to set up an account with them but it's quick and easy and you can pay by card or cheque so it's as simple as you could wish.