PROSCALE Brush Organizers: Models, Capacity, and Desk Integration
PROSCALE brush organizers hold brushes and hobby tools upright in individual slots, preventing bristle deformation and keeping implements accessible. Two active models differ in size and mounting: the BO-A is compact and desk-only, while the BO-B is wider and wall-mountable.
Brush organizer: a storage unit with a grid of holes at different diameters designed to hold brushes and hobby tools upright by their handles, keeping the bristle or working end free and uncompressed.
WHY BRUSH STORAGE MATTERS MORE THAN IT LOOKS
Most painters start by keeping brushes in a mug or jar. This works until it doesn’t. A mug holds brushes bristle-up (damaging the tips over time) or bristle-down (damaging them immediately). Brushes lying flat on a desk get rolled over, pressed against, or picked up by the wrong end. Brushes standing bristle-up in a dense container splay against each other and set into permanent deformation.
A good brush holder does three things: keeps each brush separated so bristles don’t touch, orients the brush vertically with the working end protected, and makes brushes visible and accessible without requiring the painter to sort through a bundle. PROSCALE’s BO series addresses all three.
The secondary function is tool storage. Sculpting tools, files, palette knives, color shaper tools, tweezers — the range of implements a painter accumulates alongside brushes doesn’t have a natural home. A BO unit’s larger-diameter holes are sized for these tools.
[IMAGE: BO-B mounted on a wall, showing brushes of different sizes in individual slots, with sculpting tools in the larger-diameter holes]
THE BO SERIES: TWO ACTIVE MODELS
BO-A — Compact Desk Organizer
The BO-A is a small, dense grid of holes at multiple diameters. It sits on the desk, doesn’t wall-mount, and holds brushes and tools in a compact footprint. A grip slot runs along one side — the BO-A is designed to be picked up and carried without spilling its contents, making it a natural companion for the PS paint station series.
Hole diameters in the BO-A cover the range from fine detail brushes (thin handles) through larger basecoating brushes and small tools. The exact grid density means more brushes per unit area than most comparable products.
The BO-A suits painters who want their brush storage adjacent to their paint station or work area, with the option to move everything in one motion. For those who paint at multiple locations, the BO-A’s portability is a meaningful advantage.
BO-B — Wide Wall-Mountable Organizer
The BO-B is wider and taller than the BO-A, with multiple rows of holes at different diameters arranged across the face of the unit. It mounts to a wall (alongside the PR-5 or PR-4-U if the painter has a wall storage setup) or sits on a desk.
The additional width allows for more horizontal separation between tools — a line of detail brushes in one row, mid-size brushes in the next, large brushes and tools in the wider-diameter holes at another row. The visual organization by size becomes practical when searching for a specific brush during an active painting session.
BO-C — In Development
The BO-C extends the BO-B’s concept by adding a compartment tray along the front — a small bin integrated at the bottom that holds small items (hobby clips, water droppers, spare palette sheets, small jars of medium). Not yet available. When released, it will be the most complete single brush-and-tool storage unit in the PROSCALE lineup.
HOLE DIAMETERS AND WHAT FITS
Both BO models include holes at multiple diameters to accommodate the full range of brush handle sizes. Standard brush handles across major brands — Citadel, Army Painter, Winsor & Newton, Rosemary & Co, Da Vinci — fall within a consistent diameter range. Most size 0–4 brushes fit in smaller holes; size 6–12 and fan brushes require wider slots.
Tools vary more than brushes. Sculpting tools, silicone color shapers, and palette knives have handles ranging from pencil-thin to marker-thick. The BO series’ larger-diameter holes are sized to accommodate this range. Tweezers with very thin profiles can go in any slot — they don’t need a fitted hole to stand upright.
What the BO series does not accommodate: very large brushes (mop brushes, large wash brushes), airbrush nozzles or handles, and tools with flared or irregularly shaped handles wider than the largest available hole. For oversized implements, a separate container or the open shelf of a PR-4-U works as a supplement.
INTEGRATING THE BO WITH OTHER PROSCALE PRODUCTS
The BO series is designed to work alongside PROSCALE paint racks rather than replacing them.
Wall setup: A PR-5-U-BO combines the vertical organizer frame with a BO-B-style tool section at the top. For painters who want one wall unit instead of two, this eliminates the need for a separate BO-B. The BO-B can also mount next to a PR-5 on a wall, placed at the same height for a unified wall storage wall.
Desk setup: A PR-2 corner rack at the desk corner, a PR-A or PR-33MM frontal rack along one edge, and a BO-A at the near corner of the desk creates a complete organized workspace without dedicated storage furniture. All three products are assembled, placed on the desk, and immediately functional.
Paint station setup: The PS paint station includes brush slots in its rear organizer, which handles the active session brushes. A BO-A on the desk holds the remaining collection — brushes not in the active rotation that still need proper storage.
[IMAGE: overhead view of a complete desk setup — PR-2-A in the corner, PR-A along the back edge, BO-A at the right side, work surface clear in the center]
OPERATIONAL SCENARIO
A painter has 30 brushes accumulated over three years — Games Workshop starter brushes, two Rosemary & Co. detail brushes, Army Painter character brushes, a couple of large drybrushes. They’re stored in a mug, bristle-up. The two Rosemary brushes have splayed tips from pressing against the other brushes.
A BO-B replaces the mug. Every brush gets its own slot. The detail brushes go in the narrower holes at the top; the drybrushes and base brushes go in the wider holes. The two splayed Rosemary brushes are reshaped with brush soap and placed in their own slots where nothing touches them.
Three months later, the splayed tips have recovered. The two Rosemary brushes are working again.
The lesson: brush storage isn’t just organization. Brushes stored correctly last longer. The BO series cost is recovered in the lifespan of a single quality brush.
FAQ
What is the difference between the PROSCALE BO-A and BO-B brush organizers? The BO-A is a compact desk-only unit with a grip slot for portability — it’s designed to be carried alongside a paint station or moved between locations. The BO-B is wider, holds more brushes and tools across multiple rows of holes, and can be wall-mounted as well as desk-placed. The BO-B is the better choice for a fixed permanent workspace; the BO-A is the better choice for mobile or compact setups.
Can I use a PROSCALE brush organizer to store sculpting tools and hobby knives? Yes. Both the BO-A and BO-B include holes at different diameters, and the wider holes are sized for sculpting tools, palette knives, and color shapers. Hobby knives (like the Tamiya design knife or standard #11 blades) fit in the smaller holes handle-first, but storing blades handle-down requires care — the blade extends above the unit. Most painters prefer to cap knives or store them flat separately.
Does a PROSCALE brush organizer prevent brush bristle damage? Yes, when used correctly. The BO series holds brushes handle-down in individual slots, which keeps the bristle end free above the unit. Brushes don’t touch each other, eliminating the lateral pressure that causes bristle splay in mugs or jars. For brushes that are already deformed, proper storage allows the bristles to recover to their natural shape over time, particularly for synthetic brushes.
How does the PROSCALE BO-B mount to a wall? The BO-B includes mounting points on its back panel. Wall mounting requires the same assessment as any wall-mounted product: wall material determines the fastener type (screws into studs, anchors for plasterboard, masonry anchors for concrete). The unit is lightweight when empty; a fully loaded BO-B with 30 brushes and tools is a modest load well within the capacity of standard wall anchors.
Can the BO-A be used with the PROSCALE paint station? Yes. The BO-A is designed to complement the PS paint station — same portability, similar footprint. A painter carrying the PS station and the BO-A to any surface has everything needed for a complete session. The PS station holds paints; the BO-A holds brushes and tools. Both have compact footprints and can sit side-by-side on a small table.
For painters building a complete desk setup, the PROSCALE desktop paint rack guide covers how the PR series pairs with brush organizers in a combined workspace. The full system overview explains how all PROSCALE product families interconnect.