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Post a pic of your work bench/desk/area.

Here's mine:

Aaand here is mine

Its not organized at the moment but... that will eventually happen i guess.

My disaster area...

Room. Pics are old, circa 2009, except the last one.




Assembly


Painting area


Paints


More recent shot with ex-living room TV.

keeping it... uhhh... broke.

I love these threads. Nice to see other people's clutter.

Older pic, but probably just need to add more mess.

This is the corner where most of my modelling work gets done I also have a small airbrush room (because the paint dust gets on everything no matter what I do), a very large bench with Work in Progress, and oodles of space scattered in the house devoted to storing parts, kits, and finished work, plus a couple of photography spaces (a nook for single models, and now one that fits up to a 6x8 table with tons of lighting that I just put together).

I rearranged mine some time ago, when I redid my office - Currently it looks like this:

 Talys wrote:


This is the corner where most of my modelling work gets done I also have a small airbrush room (because the paint dust gets on everything no matter what I do), a very large bench with Work in Progress, and oodles of space scattered in the house devoted to storing parts, kits, and finished work, plus a couple of photography spaces (a nook for single models, and now one that fits up to a 6x8 table with tons of lighting that I just put together).

Is this what you do for a living?! all you mentioned... its as if you were devoted to painting


I believe people would like to see those (the other areas) as well

 Talys wrote:


This is the corner where most of my modelling work gets done I also have a small airbrush room (because the paint dust gets on everything no matter what I do), a very large bench with Work in Progress, and oodles of space scattered in the house devoted to storing parts, kits, and finished work, plus a couple of photography spaces (a nook for single models, and now one that fits up to a 6x8 table with tons of lighting that I just put together).

Freaking awesome. I aspire to be like this one day

 teban wrote:
Is this what you do for a living?! all you mentioned... its as if you were devoted to painting
I believe people would like to see those (the other areas) as well

 xSoulgrinderx wrote:

Freaking awesome. I aspire to be like this one day

Thanks very much!

No, I write computer software for a living. Painting & modelling (and gaming) is strictly a hobby

If I get a chance, I'll snap some photos of my airbrush area. My WIP bench is boring. It's just a long bench with a bunch of stuff that's been primed, or half-assembled, or whatever. The most exciting feature is a compressor with an air gun to clean off dust and cat hair from models before I start painting, lol.

This isn't a photo of my photo area, but it's a photo taken in the large-ish photo room that I set up early this year. It's basically a 15' x 12' room that has like, 8 or so studio lights on tripods that I can move around (to provide spot, ambient, and colored lighting), a hanging backdrop system that lets me quickly change between white, black or textured backdrops and a couple of cameras on tripods (so that I don't have to change lenses or move them around to take different angle shots). The one downside of it is that the room used to be one of my gaming rooms, so is carpeted. I would have far preferred it to be hard flooring -- better for tripods and long exposures -- but I don't want to make the change, in case I want to make it a gaming room again, one day, LOL.

Here's a quick photo of my current setup. Almost have all my Age of Sigmar complete (including the Everchosen). Should be ready for a start on Deathwatch soon!

Bluetonic,

Pic isn't showing up.

This is where the magic happens:

Mdlbuildr wrote:
Bluetonic,

Pic isn't showing up.

Cheers buddy, should be all sorted now. Let me know if it's not .

Welcome to the utter chaos that is my hobby workspace:

Disgraceful, isn't it? I really need to straighten it up and get all the models off of it before I get lost in there!

I've made some changes recently but my setup is still fairly similar to this photo from December.

Minimachine, that is mad alignment skills getting all those dropper bottles nicely spaced out like that on your table! Even your little blots of paint on the paper towel are all the same angle

I really like that head on the articulating desk lamp!

 Talys wrote:
Minimachine, that is mad alignment skills getting all those dropper bottles nicely spaced out like that on your table! Even your little blots of paint on the paper towel are all the same angle

I really like that head on the articulating desk lamp!

Cheers Tayls, I'm probably equipped with enough OCD to succeed as a miniature painter.

Really though I'm not that obsessive about organization or cleanliness but I do find when everything's sorted & squared away it helps me work more efficiently. When I see some of the messier setups other folks have its hard not to cringe a little. Yours on the other hand is really nice, especially your assembly area which looks really well kitted out. I especially like how you use the mini drawers one often sees on soldering workbenches, and that you have lots of room to move.

As for my lamp, unfortunately its been a bit of a bust. I bought it because it has the magnifying head, but the working distance is so short that when I swivel it close enough to what I'm painting for it to be in focus there's no room for the brush underneath! So I now use a pair of magnifying clip on glasses and I'll be upgrading to a larger, more powerful lamp. I find its almost impossible to have too much light when it comes to painting, so long as its not shining or reflecting in my eyes.

@Minimachine - I agree with you on the tidiness thing. My paint area is the neatest part of my whole house, though, much to the chagrin of my wife, hahahahaha. When I was much younger, I was messier in my paint area, but two problems plagued me: losing bits -- or rather, losing them somewhere on the table -- and little shavings and such getting into my finished product. Now, I clean off my table at least every other day to avoid that.

I haven't had any luck with magnifiers on lamps at all, at least not for magnification for the purposes of painting. They are ok for some other things, like inspecting prep work or finished product deficiencies. I do have an OptiVisor (headband thing with magnifier), which is much more useful, but I almost never use it. Once in a while, when making super tiny text, maybe.

This is the product -- I think it's pretty usable. There are also different models, if you search Amazon, that offer different magnifications at different focal lengths (so for instance 3.5x at 4", 2.5x at 8", etc.), making it easier to pair your work distance with the magnification. I think it's more usable than the cheap, Chinese knockoffs (some of the other focal lengths go up to around $50). But most of the times, these things are just a pain and get in the way.

http://www.amazon.com/Donegan-OptiVISOR-Binocular-Magnifier-Lensplate-Magnifies/dp/B000BPWPRK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457677615&sr=8-1&keywords=optivisor


I totally agree with you for light. The better the lighting, the easier it is to have a better finished product. In the photo of my room, the tall tripod with the dual-head lamp has two 100W CREE LEDs, and overhead, the room has 4 more 100W LEDs. Then, the magnifier lamp, and little articulating lamp also has another 100W LED bulb. I used to use 450W CFLs, but the LEDs just use way, way less power. Something like 13W versus 80W per bulb, so trying to be green and all that.

My cupboard. My entire work fits in here, to avoid toddler hands.

E: good lord this forum software is gak

 Talys wrote:
@Minimachine - I agree with you on the tidiness thing. My paint area is the neatest part of my whole house, though, much to the chagrin of my wife, hahahahaha. When I was much younger, I was messier in my paint area, but two problems plagued me: losing bits -- or rather, losing them somewhere on the table -- and little shavings and such getting into my finished product. Now, I clean off my table at least every other day to avoid that.

I haven't had any luck with magnifiers on lamps at all, at least not for magnification for the purposes of painting. They are ok for some other things, like inspecting prep work or finished product deficiencies. I do have an OptiVisor (headband thing with magnifier), which is much more useful, but I almost never use it. Once in a while, when making super tiny text, maybe.

This is the product -- I think it's pretty usable. There are also different models, if you search Amazon, that offer different magnifications at different focal lengths (so for instance 3.5x at 4", 2.5x at 8", etc.), making it easier to pair your work distance with the magnification. I think it's more usable than the cheap, Chinese knockoffs (some of the other focal lengths go up to around $50). But most of the times, these things are just a pain and get in the way.

http://www.amazon.com/Donegan-OptiVISOR-Binocular-Magnifier-Lensplate-Magnifies/dp/B000BPWPRK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457677615&sr=8-1&keywords=optivisor


I totally agree with you for light. The better the lighting, the easier it is to have a better finished product. In the photo of my room, the tall tripod with the dual-head lamp has two 100W CREE LEDs, and overhead, the room has 4 more 100W LEDs. Then, the magnifier lamp, and little articulating lamp also has another 100W LED bulb. I used to use 450W CFLs, but the LEDs just use way, way less power. Something like 13W versus 80W per bulb, so trying to be green and all that.

Your magnifier looks quite nice, I've been using one of these myself but find I don't use it massively often: http://www.edroyproducts.com/opticaid1.html

I probably would if there was a way to get more magnification at workable working distances but I don't like having to keep my nose close to the miniature. Interestingly I've seen photos of artisans in the high-end watch industry hand painting dials using what look like microscopes, so really I don't consider my search for the perfect magnifying solution over yet.

I also use one of these which is invaluable for drawing & freehand painting on flat surfaces. A real neck saver.
http://www.reeves-art.com/products/accessories/art___craft_work_station/

Keeping the work area clean is something I do on a regular basis but for me the real battle is against dust particles as this part of Victoria is insanely dry & dusty. I completely agree that LEDs are the way to go, they throw off less heat and cost far less to run. The difficult thing I've found is not so much flooding my area with light but getting more light where I need it and less where I don't. Too much light all over the place with a shiny white table means it gets reflected up into my eyes which I find very fatiguing, but I always want more light directly on the model, and from multiple angles if possible to reduce shadows.

@kb_lock - oooo. I love the efficiency

@minimachine - have you tried a HEPA filter? I run one in my hobby room for about 12 hours a day to get rid of both dust and cat hair. There is nothing more annoying than a cat hair (or dust) stuck in an otherwise perfect tank or titan! hehe. Plus, there's the added bonus of my hobby room being a sanctuary during allergy season

Heh, i will take better shots, it is an exercise in efficiency for sure. There is an air booth, light box, paint rack, compressor, cuttingmat and 2 lights in there

Here's a quick snap of mine from a while back. I've got 2 whole rooms and a good chunk of garage dedicated to toys and still find myself crammed onto a tiny desk!

 Alex Kolodotschko wrote:
Here's a quick snap of mine from a while back. I've got 2 whole rooms and a good chunk of garage dedicated to toys and still find myself crammed onto a tiny desk!

Is that a Budweiser on your desk? Don’t you live in a country where you can get real beer?

(Sorry, looking at the corners of pictures to see what people are drinking is a hobby of mine)

Ha ha, yeah, I live right in the centre of Bristol and can get to a couple of dozen Real Ale pubs within 5 minutes, also got the homebrew ticking over most of the time.
It must have been an off day?

Because painting the First Captain requires a Templar Beer....

Here's mine soon after I bought my new paint rack:



It's far more cluttered now.

I miss my old Clubhouse in Cleveland. A few buddies and I all chipped in and rented some office space for hobby and gaming. This was my painting area:

 Talys wrote:
@kb_lock - oooo. I love the efficiency

@minimachine - have you tried a HEPA filter? I run one in my hobby room for about 12 hours a day to get rid of both dust and cat hair. There is nothing more annoying than a cat hair (or dust) stuck in an otherwise perfect tank or titan! hehe. Plus, there's the added bonus of my hobby room being a sanctuary during allergy season

Great suggestion Talys, I already have one on my wishlist along with a billion other things! If I dust my workbench regularly the problem isn't so bad, but I'm sure you know how infuriating it is when you do get those tiny dust hairs on a model and don't realize before they've already dried.