You say you like messy paint cans, with drips running down their sides? Then don't read this?

When I first started modeling, I had the lucky experience of being close to a highly experienced model painter, who let me in on a bunch of secrets. One of those secrets was that paint will only go on smoothly when it is clean, and you can't keep it clean if you take the lid off all the time to pour out paint. You also can't keep it from drying in the can if the lid is always off.

So how do you get the paint out if you don't take the lid off? Simple. You take a nail and poke a hole in the side up next to the rim for a pour hole, and poke another one on the opposite side for the vent hole. Shake up the paint thoroughly first, then pour it out of one hole, and stop up the vent hole with your finger when you want to stop. Seal both holes with wrapping of electrical tape when finished. No mess, no waste, and no fouled-up paint in the can.