My workshop...Currently, in my workshop, I?m enhancing terrain pieces from the
Kromlech.eu ruins sets, which you can follow in my
Thursday posts on the DansE MacabrE blog. I?m also preparing a review of undead miniatures from Axia Miniatures, which will soon be available via a Kickstarter campaign.
In the meantime, taking advantage of a day off, I decided to clean up and reorganize my workshop. According to my blog posts, the last time I rearranged things was nearly
four years ago, and I figured that?s more than enough time for a change.
The workshop is a magical place. Here, in my case, tucked away in the attic, much like a secret alchemist?s den, masterpieces of plastic, resin, HDF, and coffee stirrers come to life. Of course, alchemy has its side effects?over time, every available surface turns into a picturesque heap of barely usable brushes, boxes full of absolutely essential bits, and paints that have dried out in precisely the shades I desperately need.
As it turned out, my attic had, over the past four years, transformed into Smaug?s hoard?except instead of gold and jewels, every drawer and cabinet hid fossilized paint cups, half-finished miniatures, and, of course, instruction booklets for models I will never assemble. Conclusion? Time for a revolution! Or at least a serious rearrangement?
Let?s start with the classics: trash bags. Two massive, 120-liter monsters were filled to the brim with project leftovers, empty boxes I might have used someday, material scraps, and hobby notes with historical value rivaling that of clay cuneiform tablets. After this act of barbarism, I regained the ability to enter the workshop without the risk of triggering an avalanche.
With the floor reclaimed, I could move on to the reshuffling. The shelves on the left? They stood stacked on top of each other like drunken dwarves in a tavern. I decided to give them a new life at floor level and, while I was at it, attach sturdy MDF boards (9 milimetres thick, 120 x 60 centimetres) to their tops. This created additional work surfaces, which I used to set up my modular
Mordheim ruins table?a project that has been waiting for completion longer than some RPG campaigns.
Rearranging the desks was also crucial. The previous back-to-back setup had its charm, but as it turned out, it wasn?t exactly efficient. Now, they form an L-shape, with additional shelves tucked underneath, finally giving me space to store accessories instead of shoving them in like a round of Tetris.
Originally, the desks were positioned back-to-back because their factory dimensions (120 x 60 cm) just happened to match a standard wargaming table. After accounting for the space taken by the HobbyZone modular workshop system, there was still enough room for an A1-sized cutting mat.
To reclaim more surface area, I mounted MDF boards (9 milimetres thick, 120 x 80 centimetres total) onto each desk. Now, everything looks as seen in the first image below. If all goes according to plan, I may add a
modular workshop system competing with HobbyZone to the right-hand desk?but more on that later.
All of this is well and good, but a workshop without proper lighting is like a general without an army. So, a new LED lamp has taken its place above my desk, and I?m also planning to replace my cutting mat?my current one has seen better days, dating back to when I painted my first miniatures with Humbrol paints.
And finally, the air conditioner?a summer savior that prevents both me and my Green Stuff from melting, while in winter, it keeps me from having to paint in ski gloves.
The chair? Well, it still holds up. Maybe in the next redecoration term, it will finally be retired with honors.
And so, in a matter of hours, without any loss of life, the remodelling of the attic was completed!
Is it perfect now? Oh, of course not! But at least I can sit down, set up my workstation, and paint something without the risk of getting buried under a landslide of boxes. I can even put my brush down instead of having to hold it in my teeth for lack of space.
And what about you, dear hobbyists? Do you have your own kingdom of creativity, or are you waging daily battles for every inch of the kitchen table, counting down the minutes until the household clears out?
Let me know?maybe this will spark the next Miniatures Blog Carnival theme: Hobby in Hiding!.
And
you can watch the video.
25 November 2006, 07:57:43 AM