Maybe I’m just weird, but I love organizing and outfitting my modeling space as much as I love modeling in it! There’s something very satisfying about having a space all to one’s self to organize any way you see fit. I’m curious how people organize their greeblie and spare part collections, especially parts from other models. Do you just dump it all into a box? Do you have lots of little organizers and categorize things by shape? Do you leave model parts on the sprue or cut them from the sprue so you can see them more easily? Pictures welcome!
I just dump mine in a box. I have one box of detached parts and one box of parts on the sprue. No organization at all. I guess I’m the weird one.
I have a rack of bins about eight feet from my bench. In that rack are three bins for spare parts from other kits- one each for aircraft, cars, and ships.
My modelling “room” is a 12’ x 12’ loosly partitioned off from the rest of my workshop with heavy duty plastic and a 2" foam sheet ceiling. Since I use the shop for woodworking, household repairs and lots of other incidentals, my major problem is dust. What works for me is to bag leftover parts by kit in labeled plastic ziploc bags and put them in totes. I also use various sizes of clear totes to store work-in-progress kits. I dream about having a room in the house dedicated to modelling!
Mike
Mine go in a box…separated into marked zip-lock bags, for ‘cockpit parts,’ ‘drop tanks,’ ‘bombs,’ etc.
It’s general enough that I can still cross-scan between categories—since ‘things’ can often be used as ‘other things’—but easy to lay hands on or inventory what I’m looking for. Over five or so decades of building, its the most useful system I’ve used.
I use a couple of different types of containers. I save the oblong plastic containers from Chinese takeout meals. They have clear lids and opaque bottoms. I store like things and just label the tubs with a masking tape label. The containers stack easily on a shelf, and the labels save me from having to sort through them. I also use clear plastic jars, like peanut butter jars, for things like diorama supplies, eg, sand, gravel, etc. For larger items, like old computer mice, but also some of my figure kits, I use Sterlite shoe boxes.
I also bought some hardware storage bins. They can be stacked, and also, they can be hung from a strip mounted on the wall. I don’t use that feature, I just stack them. But that also lets me organize my figure kits.
It’s not like it’s some sterile, super-organized environment, though. Here’s my bench:
I did start storing my paints (most of my paints) in a little rolling 3-drawer cabinet, which fits under the bench:
It’s small and light enough that I can take it on the road. But what it let me do was collect all of my jars of Tamiya, Model Master, etc, into one place. I put labels on the lids, so I can find the paints easily:
[url=https://postimg.org/image/xjmdm150l/]/2_Detail.jpg[/img]
For acrylics in other containers, like the eyedropper bottles from Andrea and Vallejo, and craft store paints, I had to get creative. I stored them in a box lid dropped into a drawer:
but found that I had to remember where I stuck a bottle, or rummage around to find the one I wanted. So I replaced the box lid with a rack made from scraps of luan plywood. It holds the bottles at an angle, so I can read the labels:
And I keep my tools, my enamels, and oil paints, in this artist’s tool box, from Richard Blick:
The next step is to add a hutch back on the bench. I have the lumber cut; I need to knock it together and install it. That will give me additional storage space, within reach of my seat at the bench.
Best regards,
Brad
Yeah ’
I have more storage than I have working space .