Kind of curious how people have their work areas setup at home. I’m sure it ranges from the elaborate, permanent workshops to the paints in a shoebox. [:I]
Myself, I don’t have the luxury of having a permanent area of the house to work in. Small house and a bunch of kids makes it not practical at the moment. Most of my stuff is in boxes which I have to bring out to the kitchen when I want to do stuff. Am I alone in this or are there others who can relate? [8)]
There is a desk in the bedroom where I could build but end up in the living room with the TV. If the SPEED channel has NASCAR on, I play a tape of some of their other programming…
You hear that, SPONSORS?
Defintiely need a place to paint. Right now, I spray in the garage and rush everything inside to my “drying drawer”.
Some of the work areas I’ve seen at armorama are unbeleiveable. Makes me jealous.[:0]
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Originally posted by Razor Shines
Some of the work areas I’ve seen at armorama are unbeleiveable. Makes me jealous.[:0]
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I’ll have to go back and take a look now. [:)]
I knew someone who lived in a small apartment and was thinking about converting his bedroom closet into his work area. It was one of those closets that would take up a good length of the wall, with folding doors and all. The idea was it could be somewhat permanent, but yet could be closed up when he wasn’t using it.
It sounded like a great idea. Unfortuneately I haven’t seen him for years and I don’t know what ever came of the idea.
[:D]I suppose I’m pretty lucky. My modeling set up is in one of the bedrooms. I’ve got building and finishing areas with shelves for kits reference books and mags as well as in progress and completed models. My computer is in there as well along with some keep fit equipment. I have turned the downstairs toilet into my spray booth. Just need to get one of my daughters to leave home then I will be able to purpose build a new modeling and computer room, it will include a spray booth, to save me the trip down stairs.[;)]
Workbench??? I wish. My hobby lives out of Rubbermaid containers. I have a 2 by 4 sheet of cardboard I put down on the kitchen table, where I do trimming and glueing. I paint in my shed or outdoors if the air is right and the wind is still. I’ve had ruined paint jobs on a Corsair and a 67 Fastback. Got overzealous and took them out to the shed to paint. Too cold to paint the plane and too humid to paint the Mustang. I do alot of painting by hand now, which I despise. I do it anyway, just so I can get to my favorite part. Building!
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Originally posted by Holdfast
… Just need to get one of my daughters to leave home then I will be able to purpose build a new modeling and computer room, it will include a spray booth, to save me the trip down stairs.[;)]
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That could be an option for me in about, oh…12 years. [;)]
Until then it looks like I’ll be using boxes until I move into a bigger house.
Poking around on the site I did come across this article which is relavent to the topic.
Build a hideaway workbench
Being in the Army I move around so nothing is ever permanent. I have an extra bed room in my house that is all mine! I have a good size desk to work on and shelves for my models and books. For air brushing I have a little folding table. I just close the door, open the window and put on a mask. Its nothing special but I like it. Now when I retire…
Happy Modeling,
Pat
Great topic. I liked it when finescale ran the pictures of peoples’ workshops in scale talk a few issues back. I’ve started turning the spare bedroom of my new townhouse into the modeling room. At last! After 15 years of trying to work in a cramped corner of a basement, with most of my kits, parts and supplies stashed wherever I could find room for them all over the house. I’ve got a good-sized walk-in(ish) closet to store all my unbuilt kits (more than 10, fewer than 100–I think [;)]), plenty of light, and no musty basement-y smell for a change.
The down-side is that the utility sink for cleaning brushes, etc., is down on the first floor, and I still don’t have a decent place to use the airbrush I need to get [:(] The basement has no ventilation to the outside and up here in the Great North the garage is too cold from now until, oh, May or so. One of those hobby spray booths would be great but I’m kinda strapped for $$$ right now.
One thing I’m thinking about: aside fromt he bed and a nightstand, I don’t have much furniture in the master bedroom. It’s a nice big room, maybe I should use IT for the workshop and sleep in the small bedroom?..
quote:
Originally posted by Bayonet Recon
I knew someone who lived in a small apartment and was thinking about converting his bedroom closet into his work area. It was one of those closets that would take up a good length of the wall, with folding doors and all. The idea was it could be somewhat permanent, but yet could be closed up when he wasn’t using it.
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I did something similar once. I turned one side of a full-wall closet into the “electronix bay” for my entire “working” audio-TV set up. Even the TV was in there. Close the doors, and all the clutter was concealed. I reckon I spent a cumulative total of several years of my life in that closet…[8)]
Hey!!! Check out my work bench set-up I think youll find pretty cool, its on my homepage: http://wings92.tripod.com
You might enjoy seeing what I have there. Past it on too.
Patrick
I am a young modeler, so I don’t really have a ‘workbench’ setup. We recently bought a new dishwasher, so i took the box from that. I took of one of the sides off the box, and used that to build my models on. The rest of it is folded into an L shape, and leant against a wall, with the flaps folded up to protect the floor from overspray.
This is handy, because the cardboard is thick, and soaks up all the paint spills i usually make [8)] and can be folded away and put under my bed. Everything is stored in either little boxes or on a wheeled 4 shelf little trolly thing-a-ma-bob.
Its nothing too flash, but it gets the job done[:)]
Like holdfast, i’m lucky. The dinning room is all mine. I have my desk that i build on with drill, spray gun and all other essetials at hand. I have one cupboard with my troops and accesories in. Shelves for the un-uilt kits, and a bookshelve for my reference books and videos. Also have my own T.V, video, DVD and sterio.
Like paackerson i’m in the army so its had to set up anything permanent. For spraying, i turn on a fan, open the window and put on a mask. Once done, i just leave the room for a while till it clears. Everyone stays out when he compressors running.
I have a page on my web site of some people’s work areas…
Check these out at http://www.naplak.com/modeling/Modelers/workspaces.htm
And my space it here… http://www.naplak.com/modeling/Modelers/neil’s_page.htm
So there is a wide variety…
Send my photos of your workspace… contact me here e-mail naplak Modeling or thru my site…www.naplak.com/modeling
Right now this is the only photo I have. I will post another
when I get a better camera. - I love my room, it’s my own little
world of peace & quiet where I can sit back & relax and concentrate only on my models…WHAT A GREAT HOBBY !
http://groups.msn.com/armorama/insidetheeaglesnest.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2519- ralph
Thanks everyone for your replies. This is some good stuff. Good inspiration or at least something to aspire to [;)]. In fact, I’ve decided that I’m going to “attempt” to reclaim part of the basement for modeling. Wish me luck!! [:)]
Im with Bayonet Recon on this one. Ive just got back into modelling after a break and have resurrected all my bits and pieces.I have a small pine drawer set with paints knives etc in. I used a space under the stairs but kept banging my head when I stood up!
So Ive bought a simple bench which is going up in the bedroom today! My partner doesnt mind as it will keep our twins away from prying eyes and fingers! Airbrushing will bein the garage though!
I just have a corner in my small apartment. I bought a table at IKEA that has two drop-leafs on it that I can put down when not in use. I also have a storage unit that holds plastic drawers that I keep all my paints and supplies in. If you are really looking for unique and sensible ways to have a workbench and storage in a small area look into IKEA, (if you have one around) they are the best. Got hooked on them I was stationed in Germany. If you are really crammed for space and need a small work area that is easy to put away, try a wood tray table. I saw one at Wal-mart. It’s not big,so only for working on smaller items.
Hope someone can use my suggestions.
Regards,
Mark
Ahhhhhh, the single life! There is a very nice room in my house which is totally devoted modeling, in most houses it is called the dining room; but if I ate in there, what would I do in the living room, aside from watch t.v. I have run Sch 40 PVC into the house from my air compressor in the garage, with a pressure regulator and water seperator coming out of the wall at the back of the bench. Tract lighting above the bench which I can reach and re-aim at whatever I model I am working on. Then all of my tools and paints on the table top, most within arms reach. My bench is 8’ x 3’.
Man I wish I had a work space like some of those pictures posted. Maybe some day. I have a fishing tackel box full of my stuff. When i model I try to find an open, well lit, well ventelated spot in my house. I live with the other 4 people in my family so that makes it hard. It seems that the best place for me to build is in our dining room. It is the most “fancy” room in the house, so I gota be carefull what I do in there. When I spray, I run on the porch, spray, and get back in in a hurry. I hand paint everything that isnt huge.
With two people living in a one-bedroom apartment plus every other horizontal surface in the house full of old glass telephone pole insulators, I simply throw a soil-amendment advertising poster face down on my “coffee table” (a piece of plywood sitting on upside-down large flower pots) and call it my “workbench.” The tools are kept in a nice tackle box that simply sits on one end of the plywood when I’m not using it (it’s handy but the cat can’t get at the tools) but to get to the end table drawer where the paint is, I have to stumble around the stereo while trying not to step on any records (yes, I still play vinyl LP’s) I might have waiting to be put on the turntable, then pull out the box of paint (trying not to spill them all over the floor), stumble back and place the paint box on the workbench, and by then, the cat takes over my chair, so I have to move her out of the way. It certainly adds to the fun of modeling! Jim
Jim…watching this production must be worth the price of admission alone![;)]
I can relate to that when I was still living at home, however, it was a 80 lb Irish Setter that managed to make a shambles of everything.
Now I’m quite fortunate…one of our four bedrooms is my model / guitar / junk / storage rooms. I have an old computer desk with an upper and lower cabinet for storage, a top shelf for completed smaller models (an Ottawa Police Service '96 Crown Vic, a '65 Corvette, an F-86 Sabre, a McDonnell-Douglas Banshee and a couple of dinky toys), a middle shelf for “stuff” the main work area that has a 12" high slot below the upper storage cabinet where I keep paints, brushes, files, yada, yada, yada…On the left of this desk I have a small round table that I place the model box and contents on while working. I must say the missus has certainly allowed me alot of latitude with this area. Boy, am I lucky.